Do you need to invest in a juicer to get great juice? 

The simple answer is no - you don't have to invest in a juicer to produce delicious fresh juices - but it if you are going to do it regularly it helps.  Buying a juicer is an investment and if you have never used a juicer before, it can be difficult to know what to look out for, what's available and how they will work in practice.

This is a straightforward guide to juicing equipment for the new juicing enthusiast.  We assume you have done only a little juicing and that you won't have used many of the types of machines on the market.  So, what should you look at and what will suit you best?

Questions you need to ask 

When you're considering buying a juicer, there are some basic facts that you need to know about every machine in order to work out what you are getting for your money and how long it will last.  Here are the most important:

• RPM or revolutions per minute - you need to know what RPM the motor uses to process the food?  You may think the higher the better but when it comes to juice the reverse is true.  Higher RPM's mean more heat and foam which results in greater oxidization and less nutrients in your glass.  You want the lowest RPM possible to juice effectively and retain the essential anti-aging nutrients in your drink.
• Efficiency - how efficient is the juice extraction process? This is simply a measure of how well the machine extracts the juice - all of it - from the raw fruit or vegetables.  An easy guide is the kind of pulp leftover at the end - the drier it is the better.  Wet pulp means more juice has been left in the fruit and less put in your glass.  The variation from lowest to highest on this measure are huge, depending on the type of machine you pick.
  
• Ease of Use - how easy is the machine to assemble, to clean and re-assemble?  This is really important in terms of how much you use it.  If it is a pain to clean and assemble you simply won't want to juice.  Difficult to try out on the huge range of juicers available - your best bet is to find a specialist supplier and then ask the question of them.  If they are any good they will know all the machines and be able to tell you what any of them are like in practice.  Our advice - you should be able to take off, clean and re-assemble the parts of the machine that need cleaning in very few minutes.  Anything more is too much for something you may want to use several times a day.
• Looks - what does the machine look like? - over to you since beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Our view - none of them are pretty.
• Footprint -  how much space does it take up on the worktop?  A simple but oh-so-important question often over-looked.  The footprint of the machine can be really vital in some kitchens where space is at a premium.  Take dimensions and measure it out on the worktop where you want it to go.  It's sensible to do that anyway as you then get a feel for what it will look like when it takes up residence.
• Guarantee - how long is the guarantee period?  Many of these machines are hefty powerhouses and come with substantial multi-year guarantee periods.  So they should - you are paying for reliabilty and build quality.  Beware of anything with less than a year. Ask the supplier for their recommendations on reliability - they will know how many get returned.
  
• Spare parts - Ask about parts - even the most reliable machine has parts that will wear out and need replacing.  Usually this is the small but essential bits of the machine - like the strainers - rather than anything to do with the motor.  Without these small parts of course, all juicing stops, so it is important to know how soon they will be replaced if they do go.  Our advice - order a spare when you buy the machine.  Talk to the supplier but if you know the strainer will wear out eventually and is usually the first thing to go, it makes sense to get an extra one at the time you buy the machine.
  
• More than just juice - some juicers will do a great deal more than just juice but do you want them to?  Look at the additional jobs the machine claims to do and decide whether you need that.  If not, ignore it and just focus on how good a juicer it is.

Having thought about all of that you need to look at what's on offer.  We are not talking here about machines that press or squeeze citrus fruit or blenders for making smoothies - just those machines that extract juice from raw fruit and vegetables.  So what are the different types of juicers on the market and how do they differ? Broadly you have a choice between three different types of juicing machine.

1.    Centrifugal Juicers

This type of juicer first grates the fruit or vegetable into a pulp, and then uses centrifugal force to push the pulp against a strainer screen by spinning it at a very high RPM.

Centrifugal juicers are the most popular and the most affordable type of juicer. In fact, most juicers that you see in department stores are centrifugal juice machines.  Look out for the warranty expiry date though, since on many centrifugal machines it could be less than one year. 

Centrifugal juicers are great at juicing just about any fruit or vegetable, but they can't cope so well with more difficult jobs like extracting juice from wheatgrass, leafy greens, or herbs.  The higher RPM also creates a more foamy juice which will have suffered more oxidization resulting in loss of nutrients.  The volume of juice extracted from a centrifugal juicer will be considerably less than from the better of the masticating juicers -  the difference can be as much as half. This is evident from the moisture content of the pulp left over after the process is finished.  Centrifugal juicers produce a much wetter pulp indicating how much juice is still in the fruit.

2.    Single Gear (Masticating) Juicers

A single gear masticating juicer works by literally chewing fruit and vegetable fibers and breaking up the plant cells.  The masticated wet pulp is put through a strainer by the machine to extract the juice in one very quick process.  The result is a great deal more fiber, enzymes, vitamins and trace minerals in your juice.

Masitcating juicers are generally more efficient than Centrifugal juicers because they can extract more juice from the same amount of food (i.e. the pulp comes out dryer).  Masticating juicers are very capable at juicing most fruits and vegetables, and with some exceptions,  will also extract juice from wheatgrass, spinach, and other leafy greens and herbs. If you want to juice wheatgrass or any leafy green vegetable, make sure the masticating juicer you are considering does this properly.

Another benefit of masticating juicers is that they operate at slower speeds (RPM) than centrifugal juicers, resulting in less foam and heat, which means less oxidization and more nutrition in your glass.

If you want a versatile machine capable of more than just juicing then go for a masticating juicer.  In addition to extracting juices, these juicers can also be used to homogenize foods producing baby foods, pates, sauces, nut butters, banana ice creams and fruit sorbets. Of course if you just want to juice these add on capabilities are not really advantages.  Many people will have some form of hand-held (stick) blender that can do most of these jobs at lower speeds and will not really need a juicer to do this as well.

3.    Twin-Gear (Triturating) Juicers

These are the most expensive type of juicers on the market, but if you can afford them, they offer the most benefits. The RPM of these juicers is even lower than the single gear machines resulting in much less oxidation from foam and less destruction of nutrients from heat. Triturating juicers are the most efficient type of juicer available and can extract larger volumes of juice from fruits and vegetables.  They also handle wheatgrass, pine needles, spinach, and other greens and herbs with equal efficiency should you wish to juice any of these ingredients regularly. 

Twin gear juicers operate by pressing food between two interlocking roller gears. This juicing process yields a larger volume of juice and extracts more fiber, enzymes, vitamins and trace minerals. Twin gear juicers do more than just extract juice, they homogenize to make baby foods, nut butters, fruit sorbets and many have attachments for making pasta and even rice cakes!

Again you may not want the add-on benefits but if you buy one of these machines for its juicing capability alone - you will be getting simply the best juicer avaialable.

  

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