My review of a Greenstar VS a Champion Juicer

[Aleesha Sattva]

I was not able to find anything like this on the net so I decided to do a little picture review (and words of course) of my Greenstar Juicer and my Champion Juicer. I wanted to show the difference in size of the two... cause I was unable to find pics of them side by side... and share a little about how the Greenstar does when it comes to fruit (as it gets a very bad rep about fruits)... so here's what my little experiment and review shared...

http://aleeshasrawlife.blogspot.com/2009/04/greenstar-juicer-vs-champion-juicer.html

Here's the text part of the review... for anyone who doesn't click the link above:


Okay I finally used my Greenstar Juicer. What a treat of juice this was this morning.

I started off with my yummy food...

~1/3 of a pineapple
~1 granny smith apple
~1 medium beet
~1/2 bunch of parsley
~3 stalks of celery
~huge handful of spinach

You turn the machine on and you don't even know it's on... it's that quiet! Much quieter than the Champion. Although the Champion isn't horribly noisy, but the Greenstar is almost silent.

Then I put the parsley in as my first ever Greenstar juicing item... and it literally ate it! You don't even have to push it in. Just set it into the chamber and it self feeds. Then a piece of celery, same thing. ;) You don't have to break the spine of the celery because the Greenstar breaks up the veins itself - with the Champion celery is a problem. You have to put it into the Champion last cause the veins get wound up and you have to stop and clean it out right away. Not the case with the Greenstar.

As you can see here... in my hand is the pulp from the pineapple. I didn't change the setting on the pulp knob... I left it the same for everything (approx. two turns out from fully closed) and this pulp was super dry. I was so surprised. I've never seen pineapple pulp that dry before. What a treat this was!



It took about 30 minutes from cutting up our fruit and veggies to the end of clean-up. We even stopped 1/2 way through and gave it a rinse cause stuff wasn't moving that well through it. I had read somewhere that sometimes you have to rinse it, so I did. I know that as I get more used to using it, I'll get it down to an even more efficient process but heck... 30 minutes and I made over a litre of wonderful juice!!! Only putting the pulp through once... now THAT is a treat in itself! I pretty much always put the pulp through twice with my Champion.

Will I keep my Champion? Yup, I will. The Greenstar (so I've read) takes longer to juice so in those times when I gotta get going I may use my Champion. If, after a few months I find I haven't used my Champion, then I'll find a loving home for it. Until then... I'll keep it.

Oh and clean up... it was a breeze. No different than cleansing the Champion... so I'm told. My hubby did it LOL



Here's a pic of the motors of both the Greenstar and Champion to give you an idea of the size difference. The Greenstar is definitely bigger but both pretty much fit into the same space... so if you have a Champion and want a Greenstar... your Greenstar will fit where you keep your Champion now!



The reason I wanted to upgrade from my Champion is:

~my Champion warms my juice
~the pulp is often wet and needs to go through two or three times (I just put the pulp back into the juicing chamber and run it through again).
~pineapple juicing is a pain the butt with the Champion. I run the pulp through twice and then put it into a nut mylk bag to get even more juice from the pulp (and I get a LOT of juice from the nut mylk bag). And since I love pineapple juice I wanted a machine that could handle my pineapple more efficiently.
~I wanted to add more greens into my juices and the Champion doesn't do great with greens. It can do them... but not anything like a Greenstar can.
~since I juice pretty much every single day (since I fast so much) I wanted to get even more nutrition from my juice and I've read the Greenstar delivers more nutrition!

So there's my little review of my new-to-me Greenstar and my old friend Champion. I hope it assists you if you are wondering which to purchase.

in light,
Aleesha

UPDATE:

I just used the Greenstar to juice up some watermelon. HOLY CRAP BATMAN!!! I can't believe how little pulp came out... how friggin' dry it was... my Champion has NEVER been able to make pulp that dry!!!

I'm soooooooooo sold on this Greenstar. AND I didn't have to open up the pulp spout at all... still at the same spot as when I did the greens. I'm soooo blown away. Soooo blown away!!!

Here's some pics from the watermelon... notice how little pulp there is and just how dry it is!!! Since the pulp was sitting on the plate with the actual watermelon... it soaked up the juice on the plate. I put the pulp through again and got another 100 ml of juice from it. I'm sooooo sold on this machine!!!

