Types of Juicers

There are so many different juicers available it can be confusing to figure out which one is best. Different juicers are good for different things and there are some advantages and disadvantages to each so first it is important to know what you are looking for.

Things to look for might include:

The centrifugal juicer is one of the oldest designs. This is the most common, the one that is in most stores and on all those infomercials. This juicer has a grater or shredder disc at the bottom of a strainer basket, which spins at very high speeds something like a washing machine, averaging around 3600 rpm. The cut produce is flung out against the sides and centrifugal force pushes the juice out through the holes of the strainer basket. The juice generally comes out of the front of the machine and the pulp stays inside, except for with the centrifugal ejection juicers, which are mainly sold to and used in juice bars. With these, the pulp comes out a chute on the side and, because of the short period of time the pulp is in contact with the basket, these machines spin even faster, usually 7200 rpm! Noise levels in juicers are dependant on their speed, generally the higher the rpm the louder it is making these the noisiest juicers. The main advantage of the centrifugal juicer is that you can put whole produce in. Convenient, yes! But you pay for this convenience as they are the least healthy of all juicers. The faster a juicer spins the more the juice gets oxidized destroying valuable enzymes and nutrients. The less expensive of these machines have small motors and the biggest complaint is that they get overstrained and burn out easily. But the biggest disadvantages are that the strainers of these are huge and are a pain to clean. Also they do not juice greens well and wheat-grass is simply impossible.

This brings us to the masticating machines of which there are several different types. The Champion was the first one to come out in the 50's. This is the only juicer with 'teeth'. It first grates, then masticates, or chews, the pulp to break down the cell wall structure and then squeezes the pulp to extract the juice. This juicer gives a greater yield than the centrifugal but leafy greens are still difficult to juice, they get stuck in the teeth. It runs slower than the centrifugal at 1425 rpm but is still fast compared to the innovative low-speed gear juicers which came out in the 90's.

The two main gear juicers are the single auger and the twin gear presses. Both operate at low speeds, 70 - 120 rpm, and the produce is crushed, no spinning or grating, which preserves the enzymes and nutrients. These machines produce the highest quality juice. With these your juice is 'living' and comes out as cold as the produce that you put in. Leafy greens, including wheat-grass, are now possible. These machines have other functions also: they have pasta extractor nozzles, they grind vegetables and nuts, they make great nut butters, baby food and amazing frozen banana 'ice-cream'. These are by far the easiest of all juicers to clean. I use and recommend a single auger juicer, which has fewer parts and is a breeze to clean. It comes with a brush - like a large toothbrush and you just use this on the little cone strainer and inside, rinse and it's done. This type of juicer is also much less expensive than the twin gear. The twin gear's advantage is that the juice yield is slightly higher. However, taking in all considerations and although both are excellent juicers, I feel the single gear juicer is the best value for the price.