In This Post:
The Best Juicers | Criteria for Choosing the Best Juicer |
The Four Different Types of Juicers | My Favorite Juice Recipes |
Frequently Asked Questions
Hiya Sweet Friends,
The other day I got a hilarious email from one of my closest pals. Here’s what she wrote:
“I hope you don’t want to poke my eyes out for asking this question, but you’re so educated on this stuff and I don’t trust anyone else but you! I think I need to upgrade my juicer. There are so many juicers to choose from on the market. Where do I start? Oh and if you haven’t blogged about this, you should. It’s all so confusing!”
When I think about all the diet and lifestyle upgrades I’ve made, juicing takes the cake.
Once you get on the juicing train, you won’t want to step off. But you guessed it, ya need a juicer to make the fabulous stuff. So to help you get started, or take your practice further, I’ve done a deep dive on many of the popular juicers available today.
Our Top Overall Picks
| My Top Juicer Picks | Juicer Type | My Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Hurom H400 Juicer | Masticating/Slow Juicer | 15/15 |
| Super Angel 5500 | Twin-Gear/Triturating | 14/15 |
| Breville Juice Fountain Multispeed | Centrifugal | 12/15 |
The Best Juicers
The low-down on my juicer ratings: In addition to my experience with many of these juicers, I reviewed every unbiased juicer review blog or website I could find as well as the most “helpful” positive and negative Amazon reviews for each machine. Everyone’s juicer experience is somewhat subjective, but I hope that these ratings and detailed juicer stats give you the tools you need to make an informed decision.
Hurom H400 Juicer
Type: Masticating/Slow Juicer
My rating: 15/15
I love the Hurom H400 juicer for many reasons. It has a large, self-feeding hopper. It’s quiet. It’s easy to clean, and it gives me a high yield.
Yield: The slow squeeze process allows you to get the most out of your produce. In fact, the H400 gives you the highest yield out of any of the Hurom Easy Clean models.
Usability: The large chamber and hopper size makes it easy to load larger amounts of produce. This is great for making larger batches to keep for later, or when you’re juicing for friends or family. The handy gauge window on the front of the model allows you to see how full the chamber is, as well as the beautiful colors of your juice.
Clean-up: The strainer-free design means less mineral buildup over time. And you can easily separate the individual parts. All this adds up to much less time scrubbing and cleaning.
Super Angel 5500
Type: Twin-Gear/Triturating
My rating: 14/15
The Super Angel 5500 juicer is a top-of-the-line twin-gear masticating juicer known for its high juice yield, ease of use, and excellent clean-up features, all housed in a durable stainless steel body.
Yield: The Super Angel 5500 is known for a high juice yield. It operates at a low speed of 83 RPM, which ensures minimal oxidation and maximum nutrient retention.
Usability: The juicer is straightforward to use, with a setup that allows even those new to juicing to operate it easily. Although it features a narrow feed chute requiring produce to be cut into smaller pieces, the overall juicing process is oh-so-efficient.
Clean-up: Cleaning the Super Angel 5500 is relatively easy. While not all components are dishwasher safe, the juicer is equipped with a cleaning brush and is designed for easy disassembly for cleaning.
BREVILLE JUICE FOUNTAIN MULTISPEED
Type: Centrifugal
My rating: 12/15
The Breville Juice Fountain Multi-Speed (BJE510XL) juicer is a centrifugal model that is well-regarded for its efficient juice extraction, particularly from hard fruits and vegetables like carrots and apples. It features a strong 900-watt motor with five adjustable speeds, which allows you to optimize the juicing process depending on the type of produce you’re using.
Yield: The juicer is very effective at extracting juice from hard produce, and while it is less efficient with leafy greens, it still performs reasonably well when they are packed between harder ingredients.
Usability: The Breville Juice Fountain Multi-Speed has a wide 3-inch feed chute that minimizes the need for pre-cutting fruits and vegetables, allowing for faster and more convenient juicing sessions.
Clean-up: Cleaning this juicer is easy-peasy. It includes a cleaning brush and most of its parts are dishwasher safe (top rack recommended), which facilitates quick cleanup. Immediate cleaning is advised to prevent pulp from drying up and staining the plastic parts.
