Picking the best juicers for home is not just about brands and costs. What matters is what you need from your juicer. There are a few things to consider when picking your juicer so you’re not just throwing your money away on something that doesn’t meet your expectations.
Let’s look at some important features that juicers do and don’t have to help you narrow down what is best for you!
What Types of Juicers Are There?
There are 2 main types of home juicers:
- The Centrifugal Juicer
- The Masticating Juicer (also referred to as the slow juicer or cold press juicer)
Both juicers have pros and cons to them but understanding what you will want from your juicer can make your decision and ability to find the best juicer for you much easier!
The centrifugal juicer is the most common juicer found in kitchens due to its lower price and fast speed of juicing. These juicers usually start at about $100 making them affordable for everyone.
However these machines don’t deliver as many nutrients and leave a lot of juice behind in the discarded pulp. If you want to use leafy greens or fresh herbs, the centrifugal isn’t the best choice for you.
The masticating juicers are a little higher in price but offer more juicing capabilities than just squeezing juice from your produce.
Most masticating juicers can make nut butters, nut milks, fresh sorbets and baby foods. This is a wonderful feature for those looking to incorporate more varieties of unprocessed foods into your diets.
Adding spinach, kale and other leafy greens along with fresh herbs into your juice is possible with the masticating juicers. The slow speed and the auger systems allow you to get the most juice from your leafy greens.
The 4 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Buying Your Juicer
- How much of the nutrients from my produce will I actually get from my juicer?
- What is my price range?
- Do you just want to make simple juices or do you want the ability to make juices with leafy greens, wheat grass and fresh herbs?
- Are you looking to make fresh baby foods or nut butters, or the ability to make nut milks?
What Do You Want to Juice and How Much of The Nutrients do You Want From Your Juice?
If you are looking to just make some simple juices such as orange juice, pineapple juice or veggie juices, you will probably be perfectly happy with the centrifugal juicers.
This type of juicer is fast, easy and generally on the less expensive side of the juicer family. It’s capable of making simple juices without a problem and is great for you if you aren’t looking to make other things like nut butters.
The centrifugal juicers have a simple design. When you push your produce through the shoot it’s pushed against a flat blade, The high speed from the motor causes a centrifugal force that pushes the cut produce against the strainer below. The strainer keeps the produce pulp and waste in place while the juice is forced through and empties into a container.
Because of the high speed and simple components of the centrifugal juicers, they are not ideal for leafy greens. You could use them but you’ll be more likely to clog the strainer rather than get much juice from them. You will find large pieces of your leafy greens left behind to either be discarded or attempt to put back through the juicer.
Centrifugal juicers produce a high heat because of the fast motor needed to create a centrifugal force for juice extracting. The higher heat causes your juice to have more foam and will break down very quickly. You will also have a loss in vital nutrients from the heat but even with this, you’re still getting a lot more vitamins and minerals than you do with a store bought juice.
What if you’re looking to use all varieties of produce?
What if you’re looking to use all varieties of produce?If you’re looking to use both hard and soft varieties of produce, along with leafy greens, wheat grass and fresh herbs, you’ll want to consider the masticating juicers.
The masticating juicers have the ability to get the most juice out of all your produce because they don’t just cut and push your ingredients into juice like the centrifugal juicers do.
The masticating juicers work at a slower speed and use auger blades to chew and grind your juicing ingredients instead of being pushed against a flat blade and crushed like the centrifugal juicers. Your juice may take a little longer to make but you can enjoy it up to 72 hours after your finished without loosing nutrients or finding your juice has separated.
What do You Want to Make With Your Juicer and How Much Are You Willing to Spend?
Juicers come in a wide range of prices from $100 to over a $1000 to buy. Depending on how much of a juicing enthusiast you are and what you want to make with your juicer will determine what you’re going to spend.
Many of the masticating juicers have the ability to not only make juice but grind coffee beans, make fresh butters, turn frozen produce into sorbets or smoothies, make baby foods, even create fresh nut milks, pastas or grind meats.
The centrifugal juicers are the least expensive and are perfect if you’re just looking to juice simple recipes without the use of leafy greens, wheat grass or fresh herbs. They will work wonderfully to get a lot of juice from your basic fruits and veggies, just plan to drink your finished juice immediately after it’s done. Making larger batches of juice at a time to consume later is definitely an option but there will be a loss of nutrients.
The masticating juicers have the ability to break down all types of fruits, veggies, herbs, leafy greens, wheat grass and nuts, giving you more versatility and uses for your juicer, just plan on spending a little more money.
You’ll spend at the least $150 on the low end for a good masticating juicer to as much as $1000 or more. If you want a juicer that can handle everything you want to make and not just simple juicing then you may want to consider a larger investment for your juicing machine.
So What’s The Best Juicer For You?
Now that you have a better understanding of what each variety of juicer can do or not do, you should be able to make a decision of what type of juicer you need.
Next, let’s take a look at each juicer more in depth so you can choose the model that will be the best for your lifestyle. Click on the Juicer you are looking to buy, the centrifugal or masticating juicers to learn more about how they work.
You will also find reviews for the top juicers in both the masticating and centrifugal categories, to help you make a better investment with the perfect juicer for your kitchen