How is the Green Star at juicing fruits?

[MOTH]

Hey, I'm juice fasting right now, and I'm doing everything pretty much manually, with hand-squeezing through a strainer bag and all. I'm feeling like I need a juicer...and I know the Green Star is the best. I would like to have such an efficient juicer, but how is it known only for its ability to juice greens? I love fruit juice...how is it at juicing fruits?

[Aleesha Sattva]

From the research I did before I got my juicer... the green star seemed to be the porsche of juicers. I'm not sure if there's anything it can't juice.

Here's their webpage complete with videos: http://www.greenstar.com/index.asp

[MOTH]

I think I'm gonna splurge and get one. Within the next week or so.

...I'm a little nervous because if I do, this will be one of the biggest purchases I've ever made.

But I am SO EXCITED about not having to strain my juices for 10 minutes everytime I want some, and about the possibility of juicing anything I desire in life. :-)

[Aleesha Sattva]

I would looooooooooooooooooove to have a greenstar... but I have a champion so I'll probably never get one.

Make a juice for me!!! *clinks glasses together*

[Marin Mom]

I have the Greenstar. It takes a little getting used to as far as taking apart and cleaning, and it is big and clunky, but having said that it is excellant for greens. It practically "eats up" kale all by itself.

It does juice fruits and veggies too but you trade off on the different plungers that come with it, bearing lots of weight down when you do hard ones like carrots for example. When you do oranges I learned from the website to loosen the gears a bit before starting which does help.

The pulp comes out nice and dry and it takes about 6 minutes for me to clean when done. I'm happy with it.

[Aleesha Sattva]

Wow 6 minutes eh? My champion takes about 60 seconds to clean.

[saxmaam]

Wow 6 minutes eh? My champion takes about 60 seconds to clean.

I think you're a CHAMPION champion cleaner! I'm sure it takes me 6 minutes to clean my Champion. I wish I was faster.

Susan

[Aleesha Sattva]

seriously? 6 minutes? i can't even imagine it taking that long. it's soooo simple.

i'll happily carry that title though... champion champion cleaner LOL CCC LOL

[saxmaam]

seriously? 6 minutes? i can't even imagine it taking that long. it's soooo simple.
LOL

You keep the title!

Lessee ... I use my fingers or a tool to clean pulp out of the "main chamber" (pulp sticks to the sides) and then rinse it well. Ditto the screen, using the brush to clear the tiny holes. Then there's usually some stringy stuff sticking to the metal parts of the auger and I use a paring knife to pick that off, and then I rinse the auger. Then rinse the pusher and the funnel thingy. It might take MORE than 6 minutes!

Hey ... uh ... maybe you could make an award winning video of the 60-second cleanup :).

[Aleesha Sattva]

okay this is what i do. i start the water running... rinse the "food pusher downer" thing LOL (i'm getting technical on ya so you better put on your thinking cap)... and set it aside.

then i push the auger out, run my finger nails down each side of every metal piece... it's done. set aside.

then i run water through the screen while rubbing it with a washing cloth. done. - set aside.

then i run water through the larger piece... (the last one to be done) and rub my fingers through. i put my hand at the bottom to 'fill it up' with water and let it go. flushes it nicely. done.

honestly... i can time myself but i guarantee 60 seconds would give me time to drink some juice afterwards LOL

i can't even imagine 6 minutes.

if i had the ability to make a vid... i would. hmmm maybe i can. *thinking*

[saxmaam]

Definitely make the video!

But I think I have an idea where the discrepancy comes from. I live in the desert southwest and for a long time had my own well. Some of my neighbors' wells went dry. Eeek!! So I'm fussy about saving water. Also I'm fussy about getting all my food waste into the compost pile.

Still, I doubt I'd get my time down to 60 seconds.

Susan

[Aleesha Sattva]

i'm on a well too... but don't have to worry about water although in less than 60 seconds... i'm not using all that much.

sorry susan... i AM the champion champion cleaner and although i would love to train you to be number two... alas... http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x87/recyclinggoddess/thwootwoot.gif I'M NUMBER ONE. http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x87/recyclinggoddess/thdance2.gif I'M NUMBER ONE. http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x87/recyclinggoddess/thcheer3.gif I'M NUMBER ONE. http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x87/recyclinggoddess/th135013812451.gif

[Stina]

I have the Greenstar. It takes a little getting used to as far as taking apart and cleaning, and it is big and clunky, but having said that it is excellant for greens. It practically "eats up" kale all by itself.

It does juice fruits and veggies too but you trade off on the different plungers that come with it, bearing lots of weight down when you do hard ones like carrots for example. When you do oranges I learned from the website to loosen the gears a bit before starting which does help.

The pulp comes out nice and dry and it takes about 6 minutes for me to clean when done. I'm happy with it.

Hey, what do you mean by loosening up the gears? I've got a Greenstar and I'm curious.

[Marin Mom]

Sorry for the confusion. I meant loosening the round knob in the front a bit. So it is not screwed tight, but unwound an inch or so. Hope that makes sense.

