Choosing The Best Juicer

Breville JE98XL Juicer

I didn’t choose my first juicer, it was a gift. My son gave me a juicer for Father’s day and I started using it that same day. It was exciting! I remember running down to the grocery store and buying a bunch of fruits and vegetables. When I got home I started juicing for my son and my girlfriend, Virginia. I didn’t even think about the types of juicers or which one was better and what the differences were.

Buying a Juicer

So if you don’t have a juicer and plan on buying one, read on. Get the best one you can afford, and don’t worry about it if it’s not what the “experts” want you to buy. Bottom line: The important thing is that you actually start juicing. I like off-roading, sometimes called “wheeling”, and a guy I know says, “Doesn’t matter what rig you’re driving (Jeep, Toyota, Hummer), just matters that you’re out there wheeling.” I like that and I’ll apply that to juicing. “It doesn’t matter what type you buy, it just matters that you’re juicing.” Juicing is good for your overall health and you won’t be sorry you started!

Centrifugal and Masticating Juicers

Basically there are two types of juicers you need to know about for juicing at home (I want to keep it simple). One type of juicer is a centrifugal juicer like the Breville JE98XL Juice Fountain Plus, pictured above. Most juicers sold are this type. These are usually the least expensive and do a good job. Some are loud, but tolerable. They juice things  fast and are pretty easy to clean. They do a good job on hard fruit and vegetables like apples, carrots and even cucumbers. I think they do well juicing oranges, pineapple and strawberries too. I can put entire small apple into mine. It can take a handful of spinach and two or three carrots at the same time too. You can’t do that with the next type, which is the masticating juicer.

Omega J8006

The second type is a masticating juicer. Like the Omega J8006 Nutrition Center Juicer , pictured right. Sometimes these are called a low speed juicer or slow juicer. They do a great job of juicing things like greens, kale, wheatgrass and spinach, unlike the centrifugal. So if you think you’re going to be juicing a lot of leafy greens, choose one like this.

The slow juicer crushes and squeezes the produce through a screen or filter and this forces the juice out. This supposedly squeezes out more enzymes, vitamins and trace minerals and doesn’t damage them in the process. Since it does it slowly, it doesn’t heat up the juice. Honestly, I can’t tell if the speed of the centrifugal heats up the juice more or not. I haven’t taken its temperature . People claim that a slow juicer keeps the enzymes and nutrients at a temperature that they can survive at and it squeezes out more of them. I don’t know of any studies proving this, but I like the concept.

The other advantage to a masticating juicer is that the pulp it creates is very dry. Proponents of this type say it gets 20% more juice out of the produce than a centrifugal juicer, so you’ll save money in the long run by using it. I can attest to the slow juicer getting more juice out of my produce. That’s a fact, especially since I juice a lot of leafy greens. It can also do other things like pasta, grind coffee, make natural baby food and natural nut butter. Pretty cool, eh?

A third kind is the the twin gear triturating juicers. These are expensive, hard to clean and I don’t think appealing for everyday juicing. Not for the beginner in my opinion. Let’s keep it simple and you can forget about the twin gear for now.

Centrifugal juicers run between $45 and $300. Masticating juicers run between $231 and $379. Basically you’ll be choosing between these two types.

My suggestion is to look at the two mentioned above and less expensive one, the Hamilton Beach 67601A Big Mouth Juice Extractor, pictured below.

Hamilton Beach Big Mouth

So what do I use most often? The Omega J8004 Nutrition Center Commercial Masticating Juicer. I got a good deal on it. It’s just like the Omega J8006 Nutrition Center Juicer, but in white.

Omega J8004

I like the masticating juicer because it does a great job with leafy greens. It’s pretty quiet, and it’s easy to clean. The The Omega J8004 also produces great tasting juice. I don’t know if it’s my imagination or not, but it seems to taste better and last longer than juice made with my centrifugal. I can also make sorbet!

Be sure to visit my Juicers page. There are more options there. For around $350 you could get an Omega VRT350 Heavy Duty Dual-Stage Vertical Single Auger Low Speed Juicer. I hear these are excellent and it’s what I’m going to get next.

Remember: There’s no-thing better for your body than FRESH fruit and vegetable juice! So JUICE ON!

Choosing The Best Juicer