Juicing & its health benefits have really got a lot of attention in these past few years. If you are reading our article, you are probably thinking of buying a good juicer for you or your family. Juicers tend to vary in type, quality & as a result price too. Juice cleansing or detoxing is becoming a very popular option for folks who love to stay healthy and shrug off any sluggish or bloated feeling rather quickly.
Juicing has a ton of benefits like improving energy levels, wellness & much more. It’s easy to increase your alkaline intake through juicing too. Many juicing recipes are being prescribed or created day after day. With plenty of celebrities jumping on the band wagon, juicers are becoming even more popular.
We combed through a fair number of juicers in the market to come up with the best juicers & the best slow juicers to be found. “What’s the difference?” is probably the first question in your mind right about now.
A normal or centrifugal juicer is what you would have probably been used to all these years. This machine, as the name suggests, utilizes centrifugal force. A blade basically spins at a very high RPM slicing through the fruit.
The RPM on a centrifugal juicer is extremely high and it can slice through just about anything. Another upside is that these are quite inexpensive.
A slow, cold pressed or masticating juicer as they are called uses a much lower RPM and as a result consumes much less power too. Most of them are great at juicing nuts (very important for some folks), cut pieces of fruit & veggies and some do handle large chunks too. The fruits are cut & pressed which is similar to masticating, so that the freshness & the enzymes stay intact. You do get a lot more pulp in these for those who like that.
The difference between the two lies in the critique associated with juicing from back in the day. People always say drinking juice is never the same as eating an entire vegetable. Well, with centrifugal juicers they do have a point but not so much when it comes to cold pressed options.
With centrifugal options a large amount of heat coupled with the fact that a lot of the smaller particles are always pushed to the sides, ensure that the nutrient loss is quite high. The heat produced will oxidize the enzymes rendering the output far less nutritious than desired.
Although more expensive, cold pressed juicers retain a lot of the nutrients from the fruit or veggie as there is far less heat produced. Not everything is rosy with the slow juicers. Centrifugal ones have their positives as well, as the juicing process requires little to no prep time.
Criteria for Evaluation
The juicers on our list have been carefully selected through a selection process based on the most important criteria so that you have a pretty accurate review for each item on our list.
We’ve based our reviews on these following 4 evaluation criteria so that we can guide you through the best juicers & slow juicers in the market.
Build Quality & Parts
The materials involved in crafting the juicer is very important. Not only performance-wise but safety is also dictated by the build quality. It’s quite well known that juicers need to reduce or mitigate the oxidation process and the design must also facilitate this.
Our list consists of juicers that have grade polymer or stainless steel moving parts. This is a boon as plastic tends to be on the flimsier side which can affect durability and in turn affect how we view the product as a whole.
A large chute is also something that we considered to be very important, if not essential. Juicers which allow the user to see the level of pulp & juice collected is highly desirable too. Sorbet makers and other accessories are great to have too.
As far as design traits goes, chord lengths & height are two important aspects. You wouldn’t want your juicer to stand up too tall and not fit under or in a cupboard in your kitchen. The chord length is important but is quite subjective to where your power sockets are placed. The same needs to be said of horizontal options like the Omega juicer.
As there are quite a few moving parts, we have also taken into consideration the availability of spares and the customer service involved in the process. We feel this is essential to obtaining the best possible juicing experience.
Performance
The quintessential detail with respect to any juicer centrifugal or cold pressed is the yield. The ability of the machine to handle items like nuts, celery, kale, leafy greens, fruits & sometimes even coffee beans are very highly valued. Versatility can be an awesome trait to have especially in mid ranged options.
This can help you save tons of space on the counter top as you don’t have to buy a separate device for different functions.
The core of the machine however is its ability to juice the most frequently used items as part of the juicing diet. We’ve only opted for the machines that truly excel at this trait.
Centrifugal options produce more heat and we’ve chosen models that reduce the amount of heat transferred as much as possible. We’ve only chosen centrifugal juicers that have the ability to retain enzymes and minerals. Despite this being a slow juicer’s forte we’ve gone with options that at least try to emulate this trait.
It is scientifically proven the slow juicers excel at retaining and extracting the most out of leafy veggies too. A dry pulp following the use of a juicer is what we were seeking. The ability of masticating juicers to handle nuts and produce nut milk or the texture of the nut butters produced were factored in. The amount of ounces produced to the amount of fruits placed was tested and important for our evaluation.
As far as power requirements go, centrifugal juicers tend to vary between the 600 to 1000 watt mark, which makes them power hungry. We’ve tried to weigh up the performance on hand to the power consumed. Similarly, the masticating juicers are around the 200-400 watt mark.
