What is The Best Juicer?
Who has the best juicer machine?
Buying the best juicer isn’t hard. They are everywhere. Getting the best juicer for your money however, is the key. Because if you don’t love your juicer then you’re not going to love juicing and it’ll wind up right in the cupboard. Never to be used again. If you’re like us then you probably have a few appliances that sound just like this.
And that would be a shame, because a juice maker really is one of those appliances which is proven to be good for your health. When you make juice, you are extracting the natural essence from the foods we all know we should be eating more of-vegetables and fruit. The juice making process itself should be a rewarding experience as you are finally connecting your body to the elements of nature that it has been looking for. We really believe this, and it’s one of the reasons we started this site. The best juicer to buy is the one you’ll use over and over all week long.
Hey, juicing is life, and you really can’t say the same thing about that breadmaker you never use!
So if you are just getting started with your first juicer then we recommend you look to buy a centrifugal juicer. Wait, what?
Okay, first things first. Whether you shop for an Omega, Breville, Hamilton Beach, Waring or even a Jack Lalanne-no matter what kind you buy- all juicers are going to fall into three main categories:
- centrifugal juicers
- masticating juicers
- triturating juicers
Centrifugal Juicer
A centrifugal juicer uses a flat blade with a mesh that spins at a high rpm to extract the juice. Veg goes down the chute, the knife blades quickly slice and dice, and the pulp is thrown against the mesh like socks in a dryer. At these high speeds (around 3,000-15,000 RPMs) the juice is quickly drawn out from the pulp and your juice is done. These are the most common types of juicers that are found anywhere and generally the least expensive. Centrifugal juicers make the best entry-level juice extractors because of this low price and high availability. The Breville juicers fall under this category, the Jack Lalanne Power Juicer Pro is one, and the value Black and Decker and Waring are centrifugals.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking these are only “beginner” juicers, though. Some of the best juicers are centrifugal and can serve you well for years of juicing. The Breville BJE200XL is a fantastic choice in this category. A great “value” choice in this category is the Hamilton Beach 67650. The only limitation you may find when you read reviews about centrifugal juicers is that they’re not great with leafy greens. And they can’t do wheatgrass. However, don’t let this deter you from starting a lifelong love affair of juicing-centrifugal juicers will do just fine with lettuce greens if your budget is limited.
When you get some experience making juice and you catch the “juice itch” you may start looking to upgrade to the next level: the Masticating Juicer.
Masticating Juicer | Horizontal Single Auger Juicer
A masticating juicer uses an auger(a big screw) that chews up the fruit into a pulp before squeezing out the juice. The screw-type auger piece turns at a much slower rate than a centrifugal. Therefore the masticating juicer is almost always quieter than its centrifugal brother. Which may be a big selling point to those with lots of members in the house: centrifugal juicing at 6AM is going to get you yelled at.
Masticating juicers are great for lots of greens as the slower process allows time for the juice extractor to “chew” through the liquid-filled leaves before hitting the screen. However, their slow rpm (80 RPMs is common) speed means a slower juicing time and more time to contemplate the wonders of juicing as you wait for it to finish. A masticating juicer also leaves a larger footprint on your kitchen counter as well.escrew-type auger piece turns at a much slower rate than a centrifugal. Therefore the masticating juicer is almost always quieter than its centrifugal brother. Which may be a big selling point to those with lots of members in the house: centrifugal juicing at 6AM will get you yelled at.
An additional benefit is that masticating juicers can be used for more than just juice. You can make homemade nut butters, baby food and also ice creams as well. We’ve even heard of coffee grinding-although if you’re using your masticating juicer to grind your own coffee beans then, well, you’re just a different sort.
Biggest plus is probably that the masticating will handle wheatgrass whereas centrifugal’s can’t.
So do you have to be experienced to use a masticating juicer? Of course not! It can be your first juice machine and
Omega juicers are some of the best juicers around-the Omega J8005 is an awesome choice. And if you aren’t keen on the shape, there is a relatively new kid on the block: the Vertical Masticating Juicer.
Masticating Juicer | Vertical Single Auger Juicer
Standing the auger on its head and going vertical. These combine the slow-grind of a regular side-auger with the basket array of the centrifugal. Juice comes out one nozzle, the pulp out another. The sales pitch is that it’s also easier to clean than the horizontal and there’s less likely to be spills. We recently reviewed the Omega VRT350 and here’s a sneak peek: We Love It.
As a side note there are sites that claim masticating juicers are better than centrifugal because they don’t aerate the juice. The argument is that the juice made by the high-rpm process oxidizes quicker and possibly loses some of its nutrition. While it sounds like a valid point, we don’t necessarily agree and we’ve never seen any really conclusive evidence of this. If you happen to come across such a scientific paper, great. Send it to us. For now we’ll happily keep using our centrifugals as well, thank you very much.
And that brings us to our last category, the difficult-to-pronounce triturating juicer:
Triturating Juicer | Twin Gear Juicer
A triturating juicer has dual gears (two big screws) to pulverize and crush the vegetable/fruit first before extracting through a pressing screen. They’re much like their single-screw brethren but with the added auger comes a precise tolerance for how they mesh together. Triturating machines are generally the most expensive juicers on the market yet with the high price they also offer the best yield. You will usually find this kind of juicer in commercial establishments like health food stores. Or wealthy people’s houses.
Serious enthusiasts looking for the best juicer usually land in this category. And you want to be serious-these guys are not cheap. They can be had for around $500 but the best go higher-and they’re generally made from stainless steel instead of any plastic. Hey, the Super Angel 5500 is a cool $1,000 if you just happen to have that lying around. That’s before the first carrot has been purchased.
Whichever type you ultimately land on we hope that you will use this site to help you find the best juicer for the money. We truly mean that! There are just so many awesome benefits to a juicing lifestyle that we can’t put them all here. We’ll have to do another post for that! The powerful nutritional properties of fruits and veg just can’t be ignored, and we are learning more and more of the health benefits of concentrated antioxidants and enzymes.
If you don’t have a juicer, then get one! If you have one that’s been collecting dust then get it out and start using it! If you’re not sure which one to get then check out our juicer reviews. Whatever it takes just stop making excuses. You came to this site and we’re happy you did. Now get juicing!
Juicing is life, and the best juicer connects you.
Check out all our juicer ratings at the homepage: http://www.bestjuicersite.org
