Juicer Recommendations

March 1, 2005 9:53 AM

Any recommendations for a good Juicer? Durability, efficiency, and ease of cleaning are especially desired features, but I'd like to keep the cost under $100 if possible, or in that neighborhood if not.
posted by wildblueyonder to food & drink (9 comments total)

Depends on what you want to juice, I think. I'm guessing you want to do a wide range of vegetables and fruits and whatnot. I myself just do lemons and oranges, and I love the Black & Decker Citrus Juicer. It's inexpensive, drains the juice into a pitcher for drinking, and really whomps the hell out of all the pulp in a lemon.
posted by NewGear at 10:10 AM on March 1, 2005

I'm guessing you want to do a wide range of vegetables and fruits and whatnot.

Yes. Wide variety is preferred. Tomatoes, carrots, citrus, sugar cane, cactus, oak...
posted by wildblueyonder at 10:13 AM on March 1, 2005

I really love my Jack LaLanne juicer. I've bought about 5 juicers in the past four years, but now that I've gotten the Jack, I can't see why I would buy another. Its two huge advantages are how unbelievably quiet it is (I had to wear earplugs with one of my juicers - no lie), and how large the feed tube is - I can fit whole apples and pears in it, if they aren't a really large variety, and anything else only needs to be cut in half to fit into it. Bliss, after having to chop all my fruits and veggies into little tiny pieces. It also leaves a nice, dry pulp, which lets you know that almost every drop of juice ends up in your glass and not in the pulp bin of the juicer. Easy to clean, too...no bad points, really. I use it every single day, and am still really happy with it. It's also very strong - I've juiced pineapple cores in it, aloe, and hard ginger. It's a real workhorse. There are a bunch of places online that sell it for 119.00 - 129.00, but I bought mine at Target for 99.00 - their every day price.
posted by iconomy at 10:27 AM on March 1, 2005

I've got one of the Mighty OJ juicers from crate and barrel, and I really like it as a citrus juicer. Stylish, simple, and it works. And only $40. Of course, it looks like you're looking for something that will juice anything you throw into it, so this probably isn't for you.
posted by jnthnjng at 10:40 AM on March 1, 2005

This Breville JE900 goes $30 over your budget at Amazon, but is an amazing "real" juicer, that can suck down an apple in 2 seconds.

I bought one a few months ago, and have never regretted it. Unlike the Black and Decker, this one can juice anything, and will still working in five years.
posted by curtm at 11:09 AM on March 1, 2005

I've also been considering getting a juicer, and saw this review site which seems to say good things about the L'Equip model. Anyone here use one of these?
posted by jasper411 at 11:20 AM on March 1, 2005

I'm quite pleased with the Braun MP-80 juicer. Cleaning takes a bit of work, but I've gotten used to it. This is my third Braun, actually -- they seem to last me four or five years, and as I'm getting close to the end of this unit's life, I'm hoping this model's still available! They cost under $70, and I use mine once a day, to juice a pound of carrots.
posted by Rash at 11:41 AM on March 1, 2005

This has been covered here recently.

My comments there on the Breville, which I like.
posted by Caviar at 12:03 PM on March 1, 2005

Don't buy a juicer for less than 100 bucks, unless it's a crazy sale. Those will most likely be 1/2 hp juicers, and they're inefficient. Most affordable juicers (Juiceman, etc.) use centrifugal force to throw juice off of shredded fruits and vegetables.

A 1/2 horse motor will throw off less juice because it doesn't spin as fast-- more juice will be ejected with the pulp and the end result is that you have to feed it more to get the same amount that you would with a 1 hp juicer. So figure in the cost of produce if you use it at all regularly, and you quickly lost any money that you saved by purchasing on the cheap.

Just look at the specs and buy the cheapest 1 hp juicer that you can find. Expect to pay around 125-150. I have a Juiceman II, which is 1 hp. I started with the 1/2 hp Juiceman Jr., and the difference is remarkable.

I'm not going to recommend the Juiceman II-- not because I think it's inferior (I really like it!), but because any other juicer with an adequate motor is going to be about as good and I don't know if it's the best-priced model.
posted by Mayor Curley at 12:26 PM on March 1, 2005