Juicer Buyers Guide

Decide Your Priorities

Before you purchase a juicer online, you need to decide what your priorities are. That will help you determine what’s the best juicer machine for your home. Ask yourself these questions.

• Do you need the best easy clean juicer?
• Is a quiet juicer required, so you don’t wake up the neighbours?
• Do you want a small juicer to fit into your small kitchen?
• Is nutritional yield a prime consideration?
• Are you planning to try leafy green juicing recipes?
• Do require an industrial juicer for a business?
• Do you need a heavy-duty juicer for a busy household?
• Do you prioritise juice quality or a juicer which is easy to use?
• Are you on a tight budget, and need the best affordable juice?

Juicers can be broken up into fast juicers and slow juicers. Let’s have a look at each type.

Fast Juicers

Fast Juicers spin at speeds between 5,000 and 15,000 revolutions per minute. These are also called Centrifugal Juicers.

Centrifugal Juicer

How Does It Work?

1. Chop your fruit and vegetables, push them into the feed chute on the top of the juicer.
2. Fruit/vegetables come into contact with a fast spinning filter basket, where it is chopped up into smaller pieces.
3. Centrifugal force pushes the produce towards the outer edge of the bowl.
4. The juice is extracted and falls through a fine mesh, and collected in the juice container.
5. The pulp is flung upwards and collected in a pulp container.

Centrifugal Juicers are fast-spinning juicers. They use centrifugal force to separate the juice from the pulp. Centrifugal Juicers are the most inexpensive juicer and are thus the most popular.

Pros:

• Very fast to extract the juice.
• Easy to use, making them great for beginners.
• Affordable juicer, widely known as the best value juicer, making them great for beginners.
• Lightweight and easy to move around the kitchen.
• The feed chute is often large, meaning fine chopping of produce is not necessary. Many fruits and vegetables can be fed whole.

Cons

• High level of noise, similar to a blender.
• Cleaning the screen can be difficult, requiring a special brush.
• Leafy greens do not go well in Centrifugal Juicers, extracting only a small amount of juice.
• Nutrition is not the best since the high speed and heat can cause nutrient losses.
• Fast juicers can become unstable, leading to vibrations and ‘walking’ across the kitchen bench.
• Juice must be drunk straight away. Otherwise, it tends to lose taste and nutrition.
• Most Centrifugal Juicers originate from China, and the quality is not as high as other Juicers.
• Warranties usually are less than slow juicers.
• Taste is not as good as with slow juicers.

The Santos #50C Centrifugal Juicer is a popular choice for juice bars.

Slow Juicers

There are three common types of Slow Juicers (also known as Cold Press Juicers). Vertical (Masticating), Horizontal (Masticating) and Twin Gear (Triturating).

Horizontal Masticating Juicer

These are also known as Cold Press Masticating Juicers.

How Does It work?

1. Chop your fruit and vegetables, push them into the feed chute on the top of the juicer.
2. Fruit/vegetables come into contact with a slowly rotating auger, where it squeezes the juice out of the produce.
3. The juice is squeezed out travels downwards through as screen, where it exits into the juice container.
4. The pulp is pulled towards the end of the screw nozzle, where it exits into a pulp container.

Pros:

1. Very quiet due to being a low-speed juicer.
2. Does not oxidise juice so that it can last for 2-3 days in the refrigerator.
3. Best slow juicer for ease of use, making them great for beginners. You don't have to push very hard on the fruit and vegetables in the feed chute.
4. Versatile with juicing recipes, can juice pretty much any fruit, vegetables or leafy greens.
5. The excellent yield of juice.
6. Easiest to clean all juicer types.
7. Best masticating juicer for extracting juice from leafy greens and wheatgrass.
8. Mid-priced, making them within reach of beginners.
9. Quality is often high, commonly manufactured in the USA or South Korea.
10. Warranties usually are excellent, typically ten years or more.

Cons:

1. Slower to extract the juice.
2. Smaller feed chute so better food preparation is required than with other juicers.
3. More force is required to push the product into the juicer using the food pusher.
4. Larger footprint than Vertical Juicers.

The Oscar Neo DA 1200 Horizontal Cold Press Juicer is one of Australia's best selling juicers.

Vertical Masticating Juicer

These are also known as Cold Press Masticating Juicers.

How Does It Work?

1. Chop your fruit and vegetables, push them into the feed chute on the top of the juicer.
2. Fruit/vegetables come into contact with a slowly rotating auger, where it squeezes the juice out of the produce.
3. The juice is squeezed out and sprays through a filter, where it is pushed down into the juice container.
4. The pulp is pulled towards the bottom of the bowl, where it exits into a pulp container. 

Pros:

1. Quite fast to extract the juice.
2. Very quiet due to being a slow-speed juicer.
3. Does not oxidise juice so that it can store for 2-3 days.
4. Easy to use, making them great for beginners.
5. Easy to clean compared to Centrifugal Juicers.
6. Suitable for extracting juice from leafy greens and wheatgrass.
7. Mid-priced, making them within reach of beginners.
8. Vertical Juicers have a small juicer footprint compared to other slow juicers.
9. Quality is often high, commonly manufactured in the USA or South Korea.
10. Warranties are generally excellent, typically ten years or more.

Cons:

1. Not as versatile as Horizontal Juicers.
2. Tall size, making them difficult to store in a kitchen cupboard.

The Kuvings C8000 Vertical Juicer is perfect for any kitchen.

Twin Gear (Triturating) Juicer

How Does it Work?

1. Chop your fruit and vegetables, push them into the feed chute on the top of the juicer.
2. Fruit/vegetables come into contact with two slowly rotating gears, where it squeezes the juice out of the produce.
3. The juice is squeezed out and sprays through a filter, where it is pushed down into the juice container.
4. The pulp is pulled towards the bottom of the bowl, where it exits into a pulp container.

Pros:

1. Twin Gear Juicers have the highest retention of nutrition of all juicers.
2. Fairly quiet.
3. Does not oxidise juice so that it can store for 2-3 days.
4. Easy to use, making them great for beginners.
5. Suitable for extracting juice from leafy greens and wheatgrass. All juicing recipes are possible.
6. High yield of juice, making them the best juice extractor in terms of volume.
7. Twin Gear Juicers have a smaller footprint than other slow juicers.
8. Twin gear Juicers are usually the highest quality juicer, commonly manufactured in the USA or South Korea.
9. Warranties usually are outstanding, typically ten years or more.

Cons:

1. Slower to extract the juice.
2. Smaller feed chute so better food preparation is required than with other juicers.
3. More force is required to push the fruit and vegetables into the juicer using the food pusher.
4. Larger footprint than Vertical Juicers.
5. Expensive compared to other juicer types.
6. Heavy juicer weight, making them difficult to move around the kitchen.
7. May be slightly more difficult to clean.
8. May be slightly more difficult to assemble.

The Angel Juicer 8500 Twin Gear Cold Press Juicer is the 'Rolls Royce' of juicers.