Help with juicers please!

[subbacultcha]

Hi everyone,
I currently have an old but barely used Kenwood juicer. It does the job I guess but the pulp it produces is always really wet and it feels like I'm being wasteful, which I hate hate hate. It's also a complete pain to wash up, can't handle greens and is pretty slow and really loud. I want to sell it and get a new one. I am looking for one that can handle greens (not really bothered about wheatgrass though), is easy to wash up and is not too loud. Any advice? I have very very little knowledge about juicers. If anyone knows a good place other than ebay which I will check out that I can look for second hand juicers (UK) please let me know!

[Revvell]

These'll probably confuse you ~ but then, so will everyone's answers...

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=36469&highlight=juicers

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=36655&highlight=juicers

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=35146&highlight=juicers

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=36317&highlight=juicers

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=35489&highlight=juicers

[subbacultcha]

Thanks for the links Revvell I will give the threads a read. Another thing I forgot to mention before was that I need to be able to get it in the UK. I am not really bothered about things like ice cream and nut butters as I have a vita-mix but they would be nice I guess.

[dalimeindacoconut]

I've got a $400 juicer in storage. Found a $15 juicer at the Goodwill, but was missing the pulp catcher so I decided to just go out and buy another one. Also, I find the easier I make it for myself the more I am insuring that I will do something. Tonite I went out and bought Jack LaLanne's Juicer for $108 total. It is absolutely fabulous and to my wonderful surprise it even juices wheatgrass. This is unheard of. One cannot juice wheatgrass in a juicer, well you couldn't 10 years ago anyway when I bought my $400 juicer. It rocks! It's quiet, easy to use, the chute is huge so you can put whole fruits and veges in there without having to chop, very easy to clean and it's working for me. Just made a tomatoe and celery drink with a dash of pepper as I wanted something not sweet. It hit the spot. I'm so happy. Tomorrow morning I can't wait to juice something wonderful! Would love to hear what you buy.

[raweater]

I've just done a ton of research to get a new juicer, as I had gotten a centrifugical Breville a few years ago which was one of the worst purchases of my life.

After my research, I decided on the Green Star, here's why:
-Centrifugical juicers destroy most of the vitamins, making colored sugared water instead of real raw juice, this means you can drink gallons of this stuff, get nearly no nutrition at all and a major sugar overdose, so juice from these is about as healthy as white refined sugar
-Auger style juicers, from my research it seems that 100% or almost of the Omega 8000 auger style juicers grind their own plastic into the juice, again this means these juicers are out if you want healthy juice, if this occurs on nearly 100% of the Omegas, I can only imagine the other brand auger style juicers may also have this issue, so I decided auger type juicers aren't safe at all
-This left me with metal twin gear juicers like the green star.

On top of not destroying vitamins, not grinding in toxic plastic, here are other significant advantages:
-Extracts 33% more juice than auger style juicers
-Extracts 50-200% more vitamins/minerals in the juice with a magnetic and infrared technology (tastes much better and prevents sugar overdose as you will feel full from the vitamins and stop drinking it once you have enough)
-Works with soft fruits like oranges and tomatoes, the auger style juicers have trouble with these
-Pulp pressure adjusting knob, you can increase the pressure for hard things like carrots and reduce it for soft things like oranges
-Makes juice that is stable for 3 days rather than just 15 minutes like other juicers

The only issue is it is a bit harder to clean (2-3 more parts than the Omega 8000 auger juicers) but can still be cleaned in less than 5 minutes.

[subbacultcha]

The Green Star sounds good but it is way out of my price range. There's no way I can afford it, at least not until I'm a grown-up :p I think I will look at the Jack LaLanne as it looks like I can get it cheaply and if it juices wheatgrass that is an added bonus!

[2inlovewithraw]

i second the jack lalane juicer. it is great. do you have a bed bath and beyond store near your if you do. sometimes they have coupons they send out for 20% off any item. so i got mine for 80. if you have a store but not the coupon let me know and i will mail one to you.

