Juicer and Juicing Ultimate Buyer Guide: 15 Tips

Selecting a juicer can be confusing, especially if you are just a beginner. With numerous brands, designs, prices and types available, it can be difficult to know where to start. 

You may be stuck with the kind of juicer to buy or the technology that perfectly matches your needs. The following 15 things to consider before buying a juicer and juicing are helpful factors worth your time.

I have listed 15 things that you really must know. The best part is, they focus less on juicer features and but covers almost everything you must know in your juicing adventure.

Here are the 15 things to consider before buying a juicer.

1. Consider the Details of the Juicer

Some nitty gritty details that you might want to consider before purchasing include:

The noise – what time of the day do you juice? Are the people you’re staying with sensitive to noise?

Juicers that are motor driven tend to make noise. On the other hand, the manual juicers are not accompanied by much noise- apart from your heavy breathing. 

Slow Masticating juicers are somewhat silent. Therefore, if you plan on juicing late at night or early morning, this is a significant factor to keep in mind.

Durability is yet another detail. How long do you purpose on keeping the juicer?

 Do you want something that will last for the longest time, or are you going to upgrade to a better model soon? Juicers come with different warranties, some long, while others are short. 

The best way to check for durability is the machine’s warranty, and whether or not it has a motor; those with motors heat up the machine, resulting in quicker wear and tear.

2. The Importance of Quality on Your Desired Juicer

Of course, quality is crucial, but to what degree does it matter to you? Is it worth an extra money investment and time? Different juicer types vary regarding the quality of the juice they extract.​

Centrifugal juicers are readily available and can be found in almost all department stores, are convenient (fast clean-up, fast juicing) and very affordable.

It’s an ideal appliance if you won’t mind adding the pulp back to your juice. However, they produce foamy juice that can be a bit warm due to the heat generated by the motor.

 Lower-end centrifugal juicers do not efficiently extract juice from the pulp like the masticating juicers, which yield more high-quality juice but take a longer period.

Before any purchase, it’s wise to take into consideration what’s important to you, as there isn’t a right answer; it’s how you prefer it.

 If you cannot compromise on quality and yield of the juice, go for masticating juicer. However, if you’re trying to beat on time, you can rely on the centrifugal one.

After all, how awesome the machine is doesn’t count if you have no time to use it. What matters is that you can juice, so go for one that matches your needs.

3. Your Budget

You’ve heard the phrase, “you get what you pay for?” well; it’s no exception when it comes to juicers.

Typically, the price is directly proportional to performance. With higher price comes more features, higher juice yield, better warranty, an easy to clean product and in most cases, more ascetically appealing product.

If your plan is to incorporate juicing into your daily health and diet regime, our advice is that price-cutting might be inappropriate.

In essence, purchasing lower-priced juicers can be a false economy because within a short time, you may be demoralized with the energy needed to assemble, large amounts of waste produced, low quality of juice, or breaking down in worst-case scenarios.

Therefore, it’s wise to go for an affordable, yet high-quality juicer that will serve you for the longest time, while yielding the best results.

4. The Efficiency of the Juicer​

This is another crucial factor. Ask yourself, how many times in an hour or a day are you planning to juice, and in what quantities will you make?

Then, is the juice for you alone, you and your spouse or for your whole family? Is the time taken to produce juice matter?

Slow Masticating juicers yield highest quality juice but are much slower compared to centrifugal ones.

If you need to generate plenty of juice faster and are willing to compromise a little on quality, you can settle for centrifugal juicers.

However, if the quality is your primary concern, and you are planning to juice leafy greens and vegetables, then the slow masticating juicer is the best option.

 The downside is that the latter takes an average of 80% more time to produce juice when compared to the centrifugal juicer.

For instance, when everything is set, it will only take three to four minutes for a centrifugal juicer (albeit with a lot more waste) to make a 500ml of juice, while it would take a masticating juicer an average of 6 minutes for the same.

5. High Yield of Juice and Dry Pulp

One very crucial way of measuring the effectiveness and quality of a juicer is by the amount of juice it produces.

There are plenty of online resources, including videos, which illustrate how efficient different juicers are on juicing equal quantities of yield.

Typically, when the amount of juice generated increases, the price also goes up.

​In your shopping experince, you will come across the slow action masticating juicers such as Omega Juicers, Huron Slow Juicers, Tribest slowstar vertical juicers among others.

Despite their low RPM motors, they guarantee maximum extraction an preservation of nutrients. No juice is left in the pulp.

This differs with the centrifugal juicers such as Hamilton Beach juicers, various brands of Breville juicers, Black + Decker Juicers, and Gourmia juicers whose motor action reach even 10000 RPMs.

Although they are good in time-saving, some juices are lost in the pulp. 

Centrifugal juicers produce the least yield and wettest pulp, whereas twin gear masticating juicers generates the highest yield with the driest pulp.

 Your decision will, therefore, depend on the juicing time vs. juice yield.

6. They Type Of Vegetables, Greens or Fruits You Plan on Juicing

Try analyzing the ratio of each of the following you plan to juice – harder fruits, soft fruits, leafy greens, vegetables and citrus fruits.

