Champion Juicer Wheatgrass and Leafy Green Attachment

[DebB]

Wow - I was very surprised to see this video by John Kohler today from the trade show. He demonstrates an all new wheatgrass and leafy greens attachment for the Champion juicer!

He said it will sell for around $90 and be available on Champion's website April 15. *Ü*

[Arky]

Hmm...thanks for the heads-up, DebB, well spotted!

Personally, I don't own a Champion (I have an Oscar 900 / Omega 8006), but I'm sure Champion owners will be eager to use this new attachment.

That said, I must confess that, on the basis of that video I am very unimpressed with the attachment (no reflection on John Kohler - I think he's great - very informative, enthusiastic, helpful and sincere, and really making a positive contribution to the health scene, on a number of levels).

It simply isn't logical to juice cereal grasses or other leafy greens with an auger turning at 1700 RPM. If they wanted to make an attachment for the Champion to juice leafy greens, it would have required a reduction gearbox (which, of course, would require expensive engineering in order to make the gearing robust enough to handle the torsional stresses).

As it is, I view it as, frankly, laughable for Champion to be offering this attachment - it's like trying to pound a big square peg into a tiny round hole. The Champion is great in certain areas (e.g. grinding root vegetables for subsequent squeezing in a manual hydraulic press such as the Health Stream) but juicing leafy greens is NOT one of the Champion's forte's and it never will be, until such time as the auger speed is reduced (by whatever method).

If I owned a Champion and I didn't want to spend on an expensive second juicer for grasses and leafy greens, I'd consider the Lexen juicer (manual or electric) - Michael Bergonzi is a big advocate of the Lexen juicers for wheatgrass, and he's been in the game a very long time indeed. The Lexens are very competitively priced and a considerably more viable proposition for a Champion owner wanting to juice greens than spending $90 on a silly attachment that can't possibly overcome the limitations of an auger that runs insanely quickly...

Of course, for another hundred, an Omega 8006 also does a superb job of greens, but that might be a bit too much to spend on a second juicer, hence my suggestion of the Lexen.

Just my 2 cents, and I'm sure others will disagree. I mean no disrespect at all to owners of the Champion, least of all you, DebB. I'm just bemused at the manufacturer for seriously believing they are solving an issue with this attachment when, self-evidently, they are not.

What do you currently do when you juice greens, DebB ?

[Aleesha Sattva]

i'll be ordering one as soon as they are available!!! i loooooooooooooove my champion. love my greenstar too but i end up using my champion way more often.

so this will be a great addition

[DebB]

Hmm...thanks for the heads-up, DebB, well spotted!

Personally, I don't own a Champion (I have an Oscar 900 / Omega 8006), but I'm sure Champion owners will be eager to use this new attachment.

That said, I must confess that, on the basis of that video I am very unimpressed with the attachment (no reflection on John Kohler - I think he's great - very informative, enthusiastic, helpful and sincere, and really making a positive contribution to the health scene, on a number of levels).

It simply isn't logical to juice cereal grasses or other leafy greens with an auger turning at 1700 RPM. If they wanted to make an attachment for the Champion to juice leafy greens, it would have required a reduction gearbox (which, of course, would require expensive engineering in order to make the gearing robust enough to handle the torsional stresses).

As it is, I view it as, frankly, laughable for Champion to be offering this attachment - it's like trying to pound a big square peg into a tiny round hole. The Champion is great in certain areas (e.g. grinding root vegetables for subsequent squeezing in a manual hydraulic press such as the Health Stream) but juicing leafy greens is NOT one of the Champion's forte's and it never will be, until such time as the auger speed is reduced (by whatever method).

If I owned a Champion and I didn't want to spend on an expensive second juicer for grasses and leafy greens, I'd consider the Lexen juicer (manual or electric) - Michael Bergonzi is a big advocate of the Lexen juicers for wheatgrass, and he's been in the game a very long time indeed. The Lexens are very competitively priced and a considerably more viable proposition for a Champion owner wanting to juice greens than spending $90 on a silly attachment that can't possibly overcome the limitations of an auger that runs insanely quickly...

Of course, for another hundred, an Omega 8006 also does a superb job of greens, but that might be a bit too much to spend on a second juicer, hence my suggestion of the Lexen.

Just my 2 cents, and I'm sure others will disagree. I mean no disrespect at all to owners of the Champion, least of all you, DebB. I'm just bemused at the manufacturer for seriously believing they are solving an issue with this attachment when, self-evidently, they are not.

What do you currently do when you juice greens, DebB ?

No disrespect taken! To be honest, I was wondering the same thing. Wondering how it will do because it runs quickly. I look forward to reviews from Aleesha - if you order one!

You asked how I juice my greens. We bought a second juicer, a Samson and I use that to juice my greens. Also juices my wheatgrass -and- it cold presses our flax oil ;) I use them both daily because the Samson does not do a good job on fruit or cucumbers, all of which go into my green juice.

I do love my kitchen appliances!! *Ü*

[Aleesha Sattva]

oh i'll be ordering one!!!

