Best Juicer? *first post*

[kelidawn]

Hi guys, I'm new and I'm sure this is a question asked all the time. I searched through the forums a little, so please forgive me for asking again! I recently found out I'm "sick," and after weeks of research am taking my health into my own hands and not listening to the doctors saying it'll never go away. So I have a vitamix blender on the way, but what is the best juicer that's affordable? I almost succumbed to the late night infomercial for the Jack Lalanne juicer, but after reading many reviews it doesn't seem like a long lasting product. Thanks in advance for your help :)

[lori ann]

Hello there,

From the research I have done-you want a juicer that gives you the most nutrients-that one is the green star. I have one and like it. It is not perfect it is a little hard at times to push the vegtables through the shoot, but besides that I do not have any problems. Good luck to you.

[sport]

The best quality juice with the most nutrients will be achieved using twin gear juicers and the best of those is the Green Star.
This is from a survey that was done (I think that it was by Hippocretes Institute). The main problem is that they are not cheap.

[kelidawn]

Just checked out the green star juicers...and I thought $375 for the Vitamix would be the most expensive thing I would need to by! Looks like that will have to wait a couple months. Anything less expensive that will get me by for a bit? I just don't want to wait.

[jacsam]

You may be wanting a juicer for healing purposes and if that's so, I understand (you mentioned an illness). I just wanted to say that the things I use the very most are my vitamix, cuisinart food process (100.00 @ Costco) I use these two items daily almost. Then I use the dehydrator and least is the juicer (not counting my citrus juicer). I would be using the juicer alot more if I was sick. Another thing I use alot is Alissa's book and other raw food recipe books. I hope you get well soon.

Oh, btw....I have a champion juicer, not because it's the best but because that's what I got a LOOONNNNGGGG time ago before Green Star was even a twinkle in someones eye....I'm thinking it will last long enough to pass onto my children.....it is built like a tank....heavy (that's one thing I don't care for, but it does the job and I'm grateful to have it).

[Ilse W.]

I've got an Omega juicer and am extremely happy with it. I got mine for $229 (the white one...the chrome one is $30 more, but the same juicer). It works great and I use it at least once to several times a day. They say the best juicer is the one you use, and they are so right. I used to have a Norwalk Juicer, which I bought about 3 years ago for $2,295. I hardly ever used it, because it was a pain to use and clean up, plus if you don't do it just right, your kitchen walls and ceiling can quickly be decorated in vegetable pulp. I sold that juicer a couple of months ago and bought the Omega. BTW, a lot of people here say they make juice with their vitamix and strain it through a nut mylk bag or a fine strainer.

[coco]

i had a green star and didn't like it very much. hard to clean, hard to push veg into, greens foamed up and blocked the opening.
now i have an omega that i got on sale and it's alright, still not a fave kitchen tool though.
if i ever see a champion second hand i'm going to grab it up. seems to be the most durable and easy to use/clean up of the bunch. not twin gear but i'll probably use it more and that makes it "better" in my book.

[carolg]

http://rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=44722&highlight=buying+juicer

I have Green Power for years now called green star I believe used only for juicing. Love it. Pricey, but investment to me as all my appliances are.


carolg

[Raw Angel Mom]

I have a champion and it doesn't work good with the greens and it heats up. It juice very well vegetables. For clean up, this is about the same as the green star.

I first got an omega, it is very fine, but the pulpe are still very wet. So i got the champion and i couldn't use it for my greens and finally got the green star. It is good for juicing wheat grass and fine for other stuff but you need to cut in a certain way and be patien for you cannot add too much at the time. Now i am use to that machine, i like it the best. I like my ommega to do cheese, it works great. It is small and not heavy.

Any juicer, you need to clean the little net or screen. This is a pain no matter what, but the ommega come with a brush and so is the green star. So beside, the little net to clean, all the machine are fine to clean up. Green star is heavy and it is true that you need a good harm to push the stuff except for greens for it goes there so easy and it works the best for greens.

Hope this help
p.s You want a juicer that doesn't go fast, because you want to preserve the enzyme.

[Green_Woman]

I have a Jack LaLanne, and I'm trying to sell it on Ebay now because I used it ONCE and it's just SO MESSY... I want a juicer that doesn't have SO many parts.

I also can't afford a big heavy duty one right now, but I do want one in the Spring when I've had time to recover from my recent financial ouchies. :D

[RawKnitster]

Jack Lalanne works for me. I don't know how it compares to other juicers. Kale and tough veggies can slow it down and sometimes makes it spin out of balance. Once or twice the motor has even stopped. I take the top off, clean out the basket and keep going. It helps to feed the kale in one leaf at a time. It's easy to clean with a scrub brush. I don't know how long it will last before I burn up the motor. If that happens, I'll probably buy another one. I must have plenty of green juice! Love it!

