Until recently, I didn't even look at juicers. I eat so much raw vegetables and fruit as it is, that I never felt the need to juice anything. I just had the whole thing!
A few weeks ago my friend Lotty made a glass of juice for me with red beets, some carrot and an apple. I just hate
red beets. But since it is so
incredibly healthy, I have tried preparing them in many ways in the past. But, no luck. My mom forced me to eat it so many times when I was little, that I think I developed red beet trauma!
The glass of (mainly) red beet she prepared in a matter of seconds was amazing! So, for the sake of red beet, I decided I was going to get a juicer! I engaged on thorough research. I talked to people that have juicers and have been using it for years; I read whatever I could find on internet and magazines on juicers, and I even watched You Tube videos.
I came to the following conclusion: picking the right juicer can be a time consuming task!
First thing you should ask yourself is what you really want. Because smoothies and juices for most people can be worlds apart. But not for everybody....
See for me, I am O.K. with a smoothie, if we are talking fruit. But a vegetable smoothie? Iu! No way José. That is where the juicer comes in. Drinking juice extracted from a vegetable, is a total different ball game!
The bottom line is: you want juice? You need a juicer. You can settle for a smoothie? Then just use your blender.
Masticating vs Centrifugal Juicer
Juicers are produced with two kinds of machines. Some juicers extract the juice by masticating the pulp.
These kind of juicers are usually slower but they are better at juicing a wider variety of vegetables, fruit and in most cases, wheat grass and nuts. The squeezing, pressing and extracting is done in a more efficient manner than with the centrifugal juicer. The machine does not heat up as much as a centrifugal juicer does, and so the nutritional benefit of the juice is said to be slightly higher than that of a centrifugal juicer.
If you are not planning to store the juice (I recommend you don't) but rather are going to consume it immediately, then everything I read indicates that the nutritional advantage of a masticating juicer is really irrelevant.
Masticating juicers (more expensive) are more quiet than centrifugal ones, but will maximize the amount of juice you get, leaving with little waste
Most people (90%) own a centrifugal juicer: it is fast, affordable and compact. Get one with a wide shoot! It will save you chopping time!
Make a choice of brand and model depending on what is available in your country. One of the things that was very important to me was it had to fit on my counter top. If you have to store it in your garage or pantry, it is very likely you will not use it as much as you had hoped.
I am very happy with my Philips HR 1858 (and it is only 650W). It wasn't too expensive, I have a spot for it at hand reach and it is remarkably efficient. Taking the machine apart and cleaning it is uncomplicated.
Here are a few pictures that show how much waste it produced after juicing 1 medium carrot + 1 medium red beet + 1 orange + slice of fresh ginger enough for 1 big glass (or 2 smaller glasses) of juice. It was about a fist full.
And if you are asking yourself why I peeled the orange (but not the beet and the carrot), it is because the orange was not organic and like most oranges out there, the skin had been painted to make it look 'more appealing' to the eye...
To me, a 'juicer newbie', it is not yet self-evident which vegetables and fruits to combine to get the best flavor and nutrient blend. There are a lot of interesting websites out there to help you along. I will be adding on to this initial list of favorites...
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Raw-Foods-Diet-Center
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The Juice Master
A video you might want to watch:
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Top 3 best juicers
