So you decide to join the ranks of the health-conscious, taking their five a day all at once in a healthy glass of juice. You want to know how to choose a juicer which will suit your needs, with so many out there to choose from.
To begin with you should think about the type of juice you want to produce, using which vegetables and fruits: maybe you like the idea of citrus juice with loads of vitamin C to wake you up in the morning, or a green smoothie, with a mixture of your favorite fruit and veg, or perhaps you want to be able to try all kinds. Juicers come in different styles: citrus juicers, masticating juicers or centrifugal juicers, which can be either pulp ejecting or non-pulp ejecting. This means that either the pulp is separated from the juice into two different containers, or the juice pours out through a spout, while the pulp remains inside, needing you to empty it out, sometimes during juicing.
1. Citrus Juicers do just that – juice citrus fruits: they will deal with all kinds of citrus fruit; limes, lemons, mandarins, oranges and grapefruit etc but not with any other kind of fruit. This process involves the fruit being cut into halves, and a half fruit pressed onto a ‘reamer cone’ which revolves and extracts the juice. There are also manual juicers, where the reamer is static and the user must twist the fruit manually.
2. Centrifugal Juicers work by fast-spinning fruits against shredder discs, filtering juice into one container while sending pulp into another; in the case of pulp ejecting juicers. The non-pulp ejecting type filters the juice through to a container or out the spout, while the pulp remains in the basket, requiring manual emptying and cleaning.
3. Masticating Juicers do exactly that; masticate (chew) foods between two grinders; distracting juices rich in fiber. A masticating juicer can deal with tougher foods to produce thicker results, as in nut butter, baby foods etc. Unlike other juicer types; these versatile juicers can deal with all varieties of leafy and fibrous vegetable, any fruits, tough grasses and nuts, even some grains and cereals.
Most juicers can cope with citrus fruits, but will need you to peel them first, if you don’t want the bitter peel taste. However citrus juicers remain the best for citrus juice. Juicers have evolved such that they can mostly deal with any job you choose to give them, whether or not you have to peel or prepare beforehand. Newer versions have extra wide feed chutes which will accept many fruits whole, with only larger fruits needing a little cutting first. It is not difficult to know how to find the right juicer once you know what you need it to do and what type of juice you like. Then you choose your juicer according to your budget and your needs. Enjoy!
This wonderful resource for Juicer Reviews will help you find the best juicer for your family, including the superb Omega Juicer.