[Time2bloom4me]

I have a norwalk juicer, supposed to extract the most nutrition out of all fruits and vegies. It also will do wheat grass. It does take time to use and is expensive. I also have a champion which is very quick and easy to use and clean. The pulp is a little wet. Not as much juice is extracted, but it is built to last forever. I got mine Norwalk used for $500. The Champion I found used for $50.00. I also have a sampson 6 in one which again I got used for about $50.00. It juices everything well, but you have to cut everything up small and it is slow to make juice. The pulp comes out dryer than the champion. Its parts are plastic. I used to have a greenstar but it cracked, took forever to juice with it. It juiced everything. It was also difficult to use. It took all my strength to make carrot juice. It worked well with greens.

I would if I had only one would get the Champion. Though it does not do wheat grass, it works fairly well, is quick to clean, makes really good juice and parts if needed are easy to find on the internet.

[raweater]

The Green Star sounds good but it is way out of my price range. There's no way I can afford it, at least not until I'm a grown-up :p I think I will look at the Jack LaLanne as it looks like I can get it cheaply and if it juices wheatgrass that is an added bonus!

That's what I also thought, but I found a place that sells it for $340 new, still very expensive, but better than $450. I decided to delay my raw food order by a few months in order to afford the extra cost of the green star (my original plan was to get an Omage... uh... Omage... Omega 8005, Soyabella milk maker and raw food order with my christmas money, but when I learnt of the Omega's issues I decided the Green Star was the only choice).

[raweater]

I used to have a greenstar but it cracked, took forever to juice with it. It juiced everything. It was also difficult to use. It took all my strength to make carrot juice.

Did you get the green star used also? Was the manual included? It explains what to do so carrots aren't hard to push through, I guess you didn't have or read the manual. You should wlays read the manual of any juicer you use, many will require special methods of juicing different items.

The Green Star also extracts much more nutrition and juice than the Norwalk, independant studies have confirmed this.

[mousebandit]

Do you have to have one of the expensive juicers to do wheatgrass at all, or will a cheaper one do them, maybe just do an inferior job? Or could you use your blender, and then just strain it? I am really wanting to do some wheatgrass, but with a baby coming and midwife bills (no insurance), it is not looking good until fall, at least, LOL! However, I don't mind burning up $10-$15 used juicers or blenders every few months until then, if I can get even a portion of the benefits of wheatgrass juice!

Mouse Bandit

[subbacultcha]

I have a norwalk juicer, supposed to extract the most nutrition out of all fruits and vegies. It also will do wheat grass. It does take time to use and is expensive. I also have a champion which is very quick and easy to use and clean. The pulp is a little wet. Not as much juice is extracted, but it is built to last forever. I got mine Norwalk used for $500. The Champion I found used for $50.00. I also have a sampson 6 in one which again I got used for about $50.00. It juices everything well, but you have to cut everything up small and it is slow to make juice. The pulp comes out dryer than the champion. Its parts are plastic. I used to have a greenstar but it cracked, took forever to juice with it. It juiced everything. It was also difficult to use. It took all my strength to make carrot juice. It worked well with greens.

I would if I had only one would get the Champion. Though it does not do wheat grass, it works fairly well, is quick to clean, makes really good juice and parts if needed are easy to find on the internet.

I do like the sound of the champion, and Karen Knowler recommends it...But can it handle leafy greens? I am not really fussed about the wheatgrass but I will want to be juicing a lot of greens...

[subbacultcha]

Do you have to have one of the expensive juicers to do wheatgrass at all, or will a cheaper one do them, maybe just do an inferior job? Or could you use your blender, and then just strain it? I am really wanting to do some wheatgrass, but with a baby coming and midwife bills (no insurance), it is not looking good until fall, at least, LOL! However, I don't mind burning up $10-$15 used juicers or blenders every few months until then, if I can get even a portion of the benefits of wheatgrass juice!

Mouse Bandit
If you get a juicer that is not meant for wheatgrass the likelihood is if you try to juice wheatgrass it will just end up wrapped around the blades :(

[subbacultcha]

I think I am leaning towards the Jack LaLanne, as I can get it pretty cheap. does anyone know how easy it is to wash up? My current juicer is really hard to get clean.