[DebB]

Well - the air went outa my balloon when he said these were for models made after 1988 (?) I don't recall the exact year - but ours is from the early 80s, so according to that it wouldn't work/fit. But it did make me wonder what the difference from mine to newer models is....

I look forward to your review ~ I know we both LOVE our Champions! *Ü*

[Aleesha Sattva]

i know mine will work... just got it 3 years ago. i'm so excited. first thing i said to my hubby when he got home... "mama's getting a new attachment for her champion!!!"

[DebB]

i know mine will work... just got it 3 years ago. i'm so excited. first thing i said to my hubby when he got home... "mama's getting a new attachment for her champion!!!"

[Arky]

No disrespect taken! To be honest, I was wondering the same thing. Wondering how it will do because it runs quickly. I look forward to reviews from Aleesha - if you order one!

You asked how I juice my greens. We bought a second juicer, a Samson and I use that to juice my greens. Also juices my wheatgrass -and- it cold presses our flax oil ;) I use them both daily because the Samson does not do a good job on fruit or cucumbers, all of which go into my green juice.

I do love my kitchen appliances!! *Ü*

Oh, I used to own a Matstone, which is pretty much identical to the Samson. I liked it and I must say I concur absolutely 100% with your stated pros and cons of that juicer. Even the Oscar 900/Omega 8006 struggles a bit with soft fruits and cucumbers, but it does manage them ok if you alternate which items of produce you feed in, and provided the silicone seal is not too worn, on the front of the conical juice screen.

How do you get on with the Samson oil extractor? I very nearly bought one of these attachments before I gave away my Matstone. Do you find it cost-effective for making flax oil? I was concerned that it might not yield enough to be cost-effective. Be interested to hear your experiences with this...

As far as wheatgrass juicing goes, the Samson is a great little machine and from what I recall, it does as good a job as the Oscar 900/Omega 8003/4/5/6 on grasses and fibrous leafy greens.





@ Aleesha - save yer money and get a dedicated greens juicer such as the lexen, rather than the Champion attachment! LOL ...Well, whatever you decide, I hope it works out for you. Gotta have a good solution for making those green, green juices ;)

[DebB]

How do you get on with the Samson oil extractor? I very nearly bought one of these attachments before I gave away my Matstone. Do you find it cost-effective for making flax oil? I was concerned that it might not yield enough to be cost-effective. Be interested to hear your experiences with this...)

The Samson does a really good job making the flax oil. We make 4 (14oz) containers of it and put it in the freezer. I make those over the course of 1 day - letting it completely cool down between batches. I can press 1 (14oz) bottle's worth in about 30=+/- minutes.

My husband did the math and he figured our savings just in pressing our own flax oil alone would pay for the juicer in about 6 months. We both take 1-2T per day and we were paying $14 per 14oz bottle through my doctor's office. We order 25# bags of organic flax (brown) through Azure Standard.

And I tell ya - we love the taste. There's something about it being freshly pressed, albeit frozen - it still tastes better than Barlean's brand that we were buying.

The only down side is cleaning the auger or grinding rod housing (not sure what it's called). Where the metal meets the plastic - the compressed flax cake gets caught up in there, so one has to be very mindful to get that all cleaned out (which I do with a turkey skewer thing, metal pin with a sharp point). That's the only design flaw that I've come across so far. But if I keep that nice and clean -- I am good to GO! *Ü*

[Aleesha Sattva]

@ Aleesha - save yer money and get a dedicated greens juicer such as the lexen, rather than the Champion attachment! LOL ...Well, whatever you decide, I hope it works out for you. Gotta have a good solution for making those green, green juices ;)

i have a greenstar!

[Arky]

i have a greenstar!

(Scratching my head here...) LOL! - Errr...so, if you have a Greenstar, why do you need a greens-juicing attachment for your Champion?!

=> BEWILDERED ! <=

;)

[michigan roman]

arkys back

now i can get back to learning again

and if ive my way rawtruths well ands soon to return

[Arky]

arkys back

now i can get back to learning again

and if ive my way rawtruths well ands soon to return

LOL - nice of you to imply that I have some common sense, michigan roman, but my friends and family know that definitely ain't the case! ;)

In any case, I'm just passing through - I stop by every couple of years, just to touch base here. Hope all is well with you.

I keep learning just the same as we all do..."life is a journey..." etc etc.

All the best.

[michigan roman]

LOL - nice of you to imply that I have some common sense, michigan roman, but my friends and family know that definitely ain't the case! ;)

In any case, I'm just passing through - I stop by every couple of years, just to touch base here. Hope all is well with you.

I keep learning just the same as we all do..."life is a journey..." etc etc.

All the best.

hope your doing well too arky , i seriously miss your posts / outlook !!!!

like you say its a journey , and we cant go back but rather can only grow forward faster !

and at this point in my journey / evolution i say to all " obviously the ultimate being is a plant eater thusly i am one "

heres to your speedy growth towards
eternity arky , may we speak again .......:)