I thought I’d share with you here my guide to juicers with my top tips, because let’s face it – juices make you feel…juicy!
You’d be surprised at what you can put into a juicer, especially if you get a good quality one that can do greens.
So what kind of juicer should you get? I could fill a book about this one, but for simplicity’s sake I will tell you this: There are many juicers available at a very wide price range, and your choice largely depends upon not only your budget, but what kind of juice you’ll be making.
The kind of juicer you buy depends upon what is most important to you in terms of price, efficiency and how easy it is to clean.
There are basically three different kinds of juicers: centrifugal, masticating single gear and masticating twin gear.
Centrifugal juicers
The pros
Most people own a centrifugal juicer because of the price, speed and efficiency. You can put the whole fruit down the central feeding tube and just press down. No need to chop! Easy!
They will also juice leafy greens if you ask them nicely.
They’re also easy to clean, which is a big one for me! No way am I spending ages scrubbing anything, unless it’s my feet for a good foot scrub!
The cons
They are a bit noisy and not quite as efficient as masticating juicers.
They won’t juice wheatgrass (not that I have much time for that).
The heat generated by the centrifugal force means that your juice will only keep for up to 7 hours max.
What I recommend
- The top end of the range, and a brand that is highly recommended by juicers, is the Philips 1858.
Masticating juicers, single gear
(eg my Matstone 6, pictured at the top of this article)
The pros
These juicers do a wide range of everything you can think of juicing, including wheatgrass (except for the Champion juicer).
As the gear turns slowly, the juice can be kept fresh for up to 48 hours, so you can make large quantities in advance – a real time-saver!
They usually come with extras that allow you to make ice creams, sorbets, purees, nut butters and salsas.
They’re pretty quick to clean – you just need to rinse it right after you use it.
You get more ‘juice for your fruit’ than with centrifugal juicers.
They are also pretty quiet.
The cons
They are slightly more expensive (you’re worth it though, right?)
The feeding chute is smaller so you have to roughly chop apples and other ‘wider’ fruit and veg.
They are a bit slower.
What I recommend
- Good models are the Matstone/Samson 6 in 1 and the OmegaJ8004.
Masticating juicers, twin gear
(eg Greenstar)
Pros
These are the very best juicers around.
They are super efficient! They make juice by squeezing (ouch!) your fruit and veg between two stainless steel cylindrical rollers that work together. The produce is basically pulverized as it is fed through the machine.
The juice can be stored for up to 48 hours.
You can juice wheatgrass too, if that’s your thing.
Extras are also included to make other types of food as with the single gear models above.
Cons
They carry a higher price tag (but you get more juice for your money).
They are slow.
What I recommend
- Popular models include Green Star 2000 and Green Star Elite.
And if you want the ‘Rolls Royce’ of all juicers…
- Have a look at the Super Angel All Stainless Steel 5500. It gives even more juice than the Green Star: the pulp that comes out is almost as dry as powder!
I hope this helps you – after all this, you may decide to stick to smoothies! But hey, if you do want a juicer, at least you’ll know what to get!
And if you’ve got a question, just pop it in the comments!