[Teraw]

When I 1st went raw I used Hamilton Beach's brand sold at walmart. I juices fruits, veggies, and other juicy looking produce. It does not juice greens or any grasslike produce. But what I did was juice my fruit, then pour my fruit juice in a blender and blend in my greens. At 1st I strained the pulp, now I just drink the smoothie pulp and all. Good luck.

By the way the juicer was $28. I would much rather use more elbow greese starting out than, buying a product w/o being able to afford the food to put in it, LOL!

[Raene]

In my opinion you should get something that you can afford but not something really cheap. You don't get as many nutrients from those cheaper juicers and they're a pain to clean...trust me, I have one.

From my research, the juicer that comes very close to a Green Star is a Samson juicer. They supposedly work in a very similar way but are much more affordable in price.

And I'd recommend a Blendtec over a Vitamix :) They're about the same price but larger, simpler, and more powerful.

[firehawk]

I recently saw the Lexen electric juicer on www.877myjuicer.com for $150.00. It seems to do what the green star does for alot less, including wheatgrass and a blank plate for creams. Anyone know anything about this one? I would like to do wheatgrass and stuff all on one.

[kelidawn]

Thanks for all the help!

[michigan roman]

fill your vitamix about half full with water , add produce and blend into liquid pulp . then strain with fine metal kitchen strainer or fine mesh like a paint filter bag . with this method the juice doesnt get heated . now if the airation hurts juice im not sure of the outlook .

or cut up produce into chunks , put in real big pot then pulverize / crush with whatever type impliment / tool you can dig up that works efficeintly . then add water and strain .

[Juice11]

You can always just take some steroids and then crush the produce with your hands JK. The above post made me laugh.:D

I love the Omega juicer 8005 . Make sure you request the new black auger. It is much stronger. It also makes wheatgrass:eek:

http://www.omegajuicers.com/item.cfm?item=109

[islesgirl]

Jack Lalanne works for me. I don't know how it compares to other juicers. Kale and tough veggies can slow it down and sometimes makes it spin out of balance. Once or twice the motor has even stopped. I take the top off, clean out the basket and keep going. It helps to feed the kale in one leaf at a time. It's easy to clean with a scrub brush. I don't know how long it will last before I burn up the motor. If that happens, I'll probably buy another one. I must have plenty of green juice! Love it!

Hi RawKnitster. Would you mind telling me which model of the Jack Lalanne juicer you have? I see there are several different ones on the market. I want one! Got to have something that will give me some green juice FAST early in the a.m. to help me get off this coffee! Thanks.

Sue.

[islesgirl]

Jack Lalanne works for me. I don't know how it compares to other juicers. Kale and tough veggies can slow it down and sometimes makes it spin out of balance. Once or twice the motor has even stopped. I take the top off, clean out the basket and keep going. It helps to feed the kale in one leaf at a time. It's easy to clean with a scrub brush. I don't know how long it will last before I burn up the motor. If that happens, I'll probably buy another one. I must have plenty of green juice! Love it!

Hi RawKnitster. Would you mind telling me which model of the Jack Lalanne juicer you have? I see there are several different ones on the market. I want one! Got to have something that will give me some green juice FAST early in the a.m. to help me get off this coffee! Thanks.

Sue.:D

[islesgirl]

Sorry I duplicated this. Don't know how to get rid of it though.:p

[Raw Angel Mom]

What about to save some money/per week and invest in a decent juicer. You can always buy a cheap one if you want some juice now, but i really recommend to invest the money for a good one. A cheap juicer for now, might be good for you to see if you are going to go in this direction to juice.

If you have a blender, you can get a nut bag for less then $10 or simply make one for couple dollars and you then blend everything you want with water and then use your nut bag to extra the pulp. You get some juice that way. Blend at least 3 min to have all the nutriment out. Real juice is tastier, but with the blender it could be an economical way, until you find the right juicer for you.

Best wishes!

[islesgirl]

Raw Angel Mom-You know what? I actually have an Omega juicer 8003 but I am getting lazy in my old age and thought maybe I'd like one that works more quickly and the clean up is easier? - thus I was thinking about the Lalanne. I also like the idea of the larger feeding tube. Maybe this is foolish though.

Sue.

[islesgirl]

Raw Angel Mom -You know what? I actually have an Omega juicer 8003 which I have hardly used, but I am getting lazy in my old age and thought maybe I'd like one that works more quickly and the clean up is easier? - thus I was thinking about the Lalanne. I also like the idea of the larger feeding tube. Maybe this is foolish though.

Sue.

[islesgirl]

Boy do I ever need that juice. This brain of mine is getting worse by the minute! I think I will go and finish my green smoothie right this minute. Sorry for another duplication of posts. :eek:

Sue.