[subbacultcha]

I hadn't heard of this before, but I just came across it.
It sounds pretty good to me, does anyone have any experience with it?
It sounds similar to the Champion but slightly cheaper and easier to clean and can apparently juice wheatgrass.

[raweater]

Do you have to have one of the expensive juicers to do wheatgrass at all, or will a cheaper one do them, maybe just do an inferior job? Or could you use your blender, and then just strain it? I am really wanting to do some wheatgrass, but with a baby coming and midwife bills (no insurance), it is not looking good until fall, at least, LOL! However, I don't mind burning up $10-$15 used juicers or blenders every few months until then, if I can get even a portion of the benefits of wheatgrass juice!

Mouse Bandit

It must be a juicer that an do wheatgrass, most cheaper juicers will throw the wheatgrass immediately into the pulp bin untouched.

However, there are $40-60 options, there are manual hand crank wheatgrass juicers which would do the job.

[raweater]

subbacultcha: How about one of those hand crank ones? You'd get quality juice like the $300 machines but from a $40-60 juicer, and it would make leafy greens (most centrifugicals throw those out unjuiced). Only dissadvantage is you have to hand crank, if I wanted a low cost juicer, and having myself seen how poor the centrifugical ones are (I unfortunately bought one, and deeply regreted it), I'd get a hand crank, it extracts MUCH more juice and will not destroy nutrients.

Also, have you ever tried a centrifugical juicer or tasted the juice from them? I highly recommend you try them before buying one, they basically make colored sugared water, not juice, which is very unhealthy and easy to do a sugar overdose (you're getting almost only sugar and no nutrition from these juices). I would not recommend a centrifugical juicer to anyone, I would recommend having nothing at all over one of those (better for your health than loading yourself up on refined sugar). That's why I highly recommend agaisnt them and recommend the hand crank juicers for $40-60, not only do they cost about the same or less, they extract a LOT more juice (= savings) and much more nutrients (= not refined sugar comming out of the machine).

I haven't gotten my green star yesterday and made a carrot orange juice in my centrifugical juicer yesterday, it was tasteless and my friends also agreed. Centrifugical juicers are not juicers, they are refined liquid sugar making machines IMO.

[Tirza]

I was using a Champion all the time for carrots, etc. But it doesn't do wheatgrass. So I got a hand crank juicer which does all juices and also does wheatgrass.
I really like the idea of having something that I can take on a trip that doesn't take up much packing space or weight, or depend on no power or a different current. Also like to be prepared in case of power outages. However, I got a little impatient with it since it does take a bit of time and my arm got a bit sore. (If I had persisted, the arm would have gotten stronger!)
So I got one of the slow-speed juicers that make the pulp very dry. Surprise, surprise ! - ! it doesn't go so much faster than my hand cranked juicer!!
So I would highly recommend that you get a hand cranking one if you are a bit cash-strapped. Then you will also have it on hand for those other benefits mentioned above.

[subbacultcha]

subbacultcha: How about one of those hand crank ones? You'd get quality juice like the $300 machines but from a $40-60 juicer, and it would make leafy greens (most centrifugicals throw those out unjuiced). Only dissadvantage is you have to hand crank, if I wanted a low cost juicer, and having myself seen how poor the centrifugical ones are (I unfortunately bought one, and deeply regreted it), I'd get a hand crank, it extracts MUCH more juice and will not destroy nutrients.

Also, have you ever tried a centrifugical juicer or tasted the juice from them? I highly recommend you try them before buying one, they basically make colored sugared water, not juice, which is very unhealthy and easy to do a sugar overdose (you're getting almost only sugar and no nutrition from these juices). I would not recommend a centrifugical juicer to anyone, I would recommend having nothing at all over one of those (better for your health than loading yourself up on refined sugar). That's why I highly recommend agaisnt them and recommend the hand crank juicers for $40-60, not only do they cost about the same or less, they extract a LOT more juice (= savings) and much more nutrients (= not refined sugar comming out of the machine).

