Are you ready to welcome more fruits and veggies into your regular diet? Before you dive into juicing, take note of what a juicer is made of. A juicer a.k.a. a “juice extractor” is a special tool for extracting juice from fruits, leafy greens, herbs, and other veggies. This process is called juicing which crushes, grinds, and squeezes the produce to get the juice out. Depending on your needs, some also function as a food processor which is ideal if you want a more versatile tool.
Summer is right here, which means keeping yourself hydrated throughout the day is of utmost importance. But let’s be honest here, drinking water all the time can get a little boring, and the other beverages available aren’t the healthiest. So what’s the solution?
Well, the best thing to do would be to get yourself a juicer! Juicers are an excellent appliance to have in your home because within minutes, you can get freshly juiced fruits and vegetables with pretty much no effort from your end.
But buying a juicer isn’t easy, because there are quite a few models available and you need to know your basics right before you shell out your money.
In this article, we’re going to tell you all that you need to know about juicers, including the various types, what features you should look for, and more. So that you can get the best value for money.
Most twin gear and horizontal masticating juicer included attachments to juice and create noodles, pasta, baby food, etc. So, here are some things to remember when selecting the best one for your needs:
Know the Type of Juicer You Need
Unlike other kitchen appliances, juicers aren’t a one-fits-all item. There are three different kinds of juicers available, and each of them differs greatly in terms of speed, efficiency, quantity produced, and more. So it is crucial to know more about each model, to be able to choose one that you think will work best for you.
Cold-Press Juicers
Cold press juicers, which are also known as masticating or slow-press juicers, work by pressing and crushing the produce against a strainer, in order to release pure juice and catch the pulp.
As the name suggests, they are slower and take a longer amount of time, but this elongated process manages to preserve the nutrition and vitamins in the juice.
These juicers give you a great yield, and you can be assured that you get as much juice as possible. They also manage to work as smoothie blenders as well and compared to other types, it is much easier to clean, use and maintain.
But these features warrant a greater purchasing price, although we can assure you that it’s very much worth the money.
Centrifugal Juicers
The centrifugal Juicer has tiny teeth in a spinning basket that grind up its produce. With high speed, it forces the juice out through a fine mesh filter. However, this process tends to produce a foamy juice that other juicers don’t find appealing to consume.
Unless you’re fine with this then you can use it for juicing apples, carrots, as well as other hard fruits and veggies. It’s not that great on high-fiber leafy greens but it is lightweight, user-friendly, and hassle-free to clean since it has dishwasher-safe parts.
Centrifugal juicers, which are also called juice extractors, are a more traditional designed juicer that uses a disc consisting of sharp blades that moves at a very high speed. It essentially chops up your produce, crushes it, and catches the pulp to give you pure juice.
They’re really fast and quick and work much faster than cold-pressers, but there is a higher amount of oxidation as well. It works great for hard vegetables like carrots, as you can well see in this article – that lists down some of the best carrot juicers, but they’re not so suitable for leafy greens.
They also tend to be noisier and give out a smaller yield, but they are much more affordable.
Masticating
Masticating Juicer likes a big mouth machine that imitates the “chewing” of its produce. Whether you want to juice fruits or veggies, it augers include sharp metal teeth to chew everything up. This process tends to extra more juice from the produce with less foam on top.
As a slow “cold-press” one, it is best for juicing leafy greens like spinach, kale, and wheatgrass without heating up. Thus, its juice preserves more nutrients and leave dryer pulp. Its juice can also last longer for up to 48 hours.
Twin Gear Juicers
A latest type of juicer in the market are twin gear juicers, which consist of two identical gears that crush the produce in-between them, to release the juice, which has been strained out from the pulp.
Similar to masticating juicers, twin gear juicers are also slow and take a longer processing time, but it manages to preserve the nutrient and vitamin content well. They can juice every kind of produce, and they give you an excellent yield too.
Twin-gear juicers are multi-purpose and you can make nut milk, smoothies, purees, and more, along with the juice. They are fairly quiet but aren’t so easy to use as they consist of several working parts, which need to be regularly cleaned and maintained.
Triturating
Triturating Juicer operates at an even slower speed than the masticating. Its twin gear slowly crushes and grinds the produce into very small and fine particles to get the juice out. As a result, it provides the highest quality of juice with less oxidation and more nutrients.
[amazon box=”B0002VAFVG”So if you want to extract the highest yield from your favorite fruits and veggies, this juicer is a must-have.
You can even get more juice from leafy greens which usually produce less using centrifugal one. If you want to make nut butter, this bad boy is definitely up for it.
Features To Look For In A Juicer
Now that you know the various kinds of juicers available, it is also important to know the kind of features to look for in each juicer model.
Speed and Efficiency
One of the first things to check out in a juicer before you buy it is its speed, which generally determines how efficient it is. As we talked about above, different juicers have different speeds, and while some are fast and can give you a full glass of juice within minutes, others tend to be slower.
Deciding the kind of speed that you should go for depends largely on how often you drink juice and also when you drink it. For instance, if you are someone who would like to drink fresh juice before you go to work every day, then you would need a juicer that works fast.
However, it is important to keep in mind that fast juicers tend to compromise the nutritional content of the produce when compared to slow pressers.
Juice Yield
Another feature to look out for is the juice yield, which essentially is the volume of juice that the juicer will manage to give you. The output depends on the kind of machinery or process that the juicer utilizes.