Criteria for Choosing the Best Juicer
Before you select a juicer, ask yourself the following questions, and be honest!
- How much prep time am I willing to invest in my daily juicing?
- How much cleanup am I willing to endure on a daily basis?
- What’s my budget?
- Will I be juicing wheatgrass?
- What’s more important: The shelf life of my juice or the time/effort it takes to make my juice?
- How much space do I have?
Which Juicer Should You Choose?
Frankly, that depends on your goals and your lifestyle. If you’re a hardcore raw foodie who wants to invest in a killer machine and you have some extra time on your hands, you might go full tilt with a twin-gear juicer.
On the other hand, if you’re a working mama who knows that she’s only going to make her green juice if it’s relatively quick, and easy to clean up, then you might opt for a centrifugal model. Will there be some compromise in nutritional value if you go the easier way? Sure.
But it all comes down to whether or not you’ll actually commit to juicing. Abandoned juicers make great dust collectors and door stops. So for best results, choose the juicer you’ll actually use!
Since everyone has different needs and budgets, I want to show you how I evaluate the many juicers on the market today so that you can choose a juicer tailored to your needs.
The Four Different Types of Juicers
In this section, I’ll teach you how to choose between a centrifugal juicer, a Masticating juicer, a Twin Gear/Triturating juicer, and a Wheatgrass juicer. I’ll list the pros and cons of each and some of my favorite brands and models of that type of juicer.
Centrifugal Juicers
Centrifugal juicers use a fast-spinning grater to shred the fruits and veggies. The juice then gets flung through a strainer and out the spout, while all the pulp flies up into a catch basket.
- Pros: A centrifugal juicer is easy to clean and use, juices fast, takes up less counter space, is less expensive, juices fibrous veggies well, and juices whole fruits well (large chute).
- Cons: Centrifugal juicers aren’t optimal for juicing greens. They’re also noisy, and the juice has a shorter shelf life (20-30 minutes), and nutrients oxidize quicker.
Tip: I stretch out the shelf life by storing any extra juice in an airtight jar to enjoy later that same day—realizing that it does lose nutritional value.
Other top centrifugal juicers that I tested include: Breville Juice Fountain Multi-Speed, Breville Juice Fountain Compact, and Black & Decker Fruit & Vegetable Juice Extractor.
Masticating Juicers (AKA Cold Press Juicers, Slow Juicers, Single Gear Juicers)
A masticating juicer uses one slowly turning screw-shaped gear that chews up the veggies and squeezes the juice through a stainless-steel screen. This action gently tears open the cell membranes to release the nutrients.
- Pros: A slow juicer extracts more juice with higher nutritional value (enzymes included). It also produces less foam, has a longer fridge life (about 24-48 hours), and is quiet with less waste (drier pulp = less produce in your garbage). Most models also juice wheatgrass and can make nut butters, ice cream, veggie pâtés, and more.
- Cons: Takes longer to prep produce and make juice (a smaller chute means that you have to cut up fruits and veggies into smaller pieces), more difficult to assemble and clean, heavy machine, higher price tag.
My personal favorite slow juicer (which includes a 10-year warranty!) is the Hurom Masticating Slow Juicer.
Other slow juicers that I tested include: Breville Fountain Crush Masticating Slow Juicer and Omega Nutrition Juicer.
Twin-Gear Juicers (or Triturating Juicers)
A twin-gear juicer is another slow juicer, slowly squishing the fruits and veggies between two gears until the pulp is nearly dry and almost all the juice is squeezed out.
- Pros: The juice stays fresh longer (about 72 hours), has a higher juice yield and nutritional value, is more versatile (It can juice wheatgrass and makes nut butter, ice cream, veggie pâtés, and more), and is quiet.
- Cons: It takes longer to prep and juice produce (again, smaller chute, etc.). Cleaning the juicer takes longer, and it is not optimal for juicing citrus fruits. It has a higher price tag and is a larger and heavier machine.