[MelissaO]

I have a Jack La Laines power Juicer that I bough from Costco for right around $90.00. There are a bunch of pieces you have to take a part and wash from it (the top, the basket, the round center blade, the plastic middle piece that juice collects in and the back part where pulp goes in.) Over all it takes me less than I would say 2 minutes to do all that. I have had mine for about 6 months- would have preferred a more expensive one but spent money on my vitamix instead.

[rawstrength]

I bought a Jack Lalanne juicer and it broke the second time I used it :( . And I couldn't get any replacement parts for it. It was very discouraging. The Jack Lalanne juicer is all plastic and not built to last.
I can't recommend a good juicer because I've never had one.

[islesgirl]

Thanks for your input rawbies. I've read that the Breville is supposed to be pretty good. But this particular one that came so highly recommended was pretty pricey.

[raweater]

I love the Omega juicer 8005 . Make sure you request the new black auger. It is much stronger. It also makes wheatgrass:eek:

http://www.omegajuicers.com/item.cfm?item=109

Be careful with the Omega 8000 series juicer, their auger is made of melamine and it seems 9 out of 10 people I asked said their auger is grinding itself up leaving melamine powder in the juice and/or pulp. With all the news about melamine contaminated foods it's clear this is a very dangerous chemical. I hope they really did fix the problem with the new auger.

I almost bought an Omega juicer but when I read about it grindign melamine into the juice it was clearly no longer an option. I eventually decided on a Green Star which is the best juicer, it also extracts 30% more juice than the Omega and twice as more juice as a professional citrus press for citrus fruits, that's why I also use my Green Star for citrus, the juice it makes is half the price as from a professional citrus juicer.

If you want something cheap for now I'd recommend a centrifugal juicer that's under $50, but it's important to consider centrifugal juicers destroy much of the nutrition in the juice, are highly inefficient, and can't do leafy greens/wheatgrass very well or at all.

[nHisTYME]

Go with a Champion or better yet a GreenStar.

I own and use both.

I LOVE both - but use a perfer my GreenStar. More nutrients extracted, more juice, lasts longer.

It's your health AND worth it!

-Danny

[ambermum]

When I 1st went raw I used Hamilton Beach's brand sold at walmart. I juices fruits, veggies, and other juicy looking produce. It does not juice greens or any grasslike produce. But what I did was juice my fruit, then pour my fruit juice in a blender and blend in my greens. At 1st I strained the pulp, now I just drink the smoothie pulp and all. Good luck.

By the way the juicer was $28. I would much rather use more elbow greese starting out than, buying a product w/o being able to afford the food to put in it, LOL!
That is such a great point about spending your money on food rather than an expensive juicer! I've had a Green Star on my wish list for ages but the cost is so prohibitive...I'd like to juice greens straight but think I'll just use my Vitamix and strain through a nut milk bag!

[JCB44]

I have a champion it was a little pricey about 350.00 but it works for me. I saw a Jacl la lane at Sam's It looked cheaply built and hard to clean. I used to have an omega, it made great juice but kind of hard to clean.

[aijia]

Does anyone have a Breville? We're thinking about getting a Breville juice fountain. My step-dad wants to make sure that it will juice wheatgrass. Does anyone know? I can't seem to find very good information about the Breville and wheatgrass specifically. Thanks!

[michigan roman]

Does anyone have a Breville? We're thinking about getting a Breville juice fountain. My step-dad wants to make sure that it will juice wheatgrass. Does anyone know? I can't seem to find very good information about the Breville and wheatgrass specifically. Thanks!

though ive heard alot of people really like the breville , its a centrifugal type juicer that is said to not do very good with wheat grass .

i myself cut wheat grass up into one inch bits into a blender half full of water then blend and strain to make a wheat juice water , same things as wheat grass juice just a bit diluted .

[Colorawdo girl]

I have the OMEGA 1000 model.I got it off craigslist(for affordable until you get what you want maybe)...it is amazing.I love it.I have had alot of juicers and this one is great.50 dollars I paid. It is centrifuge.Throws the pulp against the sides(which has a paper liner to make clean up a breeze) and the juice to the outside trough and down the spout.I take the dry pulp,add some juice back into it and make crackers!!!!!
My son got the Norwalk and it is touted as great. I watched him make juice...eeeek....it DOES throw stuff out the top all over the place(powerful) plus its two steps.You have to put all in a bag and then put inon a presser.

And I make green juice in my blender.Put all in,add some water,blend,strain into nut milk bag...voila!

[JHNJOHN]

The Acme and Omega, non pulp ejecting, juice the same way. They look
similar and appear to share some components. Only problem I found was
with the Omega, which sometimes allows juice to leak down on the impeller
spraying it all over the place. Could be a result of feeding produce too fast,
but the Acme has never done this and have been using the same one for
21 years. Both are fine juicers and will last for years. I have enough parts
to keep the Acme running to pass it on to my grandchildren and beyond.
I believe the fact you are juicing, regardless of which juicer, is the brass
ring here.

