Juicer? Centrifugal or Masticating?

Tracy Rimmer · #1 12/30/04, 10:17 AM

We are in the market for a juicer --- not a citrus juicer, but one that can do everything, fruits and veggies alike. Anyone out there with experiences, good or bad, I'd sure appreciate a little guidance. Who knew there were so many options for a juicer?

Tracy

Bret F · #2 12/30/04, 12:23 PM

We have a centrifugal type that we have done vegetables and various fruits with.

It has a stainless cup, about a fluid pint, the juice goes into. We have found that when it is about 3/4 full, we need to clean the screen off, more often when doing grapes. We put the grape sludge into a colander and get quite a bit more juice to drip out of it. The other fruits we put in a cloth and squeeze more juice out.

It seems to do a fair job, but requires quite a bit of un-assemble and cleaning.

mightybooboo · #3 12/30/04, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tracy Rimmer

We are in the market for a juicer --- not a citrus juicer, but one that can do everything, fruits and veggies alike. Anyone out there with experiences, good or bad, I'd sure appreciate a little guidance. Who knew there were so many options for a juicer?

Tracy

We have a Juiceman Jr.Seems to make good juice,but that screen is a royal pain to clean.For household use,I think its OK,I like it.One of these days Im going to get on ebay and get a Vitamix,seems to be the Cadillac of juicers.
BooBoo

Mastiff · #4 12/30/04, 03:11 PM

We have a Champion juicer had it for years and love it. It is a real work horse.

insanity · #5 12/30/04, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mightybooboo

We have a Juiceman Jr.Seems to make good juice,but that screen is a royal pain to clean.
BooBoo

Ain't that the truth! I mean the hard to clean part.Tear down is simply but not cleaning that screen.(My garden hose seems to work well.

well if its not frozen that is.

) For the money I'm happy i guess,but i still want a better one some day.Settled for the cheaper one since my grandmother wanted to get me one for X-mas.

boren · #6 12/30/04, 08:32 PM

Like: juicers
Don't like: blenders

I've been fortunate enough to try both centrifugal and demasticating juicers and I much prefer the centrifugal. Both work well, but I find the centrifugal ones give what I'm used to as juice. I used a Champion for a while and don't think I would buy another one. It's a great machine, but I didn't like the juice. The juice was always very think which lots of suspended pulp. Maybe we needed a finer screen?

We now have an Omega juicer and I think it does a better job at making juice.

imho a vitamix is a blender, if I wanted to eat the pulp why am I juicing it? Sorry.

hth.

limey · #7 12/31/04, 01:17 AM

I have a champion juicer (but don't use it as much as I should!). It makes great juice IMHO, but I like thickish juice.

It is so versatile as well. I can grate carrots and other veggies, make nut butters, ice cream, and I also have the grain mill attachment so I can grind my own flour. It is expensive, but so much more for your money and it is built to last. I've had mine over ten years and it still looks like new. I had a centrifugal juicer and it was a royal pain to clean and not very sturdy - I gave it away in disgust. The Champion is easy to clean.

Bruce in NE · #8 12/31/04, 11:54 AM

"imho a vitamix is a blender, if I wanted to eat the pulp why am I juicing it? Sorry."

The Vitamix is far more than a blender. It runs so fast that you CAN eat the pulp (which probably has more food value than the juice) instead of throwing it out. The pulp is reduced to such a small size you hardly notice it. I've had other juicers and blenders and they don't hold a candle to my Vitamix. Imho.

mammabooh · #9 12/31/04, 12:04 PM

We have a Champion also. We use it every day (sometimes a few times) and we love it. Ours came with a blank to use in place of the screen if we want to puree things instead of juicing them. We like to freeze bananas and fresh pineapple and then run it through with the blank in place. It is just like ice cream.

Ours also came with a little strainer that can be used to pour the juice through in case it's too thick for your liking.

HilltopDaisy · #10 12/31/04, 12:15 PM

I have a Champion, too. I love it. I also have the grain mill attachment, so it does double-duty. The thing is incredible with rome tomatoes, just push 'em through, and cook the juice down for sauce, or make tomatoe juice to can. And yes, you can also make nut butters. I had an Omega before this and I really, really didn't like it!

Leah IL · #11 12/31/04, 03:56 PM

I think the advantage to a masticating juicer is that it does not "heat up" the juice and kill nutrients because it operates on a slower speed. Not that the juice from a centrifugal juicer would taste warm, but due to the speed of the machine it does create heat and therefore may not be as effective as a masticating juicer would be at transferring the nutrients from the vegetables into your juice. We have an Omega juicer (masticating) and juice lettuce (red, green and romaine), spinach, cucumbers and celery every morning. I always strain it twice to get the pulpiness out- nobody likes to chew their juice

If you put it in the freezer for 5 minutes, it's pretty good- my kids even drink it

Mastiff · #12 12/31/04, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mammabooh

We have a Champion also. We use it every day (sometimes a few times) and we love it. Ours came with a blank to use in place of the screen if we want to puree things instead of juicing them. We like to freeze bananas and fresh pineapple and then run it through with the blank in place. It is just like ice cream.
.

I have done that with ours as well. It makes great sorbet...

goatlady · #13 12/31/04, 08:14 PM

I've got an Omega and love it - so easy to clean, no screens to clog up, just run water over the 3 parts and you're good to go.