Other twin Gear juicers that I tested include: Super Angel 5500 and Green Star Elite Jumbo Twin Gear Juice Extractor.
Wheatgrass Juicers
Wheatgrass juicers work by slowly squeezing and pressing juice out of the tough wheatgrass fibers—similar to wringing out your wet clothes after running through the sprinkler on a hot afternoon.
Wheatgrass juicers come in hand-crank and electric versions and while some are specific for wheatgrass, others will also juice leafy greens, fruits and vegetables.
Other wheatgrass juicers that I tested include: Lexen Healthy Juicer, Handy Pantry HJ Hurricane.
Remember, you don’t need a separate wheatgrass juicer if you have a slow masticating juicer, twin-gear juicer.
My Favorite Juice Recipes
Need some juicing inspiration? Check out a few of my favs:
- My Signature Green Juice Recipe: This delicious juice packs a healthy punch with leafy greens and tart granny smith apples.
- Orange Uplift Juice: This recipe combines cantaloupe, carrots, celery, and romaine for a refreshing take on an “orange” juice.
- The Spicy Sweetie: A delicious combination of ginger, granny smith apples and tasty veggies will truly make you pucker up.
For a step-by-step guide on how to start juicing, check out “How to Make a Green Juice.”
Summary
- The best juicers I’ve chosen are based on type, yield, usability, and clean-up.
- The juicer you choose will depend on your budget, time invested, ease of cleanup desired, space you have, and what you’ll be juicing.
- There are four main types of juicers to choose from: Centrifugal, Masticating, Twin Gear/Triturating, and wheatgrass.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a cold press juicer and masticating juicer the same thing?
A cold press juicer, masticating juicer, and slow juicer are all names for the same juicing machine! They use a mechanism to slowly crush your fruits and veggies to separate the juice from the pulp.
What’s the difference between a masticating juicer and a centrifugal juicer?
A centrifugal juicer uses a spinning blade to chop your ingredients into small pieces. It’s a speedier process but it is capable of damaging the flavor and negating the nutrient density of the resulting juice.
What can you juice in a cold press juicer?
You can juice almost anything in a cold press juicer, from spinach and cucumbers to apples and oranges. Dryer ingredients (like wheatgrass) may need to be paired with something juicier.
How long can you keep cold press juice in the fridge?
Cold-press juices have a longer shelf life and should be “good” for up to 48 hours when stored in an air-tight container in the fridge.
Which Juicer Will You Go With?
I hope this helps you pick out the perfect machine that’ll have you juicing for decades to come! Adopting this one healthy habit will increase your energy, reduce inflammation, boost your immune system, improve your mood and support your overall well-being. It’s like prevention rocket fuel!
Let me know in the comments: What factors are most important to you in a juicer?
Peace & cheers,
Our family newbies to juicing BUT we are loving it now 🙂 makes sense to start with just one glass a day until u get rid of toxins.
My teenagers love making these 🙂
Thanks for all your advice <3
Can you show me how to do the same thing without a $800 juicer?
No lo tiene en español?
Thank you! Great info! I have had the Breville Centrifugal Juicer for 3 years now. Started using it during my second pregnancy because I had Preclampsia with my first pregnancy and was determined to be healthy. Made it all the way to 38 weeks and not just to 28weeks like my first pregnancy. I attribute it to a healthy change in my diet. Now my little boys now 2 and 4 drink my Mean Green juices and variety of others of course. Juicing changed my life! Again thank you for the info!
I’ve never tried to ask my nephews to drink a smoothie, because I think they might not like it especially they’re kids and all they want to eat are sweets. Maybe I should try this some other time. I’ll update you whether they’ll gonna try it or not. HA HA.
Hi make it fun! Call the smoothie a Hulk Green Super drink. I have a 6 yr old grandson and I made him a green monster Popsicle with spinach, banana, coconut milk and had loved it. I make him a banana strawberry shake…really a smoothie he loves it.. Just tell them it will make them strong , ! Make it fun and drink it with them… Have a contest who can drink the fastest?