[ambidestrian]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned the Angel juicer. I justified spending $1,000 on the angel juicer as follows:

It is more efficient than any other twin gear juicer I've seen reviewed, in terms of the mass of juice to mass of pulp ratio
It has a 10 year warranty
Over those 10 years, the increased efficiency will likely save much more than $1,000 in organic produce costs
It has all stainless steel construction - zero plastic leachates
The heavy helical gears provide the most crushing / triturating power and extract the most nutrients (verified by chemical analyses Vs. centrifugal and other twin gear juicers)
It isn't as expensive as the Norwalk


So far, I think it is the greatest thing I have ever owned. I use it 3x/day and have noticed great improvements in my fitness. In two weeks, I have made such an improvement in my fitness it is almost surreal.

The way I look at it, if I'm going to put $5 worth of produce into a juicer for a glass of green juice, I want to get $5 worth of juice out, not $3.50 worth of juice and $1.50 worth of juice in the pulp.

At that rate (which is realistic), and 3 juices per day, I will save $1000 in under a year due to the increased efficiency (I spend a lot of money on produce, though) (At 1 juice/day, the $1,000 savings would be realized in under 2 years)

[MysticTree]

The way I look at it, if I'm going to put $5 worth of produce into a juicer for a glass of green juice, I want to get $5 worth of juice out, not $3.50 worth of juice and $1.50 worth of juice in the pulp.

At that rate (which is realistic), and 3 juices per day, I will save $1000 in under a year due to the increased efficiency (I spend a lot of money on produce, though)

I have no idea about this juicer but you can't put $5 of produce in and get $5 of juice out. There HAS to be pulp as well as juice.

If you are basing your $ saving on the above, flawed sum then it is going to take you longer to save that $1000. You also don't say which model of "inferior" juicer you are comparing with as part of your calculation.

A $1000 juicer would need to be good but if you want to sell it to its maximum then you really need accurate data

[ambidestrian]

Well, I'm not trying to sell it, just explain my criteria for buying it.

I have not run the experiments myself, but the experiments I have seen published show that the angel juicer extracts significantly more juice than other twin gear juicers - The pulp that comes out is totally dry. You can press on it with a paper towel and the paper towel won't get wet. Put in dark green kale, get out pale green dry pulp.

There is also the consideration of intracellular contents and that's where the twin gear juicers are the most excellent - they can crush the cell walls rather than extracting the fluids form the intracellular spaces in the plants, creating a different type of juice with much more nutrients.

Also, I attribute no value to the cellulose in the plants. It is standing between me and the plants' cytoplasm. Thus the economic pseudo-calculations.

If you're interested in seeing side-by side comparisons with centrifugal juicers, the hurom slow juicer, omega vert, etc., there are videos on youtube. The differences are in the tens of percents.

Edit: Maybe we could organize a comparison - juicing e.g. 500g of carrots, weighing the pulp, drying the pulp, and weighing again to determine the % water in the pulp produced by different types of juicers. I'd participate if such a thread were organized.

[MysticTree]

If you're interested in seeing side-by side comparisons with centrifugal juicers, the hurom slow juicer, omega vert, etc., there are videos on youtube. The differences are in the tens of percents.

Also, I attribute no value to the cellulose in the plants. It is standing between me and the plants' cytoplasm. Thus the economic pseudo-calculations.


There is value in cellulose. It is necessary for healthy gut function providing dietary fibre to this end.

I am happy that you like the Angel Juicer but even if I thought it the best gadget on the planet I couldn't afford nearly two months rent money on a juicer!

Over here there is only a 5 year warranty rather than the 10 year warranty by the way.

edited to add :


Warranty Motor:

5 Years



Warranty Parts:

3 Years

[JuiceFiend]

I'm not 100% raw yet but I've been juicing for years.

My juicers: Omega J8006, Breville Juice Fountain Elite, Jupiter Citrus Press, Magimix le Duo, Hurom Slow Juicer.

I've got a few videos on Youtube but by far the best resource is John Kohler's rawfoods (http://www.youtube.com/user/rawfoods) channel. He gives an excellent presentation about Buying your First Juicer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKT3JVXbhIg) as well as having videos for just about any juicer you can imagine.

[MyRedPanda]

I have a really nice Brevill juicer that I used to use every day, until I got my vitamix, and now I never use the Brevill, unless its to make carrot juice which I detest to be pulpy - but the Vitamix juices too, so really if you have one you don't need a juicer. For wheatgrass juice I use a hand masticating juicer.

[MyRedPanda]

Yes - I do - I have the juice fountain. It will NOT juice wheatgrass. I have a hand juicer for that. If you want to juice wheatgrass you must have a masticating and not a centrifugal juicer