 Mother Nature provides a great variation of produce, but no juicer is designed to handle all of the above.

That said, it is crucial to narrow down on the exact product you plan on juicing, as it will heavily determine the best juicer that will match your needs. ​

For instance, if you approximately juice 70% hard vegetables and fruits, 20% leafy greens and 10$ soft fruits, a masticating juicer can be ideal.

7. Juicer’s Warranty

Different brands of juicers come with varying warranties; with most high-speed centrifugal type having warranties that range from one to five years (since their motors quickly burn out).

Some masticating juicers come with a 10-year motor warranty and 5-year warranty on other parts. Make sure to check what the warranties do or don’t cover and those that can be serviced.

8. The ​Time Take​n to​ Clean a Juicer

After using a juicer for a while, one becomes proficient in the assembly, disassembly and cleaning the equipment.

Most juicers have several parts, but at the end, you’ll need a few seconds to rinse clean these pieces under a running tap.

If you have 20 minutes to prepare, juice, and clean, then the centrifugal and manual juicers will not only operate faster but are also easier to clean.

 Similarly, the masticating juicers fit the bill; they’re a breeze to clean since most of them have the self-cleaning feature.

9. The Size of the Feed Chute for the Specific Juicer

The juicer’s ability to juice whole fruits and vegetables is a crucial factor to those who wish to minimize the preparation time needed in slicing the vegetables and fruits before the extraction.​

Most centrifugal extractors have large chutes that can take on unsliced apples and so on.

Masticating juicers, on the other hand, have chutes with a 4cm diameter, which are small and limits the amount of feed going through the chute.

 It is, however, safer if you have kids, as the chute prevents them from putting their hands through it.

Besides, your preparation time increases by a slight margin with masticating juicers as you only need to chop beets, large carrots, and apples.

With advancement in technology, the biggest vertical cold press juicers like SKG Wide Chute and Kuvings come with a dual-stage feed chute that can take in whole pieces of fruits.

10. The Capacity to Juice Green Leafy Vegetables

One significant benefit of juicing is the ability to extract raw juice from leafy greens.

The vegetables, mainly cabbage, kale, wheatgrass, spinach, and chard, are foods that are rich in enzymes, vitamins, and minerals. If juicing leafy veggies is your primary goal, then the old press juicers will be an excellent choice.

11. Extra Accessories and ​Replacement ​Parts

Most types of juicers are designed with different food processing functions, for instance, many are capable of making oils, ice creams, nut butter, sorbets, crush ice, pasta and coffee, soy, almond and other mincing and grinding features.

However,  stick to juicing only, as these other food processing functions could be achieved using a cheaper food processor, to prevent its performance from deteriorating. 

This will also extend to include the availability of juicer replacement parts for the juicer you will buy. Would you want to own a juicer that will become obsolete if one part, unfortunately breaks?

If you plan on buying a juicer that can crush different produce, be keen on the product reviews to double check which accessories are included in what juicer.

But if it’s not your main reason, you can buy one that’s specific in its functioning, or better yet, purchase the additional features separately.

12. Time- How Soon You Are Planning To Consume the Juice

This is also very pertinent in determining the type of juicer to buy- not all of them serve the same purpose especially regarding their ability to preserve the nutrients.

If you plan to make quick juice and consume immediately, you can go for the centrifugal juicer because the oxidation causes the freshness of the juice to deteriorate faster.

But, if you want to store the fresh juice, you’ll better go for cold press slow juicers since the heat doesn’t destroy the quality of the juice.

Omega 8005/8006 (a masticating juicer) for example produces minimal to less heat, reducing the chances of oxidation in the process.

It yields juices that have longer shelf life – usually stays for between 48 and 72 hours.

13. One or Two Speeds

Nearly all juicers have a simple on and off switch. Others have separate modes for harder items like apples and carrots (fast), and soft items like citrus and oranges (slow).

These different controls are ideal if you enjoy citrus-based drinks, but would sometimes wish to have the flexibility of juicing green leafy vegetables, as they allow you to change the functionality.

14. The Design and Aesthetics of the Juicer

Personal taste largely influences the type of products that you settle for. The majority of juicers are stunning – top manufacturers design an extensive range of styles with varying colors to suit the diversified specifications of each homeowner.

This also makes them ideal to be used in any modern kitchen environment. As S beginner in juicing, put the color, size, and shape of the juicer into consideration in addition to the space you have for the collector bowls and the juice you’re making. 

You might also want to consider the space on top of your machine, which you’ll require to access the hopper, so you can feed what needs to be juiced.

Most juicers are considerably large and are now either vertical or horizontal persuasion.

It is critical to consider this dimension, so as to get the most out of its functionality and appearance, and for ease of access.

Some amazing juicers include the stainless steel Hurom HF Second Generation, Sage Juicer 606, and Angel juicers in stainless steel, which are sure to be the centerpiece of any kitchen.

15. Purchase Juice and Look up Recipes

Prior to making a commitment cost, it might be helpful to purchase some cold-pressed juices from your local coffee shop, specialty grocery or juice bar, just to be certain you like how the drinks tastes. Looking up for recipes is also a fun venture.