I have sort of a dumb question. Not that I would ever be able to afford one but how long does the juice last from the Norwalk Hydraulic Press? I would love to juice all of my juice on a Sunday for the week (oh what a perfect world it would be:).
Hi Trish,
Norwalk juice lasts about 4 days.
Cheers!
Kris
Hi Kris!
I’ve had three different centrifugal juicers and now a masticating juicer. I love your guide, but I’m wondering if the rating on the Norwalk is misleading. Researching what juicer to get, I watched videos of making juice with and cleaning Norwalk juicers. It seems to take WAY longer. It’s got so many parts to screw and unscrew and you gotta titrate it first then put it in the bag and then squeeze it out slowwwwwwly, so you gotta prep more than a centrifugal or masticating. It also requires the expense of those little baggies and washing and cleaning those, which I’ve never done but looks more of a hassle than scrubbing a centrifugal filter with a good brush.
I actually find my vertical masticating juicer quicker to clean than the centrifugal because of the filter on the centrifugal requires more scrubbing. But it does have more parts to it that you have to take apart and clean that aren’t as straightforward.
Thanks Kris!
-Catt
The prep for most juicers is about equal, washing and cutting to ensure it fits in the tubes. The Norwalk though you need to be prepared for kick back, but if you load the machine properly there is no problem. Because you are taking the pulp and juice and straining it through the cloth or bags, there is very little if any loss in juice yield and as such one thing that Kris doesn’t mention is the amount of vitamins and minerals which is retained in the juice coming from the Norwalk compared to the other juicers. Centrifugal juices kick out much of the pulp still wet and thus there is a loss to yield and minerals and vitamins you get in the end.
I have taken pulp from the Breville Muili-Speed and the Moulinex and put it through the cloths with the Norwalk press and viola there is still more juice coming forth to enjoy.
Clean up of the machine is much easier than the other juicers as well, so a little more prep, but lots less cleaning time in the long run.
Hi Kris. Love this post. Have a question though.
I’ve heard from Jon Gabriel that juicing provides an immediately available source of nutrients because it’s basically predigested when it enters the stomach. If I created my juice in a standard blender would this still be the case? I know that fiber has the effect of slowing digestion so would it also slow down the absorption of the nutrients in the juice? Of course, you’d also have to drink straight away since a blender would destroy some of the nutrients.
I suppose I could use the blender but then strain the juice through a nutmilk bag.
Thanks
Julia
Straining through a nut milk bag is a great solution! xo, kc
Hi Kris!
I have been juicing this way (blending in vitamix and strain with a nut bag). How would you rate the outcome? Would all of the juicer above make more nutritional juice than this method?
This is so cool, and would love to win this!
I had a Magic Bullet Juicer and stopped using it because I felt so bad wasting all that ‘left over’ stuff… I bet it was just a terrible machine. I best start saving some doll hairs and get me a good quality one. Juicing- Take 2! 😀
Queen of the Unicorns Kris, thank you so much for this helpful guide. I will be sending it to all my friends who ask the juicer question. I really love when you do these smackdowns, especially the deodorant one(!). They’re so useful and informative. x
My centrifugal juicer is on it’s last legs due to overuse. Should have bought a Breville!
You are my hero Kris. I was intoduced to you by a friend of mine when i was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2011. She sent me your book Crazy sexy cancer and jolly ranchers. I am now 2.6 years cancer free and still love Kris who got me.over the hump! I can’t wait to see you in new york in September.
Kris!
Every day I churn up a handful of kale, some blueberries, ground flaxseed, and maybe a piece of banana with water in my Magic Bullet. Takes seconds and a couple more to clean the cup. My hubby gets a smoothie.
I love my bullet. I get the whole veggie that way.
Lollie
I’ve got the Hurom model, and have been using it for @ 2 years. It is great! good yield, and easy clean up. It takes little counter space, which is why I chose it. I blend sometimes, and my magic bullet is fine for me! Thanks for the review, well done!
