My husband and I have suddenly become juice fiends this summer. We drink it straight, mix it with fizzy water, and of course, use it in fresh-fruit cocktails. We've been considering getting a counter-top juicer so we can make our own fresh juice, but hoo-boy, can these juicers get expensive. Do we really need one?
As Emily explained in her review of the Hurom Slow Juicer, there are two types of juicers out there: ones that press the fruit to squeeze out the juice (like the Hurom) and those that spin the fruit pulp to separate out the juice (like the Breville Juice Fountain). Both types of juicers get the job done, but with some differences.
The press-juicers, called masticating juicers, tend to yield slightly more juice and work very well at extracting juice from low-moisture fruits and vegetables. These juicers also create less heat as they work, which in turn keeps the juice from heating up. Since even a little heat can cause enzymatic changes in fruits and vegetables, this can be important if truly raw food is your goal. Also worth noting, masticating juicers produce less foam in the juice. Aside from giving you a smoother juice, this actually increases the shelf-life of the juice.
The spinning juicers, called centrifugal juicers, will juice up a pile of fruits and veggies much more quickly than masticating juicers. However, they will heat up the juice a bit as they work and they aren't as effective at extracting all the juice from your produce. The spinning action also foams up the juice quite a bit and the oxygen incorporated into the juice can decrease its shelf-life.
As you might expect, masticating juicers tend to be more expensive than the centrifugal juicers. The centrifugal juicers are about $100-$200 on average. The masticating kind are typically in the neighborhood of $200-$300.
There are some physical features to think about, as well. How much counter-space does it take up? Is the juicer easy to store? How big is the feed-tube? Is the cord long enough to reach the outlet? How much juice does the juicer's reservoir hold? Does the juicer disassemble and clean up easily? For the answers to these questions, it's a good idea to take a trip to a store like Sur la Table so you can see, touch, and manipulate each model.
The question of should you buy a juicer really comes down to how and how much you'll use one. For me and my husband, a less-expensive centrifugal juicer seems to make more sense since we just want a way to make fresh juice for casual sipping and aren't as interested in integrating juice into our diet right now. But if you think you'll be using the juicer every day and want the nutritional benefits promised by the masticating juicers, investing in one of those models seems like it would be well worth the money.
And if a new juicer is out of your price range right now, keep your eyes peeled at garage sales and check on Craig's List. You might just score yourself a fancy juicer!
Here are the models that we've reviewed in the past:
• Hurom Slow Juicer (masticating juicer), $339 on Amazon
• Breville Compact Juice Fountain (centrifugal juicer), $150 on Amazon
• Breville Ikon Multi-Speed Juice Fountain (centrifugal juicer), $200 on Amazon
Do you recommend buying a juicer? What model do you use?
Related: Citrus Tips: Get the Most Juice from Limes and Lemons
(Images: Emily Ho and Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan)
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my mom has a juicer, and i can't complain, i love the juice. the thing is, it's a pain to clean. if it was somehow self cleaning, i'd buy one myself and use it all the time.
That is exactly the question that I've been preoccupied with for the last couple of weeks! I did my research too, and even already placed an Omega J8005 Nutrition Center into my cart on amazon but haven't checked out yet...
Since I grow a lot of greens and leafy vegetables, a masticating juicer is the way to go for me. I used to own a centrifugal juicer and it couldn't deal with them at all...
Omega Vert Vrt350 seems the best for the price; however, J8005 doubles as a pasta maker, etc., which I like.
I had a $200 Breville juicer and ended up never using it. Maybe I'm old school, but I just prefer to eat my vegetables and fruits.
I was given a juicer about 10 years ago and have only used it once--I'm not a "juice" person I guess. It is pretty high end, but we don't have anyplace to put it (we don't like too many appliances out and about and choose what's on the counters carefully), so it stays in the box. I guess I should use this as the push to list it on Craig's List.
9 months after my initial review, I still highly recommend the Hurom Slow Juicer! The juice is smoother and better tasting than any other I've tried and the machine has held up very well.
I bought the Hamilton Beach Juice Extractor on sale for under $100 Canadian and it is a workhorse. There are multiple parts to clean like any juicer, but it's always been worth the minor elbow grease.
I prefer not juicing and using a VitaMix machine instead. That thing will make a smoothie from a sleeve of golfballs. That way, you get all of the fiber from your food as well and not just the high sugar content of fruit. It makes wonderful cocktails. It's super easy to clean and I make dog food, soups, sauces, and ice cream in it as well. Plus you can usually buy it in QVC and spread out the payments on EasyPay. Good site with info about getting more greens into your diet is greensmoothiegirl.com.