[spicyfull]

I am so Happy for your New find and your NEW way of thinking. You always raved about your Champion and since I have never owned one..... But I had a Friend who did and I didn't like hers.

But I am Happy you like your GreenStar Although I don't use mine much because I use the Vita-Mix with Smoothies and I never use a Juicer unless I have time to Clean it afterwards. I have heard the Champion makes Great Ice Creme.

So Welcome to Green Star and Thanks for Sharing the Review........

[Aleesha Sattva]

I am sooo lovin' this machine... what a gift it is to my Self!!!

[glorias]

That is good information. I am stuck with a new champion. The old one worked better. I'm going to try to figure out how to return it.
Thanks.

Have to go, Short on time today but wanted to try and figure this out.

GLoria

[Invisible]

My Greenstar gets clogged alot and is slow moving though the shoot. I just bought mine brand new and had it checked, and they say it's working the way it's supposed to, but, to me, it's way harder to juice greens and carrots then my champion because I have to have muscles of steel to push down the plunger when greens and carrots are in there. Now, my question. Does anyone have this or did have this challenge at first?

Invis

[Anastazia]

I just checked on E-bay & most of them are listed at around 450$, here's one much cheaper! (& ten left! New!) Wish I could get one...maybe this'll bless one of you! Hope so!
~Anastazia~
http://cgi.ebay.ca/SoloStar-II-Juicer-Greenstar-Free-Ship-NEW-solo-star_W0QQitemZ330007736856QQcmdZViewItemQQptZSmall _Kitchen_Appliances_US?hash=item4cd5fe7218&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

[Aleesha Sattva]

invis, i did... but you get used to how to work with a greenstar as times goes on. you learn what foods to juice together. for example: if you are doing something softer, adding in a carrot or apple here and there really assists it greatly.

[Invisible]

THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!

WHAT a relief to find I am not alone in fighting the Star! Heck I'm wondering what little 'ole ladies do to make juice then if juicing with the Star needs such great strength! Life should be at least easier when one is trying to be healthier by makin' themselves some fresh juice, eh? I tried your idea. A, (sorry, I can't spell too good, lol) and yes, it did work easier, but those darn greens still get clogged up in the shoot and when I put a carrot on top of them to push it all down, the carrot snaps off and flies across the counter and won't budge the mess at all at that point!! LOL!!!!!

Maybe I'll just stick to Green Smoothies for now until I can build my strength up to go another round in the fight with the Star. Maybe they call the Champion it's name for a reason??

[Linda_sn]

I know its prolly too late.. but is there anyway you can scan the pages Chad gave out at the review session so I can print them out and look at them in person?

thanks

[natesi]

http://aleeshasrawlife.blogspot.com/2009/04/greenstar-juicer-vs-champion-juicer.html


The link isn't working for me.

= (

[Veganforlife]

The link isn't working for me.

= (

same here...can't get the link to work...bummer

[Aleesha Sattva]

My blog is private now... but the review is in the first post.

[n2zstiq]

Hello Alissa and all,

i'm very new to juicing,just got my greenstar 2000 last week, and have used it three times so far. I find it easy to assemble and dis-assemble,and i was able to make quite a lot of juice @ one go...

I am slightly concerned though, becoz the first time i used it to juice about 15 carrots, 2 beets, 2 bunches of kale, and some celery, the machine felt pretty hot... well warmer than warm is what i mean.. hope i'm making sense here????
did any one else have the same isssue? I allowed the machine to rest even tho i hadnt used it for 30min.. the instruction manual said to allow a 10min rest after 30min of use.
I specifically bought this coz i ddnt want my juice to get heated up,but now i'm worried...:confused:
any help would greatly be appreciated.

thanks :)

[Aleesha Sattva]

you should contact greenstar.

[n2zstiq]

Hi Aleesha....:)

I'm sorry i got ur name wrong yesterday, I got confused coz I was jus reading about Alissa Cohen earlier...
Thanks for the quick reply... so the juicer is not supposed to heat up right?
I'm in the UAE so will just return it to the store i got it from..
do you have any advice on how to remove the discoloring of the carrots on the juicer...the organic carrots i used made everythin orange!!!!

have you tried making juice from fruit like apples, pears, pomegranates etc.?
did you get lots from it?

