Which juicer is best?

25 Jan 2019 / Andrea Maguire

It’s that time of year when we want to be healthy again and our retreat guests always ask about tips for a healthier lifestyle.

As such, the question of smoothies versus juicing often arises and I’ve answered that on my blog:
Juice or Smoothie – which is best?

This then leads to asking:

What are the different types of juicers?

You’ll read lots of varying views as to which juicer model is best. It usually depends on who is writing it and what they’re trying to sell! So here is my unbiased, realistic view of each type of juicing machine…

Juicers can be broken down as follows;

Centrifugal Juicers: These use a high-speed rotating blade to cut the fruit and vegetables then push it through a mesh strainer. Centrifugal juicers are quick but extract less juice compared to the other juicers mentioned below. The benefits are they are faster and lower priced than the other types. View centrifugal juicers on Amazon…

Masticating Juicers: These juicers crush or squeeze the juice out with a big cork screw type auger. They are more efficient at extracting the juice than centrifugal machines but very slow. They are also more expensive. There are 3 basic groups:

Single Auger – the single auger crushes the produce and the juice runs through a mesh. These are slower than the centrifugal & often require more preparation time as items need to be pre-cut.
Twin gear (Triturator) – these are considered the Rolls-Royce of the juicers by the enthusiasts. They have 2 auger style gears that slowly crush everything going through. They are very slow, though very efficient at extracting the juice and they are very expensive.
Hybrid Combination – This juicer combines single auger action with pressure through a mesh strainer. These seem to be named ‘Cold Press’ juicers which is confusing because all masticating juicers are cold press! Speed wise and price wise they are right in between the centrifugal and the masticating juicers. Due to the speed, price & juice quality we do use these on our retreats, however my personal gripe is the difficulty in cleaning.

When looking at purchasing this type of juice machine, all three types tend to be called ‘slow masticating juicers’, so you’ll need to look carefully at each model for the exact details. View masticating juicers on Amazon…

So which juicer is best?

The arguments used against the centrifugal juicer are:

It can’t do leafy greens – NOT TRUE – when juicing leafy vegetables (spinach, kale etc) its best to pack them in first followed by something solid yet juicy such as an apple or beetroot bulb. This helps to push the greens through the juicer.
The speed of the cutting creates heat which starts to destroy the nutrients. I feel this is unfair. Firstly, cooked veg still has nutrients plus there are ways to store your juice to reduce the oxidation process – that will be answered in another blog coming soon…

So if you’re new to juicing I feel a centrifugal juicer is a good way to start:

it’s cheap so therefore affordable when giving something a try.
it’s fast so you’re more inclined to do it as most of us are time poor.
it’s easier to clean & that often becomes the annoying thing when juicing regularly.

Last tips for selecting a juicer:

Choose one where the funnel chute is wide enough for large pieces. This helps reduce the amount of time spent preparing your ingredients. In this respect, it also helps if the feeding funnel does NOT have a solid piece protruding into it, as then you can feed a whole apple a once, so even less prep work!
If the juicer parts are dishwasher friendly, it will make cleaning it less of a hassle. Especially if you use your dishwasher every day anyway.

In summary, choose the juicer that suits your lifestyle in these ways: