Juicers
Juicing is a great way to add a lot of nutrients to your body in a very short period of time that not only make you feel great but that taste great also. I love using juice as a way to get nutrients in me that I might otherwise have a hard time getting down i.e. carrots. I dont like carrots but adding carrot juice to something else is a fine with me and I get all the positive health benefits from them without the taste problem.
Most products in the raw food diet world have some sort of controversy/choice and the juicer is no different. There are several options…one being as simple as putting fruit in a blender and straining the juice through a nut milk bag or cheese cloth. This method works for the most part but most would argue that you weren’t getting the most out of your juice and it is a royal pain from a mess standpoint. Other than that you have three basic choices when it comes to a juicer.
Centrifugal Juicer
This juicer is what is going to be used at most juice bars because of its speed and relative ease of cleanup. This juicer uses high speed blades the cut the fruit and thousands of rpm that ultimately lead to a juice. The problem with this type of juicer is that it damages the cells of the fruit and oxidizes them to the point that you need to drink the juice very quickly. If you are one who wants to do a lot of juicing and store it for later in the week this type of juicer may not be for you.
Pros: Speed and fairly easy to clean. Cost.
Cons: May not deliver as healthy of a juice as other juicers.
Best Example: Breville Juicer
Gear Juicers
This was the primary favorite of most raw foodies for a long time because of the quality of juice that it produced. These machines will juice about anything because of the way the gears squeeze the juice out. From personal experience I can tell you that these machines do produce a wonderful juice. The problem that I had with mine is that it is a complete pain to clean. The setup and tear down alone take a ridiculous amount of time and that doesn’t take into consideration all the time it takes to clean.
Pros: Great juice.
Cons: Big, bulky and takes a long time to clean. Cost.
Best Example: GreenStar Juicer
Single Auger Juicer
The relative new comer to the juicing world this machine is often called a Slow Juicer but dont let the name fool you. It is only slow in the the gears turn slow squeezing the juice out. I am a recent convert to this type of juicer and from my perspective there is no other juicer that I would want to use. It produces a great juice, is fairly small (especially compared to the gear juicers) and is extremely easy to clean. I can have this juicer cleaned before I can have my gear juicer broken down to prepare it for cleaning.
Pros: Great juice. Simple to clean.
Cons: Cost.
Best example (what I use): Omege VRT330