Ease of Use
Ease of use again varies based on the type of machine you opt for. The slow juicers are generally harder to clean, especially the pulp chute area. We’ve weighed all that in and chosen options that can be operated with consistency over a reasonable period of time without having to constantly make adjustments. The main criteria within the subset of Ease of use are:
- Part accessibility
- Input feeder tube design
- Juice collection chute height
- Pulp collection
Any level of automation with respect to the cleaning process or unclogging is sought after. Having removable parts which can be washed in the dishwasher can greatly speed up the juicing process. A machine that takes you 30 mins to juice and 30 mins to tidy up afterwards might defeat the purpose of juicing entirely.
The chute size is an important aspect here again. Wider chutes are much preferred as they can reduce prep time on both machine types. Similarly the juice collection chute height can determine if you can juice straight away into a carafe of just a glass.
Options like the Omega or Breville have the option of juicing solely into glasses. The higher the juice collection tube the more options you have with respect to the variable amounts you can produce in 1 shot. This is a simple yet easily overlooked feature.
The pulp collection also plays a major role in how good a juicer is. This ties into our next important evaluation criteria well which is maintenance.
Maintenance
We’ve also taken into consideration the inherent difference between the juicer types & compared centrifugal with centrifugal alone. Everyday care is mandatory when you are juicing regularly. It is imperative that your machine allows you to quickly clean every bit of fruit off from the filters and chutes so that one may safely use it again.
Slow auger based juicers do not usually possess many or any removable parts making it a bit more difficult to clean. Nonetheless, devices that have a reverse setting and are designed in a way where the metallic filter and pulp collectors are easily accessible can be cleaned easily.
Brands and models that provide brushes and other cleaning accessories can be very useful especially for those into the habit of juicing leafy substances. Instructions need to be clearly mentioned with respect to maintenance too.
With respect to centrifugal options we opted for truly machine washable devices. At times plastic parts or flaps can be present which and be ruined if placed into the dishwasher.
We’ve considered the ability of the manufacturer to provide spares & even warranty periods as well. These are important as the longer the life of the machine the more value it can provide.
FAQs
Q. Are masticating juicers slower at producing the juice than centrifugal ones?
No. They both produce juice at roughly the same speed. The main difference is the added time for you to cut your fruits & vegetables into smaller sizes.
The other difference process wise is that slow juicers are much quieter and efficient. The pulp yield is a lot higher in masticating or cold pressed juicers as well.
Q. I’ve owned many different slow juicer machines & they always tend to clog. What gives?
Whilst, this could boil down to build quality in some rare cases, in most situations folks don’t tend to follow up dry fruits with wet ones. Since the RPM is quite slow the extraction efficiency can decrease if the substance like some nuts for instance are the only ones you are putting in.
Some juicers have a reverse or anti clogging mechanism that will come to your aid. Otherwise wait out and use the brush and start over by alternating between wet and dry inputs.
Q. What are some good accessories to have along with my juicer?
A transparent carafe, glass or jug for collecting the sumptuous juice output. A froth separator, sorbet maker, food processor attachments, pasta maker attachments & cleaning brushes.
Q. Does juicing have any added advantages over eating fruits normally?
Incorporating fruits into ones diet no matter which way is very healthy. Especially for those looking to lose weight. Juicing is just simply one way of making sure you get your fair share of vitamins, minerals & enzymes required to stay fit & active.
Q. How will juicing help me to reduce weight exactly?
Losing weight simply translates into consuming less calories than you burn. Since folks on juicing only diets lack solid food their calorie count is roughly in the 500 to 1000 range.
This will ensure you lose weight in the short term whilst still getting in your fair share of vitamins. The key is that all these are short term solutions. There aren’t too many scientific studies out there that outline the benefits of detoxing thoroughly.
Q. Are there any negative effects of juicing?
Not in the short term. However, long term you might not feel very full as this diet also known as a detox diet for some does not contain much fiber or protein which are also essential for the body. The fiber content is solely in the pulp you collect. It can be detrimental as this diet can lack the necessary B12 vitamins, calcium etc., also.
Q. Sometimes there’s plenty of pulp leftover, what can I do with this?
There are plenty of recipes out there where you can utilize the pulp, especially that of carrot & apple. You can even mix the pulp back into the juice to obtain a delicious smoothie. Otherwise, use it as an ingredient in homemade fritters, cookies, broth, marmalade and other types of foods similar to these ones. Adding the pulp back in raises the fiber content in the juice too.
Q. How can I preserve my juice for later?
Basically, you need to delay the juice’s oxidation process. Green matter & fruits tend to react with the atmospheric oxygen which can change their colour and increase the speed with which they become rotten. Add known anti oxidizing ingredients to your juice like lemon to ensure it lasts much longer so that you can enjoy all the work you’ve put in on one day for at least a couple more.