[JEN]

I have a greenstar and I love it except I dont like how citrus tastes from it. It always has the taste of the pith(spelling??). I have a Breville 800 that I use for my citrus. I love it!!! I have gotten to where I make mosts of my juice in my vitamix and then strain it thru paint strainer bags. Its much easier and faster and cleanup in nothing really. I do love using the blank plate in my greenstar for ice creams and sorbets. Hope this helps.

[MOTH]

Thanks guys, I appreciate your replies. I'm fluctuating a bit with what I think I should get. I have been considering the champion, except it doesn't do greens well. I'm still thinking of the Green Star, just because although I am a fruit lover, you never know when I might need to get green. As for citrus, I have a separate citrus juicer I can use for that. Of course I could always get a nice blender and then just strain, but I'm tired of having juicy hands when I'm juicing a bunch of stuff, hah. And I spend like 10/15 minutes squeezing the bag to get all the juice out and still end up with really wet pulp.

So I think I'm just gonna have to go for the Green Monster. (who knows how much counterspace I'll have left, haha)

[Aleesha Sattva]

Another option is to get a Champion and one of these (http://www.healthyjuicer.com/)... I expect mine anytime and my friend who has one says it's amazing on greens and wheatgrass. Both are less $$ than a Greenstar.

*link to Healthy Juicer (http://www.healthyjuicer.com/)*

[MOTH]

Wow, that looks awesome! You know, I think I'll give 'the Champion' another look and then if I need greens, I may just get the Healthy Juicer. (hey, it does spinach too! The green I juice most often)

Aleesha, I read that you put the pulp back through the Champion to get it really dry. I'm glad...one of the reasons why I need to get a juicer is because I get worried I lose nutrients in the pulp.

[Aleesha Sattva]

I pretty much always put my pulp back through a second time... I'm one of those "can't waste a drop" girls... so if I can get another 1/2 cup by putting it through again, I do LOL I even add a bit of water to assist more juice to come out.

I haven't received the healthy juicer yet so I don't know if it does spinach but I do spinach in my Champion. When I do a green in it, I push through a carrot or apple right behind it. Works for me. I cut my celery 'strings' every few inches but still leave it whole (or cut it into pieces) and always put it through last so if the strings get wound up inside... I'm done juicing anyway and can just clean it.

At first I was pretty raw juicing... but over time, you really do figure out ways to make it work.

Oh and the only pulp that is really moist coming out of my champion is tomato and pineapple. The rest are pretty dry. Especially compared to the brevilles I've had in the past!

[Ilse W.]

I don't know, Aleesha, I had just bought a Healthy Juicer a couple of weeks ago and returned it yesterday, opting for part of my money back rather than keeping the juicer. I put my wheatgrass through 10 times and it still didn't come out dry, and it didn't do a very good job on any other greens, either. I sold my 3-year old Norwalk juicer a couple of weeks ago, so I could afford to buy a "real" juicer. I decided on an Omega 8003, which will do wheatgrass and is not as expensive as the Greenstar. If the Greenstar is the porsche of juicers, the Norwalk is the Rolls Royce, but it was so involved and time consuming to use it, that I hardly ever did. Anyway, hope you have better luck with your Healthy Juicer.

[sport]

I think that the decision should not be based just on the ease of cleaning. I have read an report (I think that it was by Hippocretes Institute) that said that the quality of the nutrients from the green Star are the best. That is why I got one.
I find it a bit tiresome to clean and it has discoloured a lot. I have not been able to whiten it because I do not use chemicals. I recently decided to boil all the removable parts and I now have to replace some because they came out of the pot disfigured (I can see some going "what a nut").
I am now going to have a part white (for a few weeks) and part dirty brown juicer.
Having said all of that I would not trade my Green Star just because I believe that it is feeding me better and to me that is the bottom line.

[Aleesha Sattva]

emma, my girlfriend has a healthy juicer and absolutely loves it... uses it daily. perhaps you got a dud???

hope mine is better. i'll let you know.

[raweater]

I have a greenstar and I love it except I dont like how citrus tastes from it. It always has the taste of the pith(spelling??). I have a Breville 800 that I use for my citrus. I love it!!! I have gotten to where I make mosts of my juice in my vitamix and then strain it thru paint strainer bags. Its much easier and faster and cleanup in nothing really. I do love using the blank plate in my greenstar for ice creams and sorbets. Hope this helps.
About the citrus juice, are you sure it's not the seeds that are getting juiced? The green star will juice seeds and seeds are often extremely bitter. I always make orange/grapefruit juice in my green star and it tastes great if I make sure to remove most seeds, if many seeds go through it's very bitter.

[raweater]

Wow, that looks awesome! You know, I think I'll give 'the Champion' another look and then if I need greens, I may just get the Healthy Juicer. (hey, it does spinach too! The green I juice most often)

Aleesha, I read that you put the pulp back through the Champion to get it really dry. I'm glad...one of the reasons why I need to get a juicer is because I get worried I lose nutrients in the pulp.

The Green Star extracts 33-100% more juice than other juicers, so even though the champion may cost less, it will be wasting a good part of your juice and will end up costing more in the long run. I use my green star even for citrus as you get TWICE as much juice than using a normal citrus juicer. The champion also runs at a fairly high speed and destroys more nutrients, I really think the green star is worth the extra cost, it's even better than the $2000+ press (extracts more juice and nutrients).