Rinse aloe leaf well under running water to remove any deposits of mud or dirt. Pat dry with a clean kitchen towel or tissues.

Place the leaf flat on a chopping board and trim off both the ends (Check pictures in the post)

Keep in a tall bowl or container upright (Vertical position) for 12 to 15 mins. This step is very important as most of the latex drains naturally into the bowl. Aloe latex can cause health problems.

When it is done you will some of the latex is till on the bottom part. Wipe it off with a kitchen tissue.

Using a sharp knife cut the aloe leaf (horizantally) to 2 to 3 inch long pieces. Add them to a bowl of clean water & leave for 2 to 3 mins.

Remove the aloe pieces and discard the water. Repeat the rinse with fresh water. Remove and place them on a rack to let the moisture dry off.

Cut off both the thorny sides/ edges of the aloe piece and discard them.

There are 2 ways you can extract the aloe gel. First method is to peel off the green rind with a small sharp knife or a peeler on both the sides. You will be left with a clear white transparent gel.

The second method is to slice the aloe to 2 parts, by running the knife in between the gel. Now you have 2 parts. Using a spoon scrape the gel to a bowl, ensuring you don't scrape the rind.

You may peel all the pieces of aloe leaf at one time, extract the gel and refrigerate upto 2 weeks. The other way is to just cut up 2 to 3 inch portion from the whole aloe leaf whenever you need. Rinse and extract the gel when you need. There is less oxidization with this method & only takes 3 to 5 mins to peel.

Once you have extracted the gel, make sure there are no traces of yellow aloe latex or green rind in the gel. It has to be crystal clear. If you find any, remove them with a small knife.

Rinse the extracted gel well in a clean bowl of water to ensure there is no more residue of latex. You may store them in a glass container and refrigerate or freeze.

Add the required amount of aloe vera gel to a blender, pour water or juice and blend until all of the aloe is crushed.

Strain this to a serving cup, running a spoon all over the strainer so much of the aloe goes into the cup. Pour more water or juice to strain all of the gel. You may find any traces of rind in the strainer, just discard that.

Add lemon juice, more water or fruit juice as required. Stir in honey if you want. Consume aloe vera juice immediately.