When shopping for a juicer, you’ll find that they come in many different shapes and sizes. There has been a dramatic rise in the percentage of the population that has embraced healthy eating. Many people are doing away with fattening and unhealthy processed food and snacks and are turning to healthy and organic food alternatives that utilize fruits and vegetables. This “green movement” has lead to a dramatic rise in the sales of juicers of all kinds and varieties.
Juicing is a terrific way to cram an entire serving of fruit into a 12 ounce cup. Juicing also gives you the benefit of being able to drink the juice right after it’s been extracted. When bottled juices hit the shelves, they’ve already lost a lot of crucial antioxidants and nutrients. Many store bought juices are even hydrogenated or pasteurized, which means the manufacturer heated the juice in order to kill bacteria. This process destroys many essential nutrients in vegetables and fruit, causing it denature. This is why a juicer is an essential appliance if you want to get all the nutritional benefits of drinking juice and vegetables.
After painstakingly analyzing, reviewing and comparing a number of different juicers, we chose three units that we considered to be the cream of the crop.
Best Overall: Omega J8006 Masticating Juicer
The Omega J8006 is, in our opinion, the best juicer currently on the market. It is our top pick and we give it our highest recommendation. It’s inarguably the #1 masticating juicer on the market, and is touted by juicing aficianados as one of the most reliable and durable juicers around. The Omega J8006 runs at a low 80 RPM’s in order to extract the juice out of fruits and veggies without creating heat build-up, oxidation or foam. This juicer works by “squeezing” the juice out of foods instead of grinding them. The juice created will retain all of the natural food enzymes your body needs to stay healthy. These enzymes also work to maintain the juice’s freshness. Moreover, this juicer uses a 2-step juicing process that works by first crushing the food, and then crushing the pulp. This results in an extremely dry pulp and a high juice yield, as every bit of juice is squeezed out of the food.
The Omega J8006 is a truly versatile, multi-functional appliance that can not only make juice, but can also be used to make baby food, coffee grinds, pasta, peanut butter, and much more. This juicer also utilizes a proprietary stone screw which gives it considerably more auger power. You can really notice the difference it makes when extracting broccoli or carrot juice. The juicer is also very easy to clean and has a 15 year warranty to boot, giving you the ultimate peace of mind.
Best Value: Breville JE98XL Juice Fountain Plus Centrifugal Juicer
If you’re looking to get the best “bang for your buck,” look no further than the Breville JE98XL Juice Fountain Plus. This product is loaded with value. First of all, it has a powerful 850-watt motor with the ability to set it at 2 diifferent speeds, a low 6,500 RPM – for soft fruits like oranges and kiwis – up to a high-velocity 12,000 RPM’s for tough veggies and fruits. It also has an extra wide feed chute that will allow you to juice even the largest of fruits and vegetables, which will minimize the preparation and cutting work. The Breville JE98XL also creates a very dry pulp, which in turn gives you a very high juice yield. Additionally, it has a stainless steel filter basket and blades that will never corrode no matter how long or how often you use the juicer.
It also comes with a large juice jug with a built-in pulp separator, as well as an overload protection mechanism that prevents the unit from over heating by automatically turning the juicer off when the machine is overloaded. Moreover, all of the parts are safe to use in your dishwasher (no handwashing required here). The Breville JE98XL is just a terrific juicer all around, and with a price of just under $150, it’s one of the best deals around. This machine feels and performs like a juicer that should be priced much higher than it is. The only potential negative is that it “only” has a 1 year warranty, but in our opinion it’s more than good enough considering it’s a Breville, which means you’re getting a very high quality and durable piece of machinery.
Best Budget Model: Hamilton Beach 67608A Centrifugal Juicer
If you’re looking for something affordable but don’t want to sacrifice too much in the way of quality, then the Hamilton Beach 67608A is your best bet. It’s priced very affordably at just under $60, making it great for people with limited budgets. The Hamilton Beach 67608A was designed for people who just need a simple juicer that will get the job done without any frills, gimmicks or hoopla.
Although the Hamilton Beach 67608A doesn’t have all the latest and greatest “bells and whistles” of some of the higher end models on the market, it’s still a fairly good juicer, especially when you take into consideration how cheap it is. The Hamilton Beach “Big Mouth” Juicer was once named the most efficient juicer in a leading gourmet magazine, which is very high praise for such a bargain-priced juicer. Just because it’s relatively inexpensive doesn’t mean it’s a weakling. It still possesses a respectable 800-watt motor that can easily extract the juice from an apple in about 3 seconds.
In addition, the main body of the juicer is made out of durable stainless steel, which is not only easy to clean but gives it a very aesthetic appearance as well. It’s juice spout is positioned high so that the juice pours out directly into your prefered cup or container. Another great feature of this juicer is that its 20 ounce juice container can also be used as a pitcher, allowing you to easilly fill up multiple glasses for guests or other family members. Additionally, all of the plastic parts are dishwasher safe.
How To Select The Best Juicer
Juicer Type
Which type of juicer is best for you depends on your purpose for juicing and what your budget is. There are essentially 2 different types of juicers: centrifugal and masticating. A centrifugal juicer is probably the most optimal for busy professionals and people who are always short on time. They produce juice the quickly and are generally easier to clean. They operate by first slicing the veggies/fruits and then spinning it at super high speeds to whip the juice out.
They do tend to produce a bit of waste, however, which many people naturally do not like, and tend to be less efficient than masticating juicers which produce higher juice yields. Additionally, they generate heat which can destroy some fo the vitamins and nutrients in the juice. But having said that, centrifugal juicers are still the quickest and most convenient type of juicer.
Masticating juicers, on the other hand, run at low speeds and do not create heat, leaving the vitamins and nutrients in foods intact. These are the best juicers to buy if your goas is to preserve as much of the vitamin content in food as possible.
Single Vs. Double Auger
Single auger/gear is the less costly type of masticating juicer, however they’re less durable than the dual augert models. They can still be used to juice anything from pineapples to wheat grass to leafy vegetables, but you shouldn’t overdo it, as the gears may not hold up under heavy stress. A double auger juicer, however, will easilly churn through just about anything due to 2 revolving gears that mash against each other. Since they utilize 2 gears, more power and lower speeds, you can expect these juicers to last you quite a long time.
Maintenance Friendly
Not all juicers have parts that come off easily and some have interlocked components that can take time assembling/disassembling. The ideal juicer is one that you can take apart easily to clean the interior of it. It’s also important to get a juicer that get be run in reverse, as it allows you to unclog the gears and wash it out without having to take it apart.
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