For a good yield, the juicer should process the entire vegetable or fruit as a whole, so that every drop of juice is extracted, but at the same time, it is important that the nutritional and vitamin content remains intact.
Generally, masticating and twin gear juicers produce a greater juice yield since they process the fruit whole, without chopping it prior, when compared to centrifugal juicers.
Maintenance
Unlike other appliances, juicers must be cleaned regularly and maintained well. Otherwise, there is the possibility of the growth of fungi and bacteria if it is kept wet and uncleaned. Not to mention, the fruit enzymes may also cause damage to the interior mechanisms.
That is why it is crucial to ensure that the juicer is easy to clean and maintain. There shouldn’t be too many parts, and the parts that are there should be easy to take out and clean. If hand-cleaning isn’t your thing, then it is also necessary to make sure that they are dishwasher-friendly.
On top of this, it should also be easy to store, and shouldn’t take up too much of your space or time.
Noise
Noise can be a pretty big issue when it comes to choosing a juicer, but over time, there has been a significant amount of effort on the part of manufacturers to create juicers that are as quiet as possible. While it probably isn’t possible to get a juicer that is completely noiseless, it should be quiet enough to not cause a giant, disturbing ruckus every time you switch it on.
Generally, juicers that work by squeezing and pressing the fruit, like masticating juicers are quieter whereas centrifugal juicers, which chop the produce first, are noisier due to the presence of fast-moving blades. Citrus and wheatgrass juicers, which tend to be more manual, are also fairly quiet.
Portability and Size
For most of us, counter space is a limited thing and you don’t want your counter looking cluttered or messy now, do you? The juicer you buy should be compact and easy to place and store on the countertop, but not too small as the size can jeopardize the efficiency and speed of the device.
So if you want a juicer that can give you a lot of output, then don’t go looking for a smaller-sized juicer.
More yield calls for larger juicers, in order to accommodate the greater producing power. The cord length should also be convenient, and it should be long enough to comfortably attach to an outlet, even if it isn’t directly near the countertop.
Functionality
While a juicer is created primarily for extracting juice from products, multi-functionality is also an important feature to evaluate.
Especially if you really want value for money, and you want to make sure that you will be able to use your juicer as much as possible. With the rising popularity of non-dairy milk, like almond and cashew milk, a juicer should be able to make nut milk and nut butter.
Several juicers also double as smoothie and shake-makers, which can be really efficient to have at home. However, if you do want multi-functionality, you will have to shell out a lot more cash.
Safety
If you have young kids at home, then safety is another important thing to keep in mind. Juicers tend to have sharp blades or strong gears inside, and it can be a safety risk as there is always the possibility that kids might be tempted to put their hands inside.
So it is crucial to ensure that the model you buy comes with safety gears, like protective covers or safety arms, that can prevent accidents from occurring if the children in your home decide to get too adventurous.
Price
Of course, while it is important to have as many useful features as possible, price is another important thing to keep in mind.
Do not spend oodles of money on a juicer and go way beyond your budget, because at the end of the day, it should just be useful and efficient and meet your requirements.
But at the same time, don’t go for options that are too cheap, as they will probably be inefficient and end up getting damaged too soon. There is always the risk of them being a safety hazard as well.
Consider Size and Storage
Once you’ve decided which type is best for your needs, the next thing to consider is its size. How much space do you have in your kitchen to accommodate a juicer? At the same time, where do you plan on storing it later once you’re done? If you have a small kitchen or you only have a small cabinet for storage, some centrifugal models are smaller and lightweight. But if you are planning to extract a high volume of juice per batch, we recommend the horizontal masticating one.
However, these juicers are usually bigger and heavier so it’s best for those with a huge kitchen space. If you want a smaller version, you can get a vertical juicer that you can easily store in under cabinets. Just remember that smaller ones also extract smaller volumes of juice per batch. Thus, we only recommend small juicers for personal use and not for commercial purposes.
How Much Noise Can You Tolerate?
The juicer’s noise is connected with its speed. The faster it spins the more noise a juicer tends to make. If you prefer to juice early in the morning without waking up the entire house, we recommend the masticating. It is slower but it operates with a more discreet noise compared with the centrifugal. Slow speeds are best for juicing soft fruits and veggies while high speeds are best for the hard ones.
Is it Easy to Use and Clean?
Regardless of the type you need, it is also important to take note of if it is user-friendly. It should be easy to assemble, operate, and disassemble for cleaning. To reduce the preparation time, look for a large feeding chute so you don’t have to cut things into smaller pieces. At the same time, it shouldn’t give you a hard time cleaning its parts.
Thus, it is best if your juicer’s pulp collector is located outside. This can help you remove the excess pulp without stopping the machine so it’s faster and more convenient to use.
Conclusion
Have you finally decided on the best juicer that suits your needs? Juicers vary in type, size, weight, extra features, and price. For the most affordable option, you might want to try the centrifugal. But if you’re fine with spending extra for quality, go for either a masticating or triturating ones.
While these are the three primary forms of juicers, you can also find a wide variety of niche juicers, suited for specific kinds of produce.
For instance, there are citrus juicers, which are specifically meant for juicing citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, grapefruits, and more, as well as wheatgrass juicers. There is also the traditional manual juicer, which can be a convenient, efficient option for some.