I apologize if my questions sound dumb,but I actually have no idea wat to expect..
I've read the forums on here extensively,but there are divided opinions on the greenstar,sooo:confused:
i really want to get my kids and family into juicing,but my kids,after drinking the apple,pear and orange mix juice that i made, were like: ' mom ,this duznt taste very good at all' ... soo i had to drink it all by myself!!!!!!!!!
I have to find a way to make this work..

Thanks again for any advice you can offer...

Sally

[Aleesha Sattva]

Sally, discolouration happens. I've heard that if you bleach it it'll damage the machine so I would just consider it a good thing... shows you are using it LOL

I have used mine a LOT and love it. I've never done pom but I've done lots of the rest.

Here's my trick for juicing. Use only a couple of ingredients... the more is NOT the merrier in most juices so keep it simple.

Green apple with fresh parsley is wonderful. Go light on the parsley till you get used to the taste and then increase it.

Orange alone is wonderful - remove the peel!

Cantaloupe is divine but the Greenstar isn't great with cantaloupe. You have to be patient with it.

Pineapple is amazing... again be patient with the Greenstar. Small pieces s-l-o-w-l-y and it'll do the trick for ya. This is NOT fast food LOL

Pear juice is thick and I personally don't like it but yup, I've done it and it can be done. I often use pear/apple/ginger together.

I get more juice from my greenstar than any other juicer I've used. I've used a lady version of the juiceman (a friend had it and leant it to me), 3 different brevilles, a champion and a greenstar. By FAAAAAAR the Greenstar is better!

But I still use my Champion when I'm in a rush and want my cantaloupe juice NOW. *giggling*

[n2zstiq]

Hi Aleesha,

I saw ur reply to my previuos query only now.... ddnt realise theres a 2nd pg :o...lol...... i've neva posted on a forum b4

thanks for the help...
i returned that greenstar, but the one i have now really squeaks very loudly when i'm juicing,especially with beets.. is this normal?
in the manual it does state that squeakinn is normal,but this is really loud, my hubby cud hear it in the next room????

it duznt squeak when nothings being juiced,but jus as soon as the beets hit it, then it neva stops???? i am cutting up the beets the same way i did whenn i juiced in the 1st greenstar.

thanx
sally :)

[Aleesha Sattva]

i have no idea sally. i would contact the company about it if you are concerned. just remember... you'll get used to the flow of working with it and it won't be so 'odd' to you eventually.

and... is it only beets? cause perhaps it's just something about the texture/dryness of the beets...

welcome to the second page! (((hugs)))

[raw man]

I have an opportunity to get a used Champion commercial model for around $150 and a Greenstar 2000 for around $300. My question is what model would you choose if you where going to juice often with a mix of greens and other veggies with some fruit from time to time with the price of those juicers? Will the Greenstar be worth the additional funds? Both are used a little with the Greenstar being only used roughly 5-10 times I was told.
My mom has Chron's so I am going to start eating healther so that I don't have to go through what she is going through. Great site and I have done a lot of research on these 2 juicers for us.

[Aleesha Sattva]

definitely the greenstar.

i use both of mine... but if there's greens in the mix. i always use the greenstar!!!

[Aleesha Sattva]

okay i want everyone to see this pic. we love our greenstar and seldom use my champion anymore.

the greenstar does cantaloupe so well and WOW the colour and flavour is mind blowing!

not only does it give me more juice but it's soooo clear. looks like a fake peach juice made from crystals... but nope... it's cantaloupe juice!

the champions cantaloupe is thicker and coloured more like a creamsicle (milking orange).

***both pics are from the greenstar... i don't have any pics from my champion***

[Aleesha Sattva]

a quick update:

watermelon juice
cantaloupe juice

both are a whole new experience with the greenstar. totally different colour and taste. sooooo fresh and clean tasting. ahhhhh bliss!

at this point we seldom use the champion anymore. we even make my tomato blend with the greenstar, we just make sure to add some celery and/or greens to it to help the tomatoes go through!

most important word of advice for someone wanting a greenstar. patience. juice does NOT get made in a minute. it's not fast food! but it's soooooooo worth the time you put in!

[Conscious Midwife]

OMG

you are tempting me to use my last paycheck on a greenstar that plus I thinnk I still eventually want a stainless steel dehydrator


uggghhh decisions decisions



YOUR JUICE PICS look divenely yummy

[Aleesha Sattva]

*tempting tempting...*