Buying a Juicer

Be warned. This is not an amusing, nor witty blog post. There isn’t a funny story, or a great life lesson that can be applied to a juice recipe this week. There isn’t even a recipe. It’s not that I’m lacking in material. I could have written about the “great fix everything juice” that I’m hoping to create soon, or the “tidy up your house juice”, the recipe for which is proving somewhat illusive! Perhaps a blog about the benefits of wheatgrass juice for pets as well as people, or building on the recent article I read about the benefits of nitrates in beetroot juice. But no, this week, I’m going to keep it straight forward and informational. Read on. ...

I’m aware that I write this blog every week, and I know that a large percentage of people who read it don’t have a juicer. My hope is that eventually, something I write will resonate with a reader which will inspire them to either rent a machine from me, or take the plunge and buy a juicer for themselves. If you are considering buying a juicer, I thought I would take some time this week to review the three main types of at home juicers available on the market today to make the purchasing decision easier for you.

Essentially there are three kinds of juicers available to the at home juicer; manual, centrifugal and masticating juicers. Below you will find an outline of each kind, what they do, and a brief summary of the pros and cons, in addition to my recommendation of the best brand within each of the three categories.

Manual Juicers
These tend to be manual juice presses, which you can buy very cheaply. They are good for the odd glass of orange juice, but are not very practical when it comes to making vegetable juices, or larger quantities of juice. They are relatively inexpensive at around $30-$50. You can also buy manual wheatgrass juicers in a similar price range, (in which case I would recommend Weston Wheatgrass Juicer) but then you have to source a good supply of wheatgrass, or grow your own and that will require a whole other blog post!

Centrifugal Juicers
This type of juicer chops your fruit and veg into small pieces and then throws them against a spinning bowl that in turn separates the juice from the fibre. The benefit of this kind of machine is that it is quick and easy to use, and much less expensive than the next category of juicer. The quality of the juice you get is excellent and the yield is good too. The downside, is that because of the heat generated by the frictional nature of the process, you do lose some of the nutritional value of the juice. However, in tests done on good centrifugal juicers, 90 percent of the nutrients remained in the juice. The best one on the market is the Breville Juice Fountain Elite. It is widely available for around $280. It is easy to clean, easy to assemble and very easy to use.

Masticating juicers
Masticating juicers grind the produce into very small particles and then press them through a screen. This means that because the juice is extracted at much lower speeds than a centrifugal juicer, more of the live enzymes stay intact. The downside of these machines is that the feed chute for the produce is very small, so it requires a lot more prep time cutting up your fruit and veg. The machine also runs more slowly, so the actual juicing process takes longer. The best machine on the market, in my opinion is the Green Star Elite GSE 5000 Juice Extractor which is around $500.

My recommendation for a first-time at-home juicer would be to go with the Breville centrifugal juicer. This will allow you to make great tasting, nutritionally overflowing juices, quickly and easily with little prep or clean up. If you decide that you want to take juicing to another level, then the bigger investment in the Green Star masticating juicer would be something to consider.

I hope the information proves useful and that it will allow you take the leap and get a juicer on your counter top today! As for the recipe for that “tidy up your house” juice, I guess you’ll just have to wait a little longer.

Happy juicing,

Jx