The tricks and tips will make your juicing exciting. If you don’t like the taste of juice or the recipe looking process, you might end up stuck with an expensive appliance that you barely even use.

​Other Buying Factors

Here are some additional factors that can guide you towards getting a juicer that’s best suited for you, so you can get the best out of it.

1. High-Speed Centrifugal Juicers

Many types of centrifugal juice blades rotate within a range of 10,000 to 15,000 revolutions per minute, and can, therefore, take and process vegetables and whole fruits quickly, resulting in quick juice production (although with less nutritional value and lots of waste.)

It has the pulp catcher and shredder in the same area, and cannot hold paste. If you like to prep lots of juice, note that the basket fills up faster and may cause it to block – you’ll, therefore, need to empty it after every batch.

Positive Aspects
 Produces juice very quickly, making it ideal for those who don’t have time to pre-cut the produce
 Does not take much space
 Good Value
 No need to chop down fruits as it processes whole pieces – Ideal for hard vegetables like celery

Negative Aspects
 Very noisy
 The oxidation of juice causes it to deteriorate very fast.
 Will not extract a lot of juice from leafy greens

Buy this if:
You’re concerned about space, and you are only making the juice for yourself. Since it doesn’t have any pulp container, there’s less footprint – therefore, you’ll have no storage concerns, plus has fewer parts to clean.

2. Centrifugal Ejection Juicer

Works on a similar principle as the centrifugal juicer, however, it has a hopper, which traps all the pulp eliminated from the shredder, allowing for more juice extraction.

There is no need of cleaning it for the next batch of juicing. Besides, their blades spin at least 6,000 rpm.

Positive Aspects
 Extracts juice very fast and are ideal if you don’t have time to chop the produce
 Pulp catcher enables one to make large juice batches
 Works perfectly for hard veggies like celery or carrots
 Shallow curve

Negative Aspects
 Oxidizes juice quickly
 Not so efficient on leafy greens
 Very noisy

Buy this if:
You need a fast process, but big enough to extract juice for more than one person without the need to disassemble, empty and clean the mesh filter. Though noisy, it is easy to use and efficient.

3. Slow Masticating Juicer

They utilize a slow spinning auger to crush vegetables or fruits against a mesh screen (stainless steel) at 80 to 100 revolutions per minute.

Juice is filtered through the filter to a container, and pulp exits to another catcher.

Positive Aspects
 Excellent yield
 No need to pre-cut green veggies
 Ideal for leafy greens, even wheatgrass
 Slow revolution-per-minute doesn’t oxidize the juice
 Longer shelf life for the juice (up to 72 hours)

Negative Aspects
 Costly
 The small feed chute needs pre-cutting
 Takes longer to extract juice

Buy this if:
If you want a high yield from the leafy greens, but don’t want to deal with the complication of operating a dual gear or triturating juicer.

As a bonus, many brands have attachments of empty plates that allow one to make sorbets or nut butter and even crush coffee beans.

Besides, the preparation time for greens will not be an issue as there’s no need to chop them.

4. Commercial Juicers

​Commercial juicers can make large quantities of juice in no time, every day, and are mostly used in bars, health clubs, cafes, and restaurants.

Most of the commercial juicers can handle both fruits and vegetables.
Positive Aspects
 Produces high volume of juice
 Gets great produce from soft juicy fruits like plums or citrus
 Easy to operate
 Easy to clean
 Its auger material is durable
 Inexpensive

Negative Aspects
Cannot juice tougher vegetables and fruits
Buy this if:
You are in a high-volume juicing environment, where the turnover rate of people who are embracing the healthier lifestyle is high.

The commercial juicer has higher-quality parts than a typical juicer for home purposes, and therefore works more quickly, yielding more juice in less time.

5. Citrus Juicers

These types of juicers are particularly designed for juicing citrus fruits like grapefruit, orange, and lemon.

It’s divided into three categories namely manual press, electric, and manual citrus juicers.
The manual citrus juicers (reamer) cost less but can be way too messy to make a single cup of orange juice.

The electric one uses the motor, making it a bit easier since you won’t have to manually squeeze for extraction, however, it’s still messy. The manual press is mainly used for lime and lemon (small citrus).

Buy this if:
You make lots of citrus juices. If you need large amounts of the citrus juice, opt for the electric type, and reamer for smaller batches.

6. Cold Press Juicer

This is the greatest of them all. They juice the most compared to any juicer in the market. Experts assert that it produces the best and purest juice with no foam or pulp.
You’ll need to shred the vegetable or fruit before placing them in a linen bag. Then put it in the juicer that squeezes it to the last drop.

Positive Aspects
 Excellent yield
 No foam
 Near zero oxidation
 Can make sorbets, baby food, and nut butter
 The shelf life of the juice lasts longest
 Can grind peanuts and coffee

Negative Aspects
 Notoriously expensive
 Complex to clean
 Long procedure to extract a single cup of juice
 Steep learning curve
 High running cost since you’ll need to exchange the linen clothing with time

Buy this if:
Money is not an issue and you virtually want foam and pulp free juice that tastes great. It is an ideal appliance for the purists who do not want to compromise on both the quantity and quality.