I also have a hurom and love it for the same reasons you do. Mine’s at least 3 years old. I’m on my second Vitamix. The 1st one I got 40 years ago . It was still working but I gave it a friend about 7 years ago. It was the stainless steel square model. My present one is 7 yrs. old and I use it for raw soups, smoothies, etc. today I made Matt Amsdem’s eggless egg salad ( minus half the salt) and raw mayonaise.
Looks like I’ve got the right juicer here. Yay! Now, wondering what machines you recommend for making GREEN SMOOTHIES? So many options for those today too! The one I’ve been using is broken, so in the market for a new one. Thanks!
For smoothies I’d just go vitamix..but I guess any REALLY good blender would work..but why fuck around??get what you pay for with a vitamix…AND ESPECIALLY FOR SMOOTHIES.THAT’S WHAT I WOULD WANT TO USE..BUT THATS
I have a Vitamix and love it. It works great on smoothies and clean up is easy, very little waste. I put everything in my smoothies. I have friends however, that have the Ninja and love it as well.
This is great! I worked at the whole foods juice bar for a couple of months though, and I think it would be a great idea to include that one too 🙂
and for those of us who didn’t like the prep and cleanup on a centrifuge model (perhaps poorly designed)
… Vitamix! {i’ll take a green smoothie instead of juice for a lot less hassle, thank you very much}
All I gott say(which is totally not true)lol..
OMEGA J8004
Very thorough post, thank you! I’m curious, and this is an on-going debate in our field, but I’m a Vitamix’er not a juicer, I make a green smoothie every day. Where do you think that lands in your breakdown of nutrients, etc…? Would it fall under the same category as the Centrifugal Juicer? Also, why juice when you can use a Vitamix (or any pulverizing blender) to simplify things? (Meaning: very quick prep, very quick clean up, and you get the whole food in the smoothie, nothing’s removed.) In other words, are you getting something from juicing that you cannot get from blending?
thanks,
Leslie
i juice as well as doing smoothies. with juicing the vitamin and minerals from your food enter your blood stream within 15 to 20 mins. with smoothies its take up to 8 hours for your body to digest. that’s why i like doing both.
I was going to ask the same question! We follow the Feingold diet for my 6yo son, and the Vitamix has made that possible. Other than digestion, other pros or cons between the two????
When I am using mainly fruit, I like to make smoothies. The fiber slows the absorption of the fructose/sugar in the fruit. When I juice, I like to use mostly greens. For me personally, the main benefit of juicing greens is that I can consume a substantially larger quantity of all the amazing nutrients, much more than I would be capable of if I had to try and digest all of the fiber that goes along with them. I have a bit of trouble with slow digestion and I can’t eat very large quantities of food, juicing enables me to receive all the benefits of the greens without all the pain and discomfort.
Lani is right. Juice your greens and eat your fruits. Too many people want to load up their juices with carrots, beets, oranges, apples, and other high-glycemic fruits and root veggies, but that isn’t good for your blood sugar levels. @Leslie, juicing is a great way to concentrate higher amounts of the nutrients from spinach, kale, mustard greens, and other greens. Throwing in some ginger or turmeric can further help detoxify your body and get minerals that aren’t available in other foods. I’ve used an Omega J8006, because you get extra benefits like making sugar-free Almond butter or Peanut butter and grinding fresh coffee beans. They’re much more durable than centrifugal juicers and upright slow juicers.
I purchased an Omega Vertical (masticating) juicer. Do I have to peel my lemons & limes before processing them?
No you dont and I don’t and I wouldn’t 🙂
If they are waxed, I would peel them! If unwaxed and organic, chuck them in!
Oils in lemon and lime peel is supposedly more digestible, but things like oil in orange and grapefruit peel are indigestible. Still, sometimes too much lemon and lime peel give that really strong zest and during sitting time can become bitter. I still peel most of it off sometimes I leave a bit on for tiny zest.
For sure Catt. I once juiced grapefruits entirely and wow did I wind up dry heaving and holding on the to toilet bowl! Lesson learned. And agree lemons no problem. All Love! 🙂 <3
OMG that sounds crazy!! It must have been crazy bitter too!! Hahaha!
No you don’t. And Its sounds also crazy!
This is wonderful!