I LOVE my Breville juicer. I even named my dog Breville!! I drink my vegetables for juice every morning for breakfast (spinach, broccoli, cucumber, asparagus, and an apple). I feel so much healthier and when I take a few days off, I can feel a difference. Some people, my parents especially, make fun of me and say they'd rather eat their vegetables but juicing is such an easy way to integrate LOADS more fresh veggies into your daily diet. I can't imagine EATING all those vegetables every morning without getting so full. FULLY ENDORSE AND RECOMMEND.
I love my juice fountain. I like the foam and I drink my juice right away, so the centrifuge is great for me. Save some of the pulp and make a smoothie later...
I have the Breville Compact and love it. I love using it when I've bought too many vegetables and I need to use them up. My kids dig the juice I make, too, and it's full of beets, kale, carrots, etc. Shhh don't tell!
I second s7mylsup's comment no mess no fuss. Plus if you can liquify the pulp then there is nothing lost nutrition wise to the pulp catcher.
Also, everyone thinks oh it "liquifies" it means it chops it into tiny pieces (like minced garlic) no it literally turns it into such small particles that said particles are indistinguishable from the surrounding liquid.
Since so many people buy juicers and don't use them, scope out craigslist. I bought a juicer for $50 and i still use it quite often, and have 'juice parties'. leftover CSA veggies? juice em. I am really glad I have it!
Ditto with Apron Strings--we bought a Hamilton Beach juicer about a month ago and we've been using it nonstop. My husband is actually using it as a dieting method (he gets a ton of fruits and veggies for breakfast and lunch, and a light dinner--he's down 10 lbs in two weeks and feels great) and I just love having fresh orange, apple and carrot juice. It's been a great buy for us.
I went the Vitamix route instead of the juicer. Victoria Boutenko's book "Green for Life" was a big influencer for me. I wanted to get more leafy greens and fruit into my family and blending them together into a delicious smoothie seemed like a great idea. I also prefer to keep the fiber.
YES, you should have one
YES! We bought a Breville juicer last fall. Always the skeptic, I doubted if I would ever use it, but yielded to my girlfriend's desire to have one. Turns out, I'm the fiend that makes the juice every day. Tips: keep the citrus at room temp for more productive juicing and only juice what's in season! I guarantee it will be the best juice you've ever tasted and a great energy spike for you day. I love it!
I am with Jaygarf, the breville is awesome, and I usually give it a deep cleaning every few weeks, but in between just rinse it..not so bad. Drinking veggies for breakfast is the way to go. Try it.
my kids love juice too. not to brag, but does your kid have lettuce, kale, carrots, and celery for breakfast!
We recently bought a juicer and have enjoyed the benefits of it alot. My husband went on a juice fast for 30 days and lost 25lbs! I love to eat too much, but still continue to add green drinks into my diet for health. They are bulky and take up some room, but worth it!
They take up a good amount of room, but nothing beats fresh juice! If you plan to juice often, I would say it's justifiable. I just completed a three day juice fast that was filled with delicious fresh juices!
The Hurom and the Omega Vert don't take up that much counter space.
I have a Hurom Slow Juicer and try to use it at least 4 times a week. I almost always use it for veg + fruit juice. I also have an Oster Classic Beehive blender that I make green smoothies with 4 times a week. I think of the juice as a serum and the green smoothies as a healthy snack. So it's not an either or thing.
We bought a juicer (centrifugal) at a garage sale, but we hardly ever use it. I suspect this is more because it leaks a bit and thus makes even more mess to clean up, but also because with my husband around, fruit is never around long enough to juice! I wonder if he'd notice if I got rid of it... (It's been over a year since we last used it, but he's a pack rat and tends to get cranky when I even talk about throwing out or donating stuff that's not clothes.)
I eat tons of fruit since I write fruit reviews and I have a lot of leftovers. I couldn't possibly eat it all whole. So I bought a Breville 800jexl and I absolutely love it. If you click the link, I give a review. It's on the expensive side for a centrifugal but it's been worth every penny.
Depending on what you would like to juice Omega makes really high quality juicers. Its all they do. Here is a page we put together that breaks down the different types (Centrifugal, Vertical Masticating & Multi-Purpose Masticating). Of course there are various high end brands we really like how these rank.
Break down of Omega Juicers by juicer type.