I haven't gotten my green star yesterday and made a carrot orange juice in my centrifugical juicer yesterday, it was tasteless and my friends also agreed. Centrifugical juicers are not juicers, they are refined liquid sugar making machines IMO.

I have a centrifugical juicer and it is really not good. I juiced tomatoes in it once and it was really watery. It is also a major pain to wash up and produces very wet pulp.

I'm now thinking of getting a hand-held one and asking for a masticating juicer for my birthday in October, probably the Champion.

[Tirza]

The Champion is a pretty good juicer, even though it does yield wetter pulp than the single or twin auger types. And it is cheaper than those types. You can likely even find one for very cheap, second hand. Nothing to go wrong with them and parts are readily available.

Most people use one of these two solutions: Put the pulp through a couple of more times. It definitely squeezes it out further, but adds a fair amount of foam to the juice. You also get a little bit of sediment with the Champion. If that doesn't bother you, fine. But if it does, you can line your container with one of those nut milk bags or some other fine straining cloth. The juice goes right into the bag in the container - you lift that out and squeeze the juice from the little bit of pulp that is in there and you have pretty nice clear juice.

Speaking of squeezing, that is the other solution for the wet pulp. Actually the renowned Walker (I think?) two-step juicing system is based on that - you first reduce the produce to a pulp with a fine grinder, then put the pulp into a bag and squeeze the juice out of it with the use of a pressing mechanism. The pulp gets very dry that way. Apparently some really important nutrients are salvaged that way, by squeezing the cells of the pulp out that dry. I did that for awhile, by putting it through the Champion, with the pulp and the juice going into their respective containers which were both lined with a nut milk bag. Then I squeezed it out by hand. I actually got a good cup extra of juice (starting from about 8 big carrots) by squeezing the pulp that way. I squeezed it and wrung it by hand-which didn't take all that long. Although it was a bit messy and my hands were a bit orange until I washed them with soap, it wasn't too bad.

I have noticed that since I am getting older, my hands don't have as much strength in them as they used to have. So instead of buying a squeezing ball or some such thing for exercise, I do my juice and get strengthening exercise for my hands!!! Amazing, eh? We can actually regain or maintain our fitness by doing things the way our forefathers/mothers did things! What a concept! I used to be all for step-saving kitchen designs and labour-saving appliances, but am slowly getting back to the idea of doing things in less expensive, (ultimately less time consuming) ways that actually result in better physical health for me. sorry--I got off on a tangent;)

[subbacultcha]

..........

[subbacultcha]

Oh, apparently the Oscar Vitalmax 900 is the same as the Omega 8003! I was wondering why I hadn't heard of it. Must be a UK/US thing.

So, Oscar/Omega or Champion?

I will get a handheld juicer which I will be buying soon for greens...Is the Easy Health a good one?

Thank you all very much for your informative and detailed responses everyone! I am really grateful, I have no clue about juicers!

[mousebandit]

I'd be very interested in recommendations for the hand crank juicers as well! This sounds like a great idea, and very economical!

Thanks!
Tracey

[FloridaPatty]

It does wheatgrass and just about everything else. I got it for $209 plus free shipping. The site I got it off of has a comparison of it with several other juices. I love it. Does a great job.

I have a Champion. It doesn't do wheatgrass. You also have to chop up the celery or it doesn't juice it. It's a pain to clean. I rarely used it. I had to go outside to clean it because I don't have a disposal in my sink and there was a lot of the smashed pulp in the grinding area. The Solo II is very easy. 90% is already out of the machine.

vitalityplus1.com

[CrazyDelicious]

I love love love my champion juicer.
I have had it a long time - it is indestructible! It juices everything I want, and I use it for homogenizing pates and ice cream. I don't find it a pain to clean compared to my old centrifugal which required special tools to clean it. It is fast enough that I make juice/clean juicer in the am before I go to work - would never have done this with old juicer. I don't juice wheatgrass though - for the amount of wheatgrass I drink, it makes more sense to buy it by the shot than buy the equipment and grass.