Juicers and Juice Extractors

Home juicing can be creative and healthy way of drinking juice. Instead of drinking store-bought, pre-packaged juice, you can drink a freshly extracted juice that retains more nutrients. You can also experiment with all kinds of exotic fruits. With the right juicer and good produce, you only have to use your imagination to create delicious beverage and add juicy flavor to salad dressings, marinades, sauces and desserts.

There are two types of products that you can use to make fresh juice: juicers and juice extractors. A juicer is an electric appliance that removes juice from citrus fruit. The juice is removed by pressing a halved citrus fruit onto the machine’s cone. A juice extractor uses tiny, extremely sharp teeth to separate the pulp and peel from the juice. Entire fruits and vegetables can be placed into the machine, although in the case of a citrus, the peel must be removed first.

There are so many different models of juicers and juice extractors on the market and choosing the right one can be confusing. Here are some things to consider when selecting one:

Centrifugal juicers are probably the most popular and the most affordable type of juicers. They are great at juicing almost any kind of fruit or vegetable, but they are not very efficient in extracting juice from wheatgrass, leafy greens or herbs. This type of juicer first grates the fruit or vegetable into a pulp, and then uses centrifugal force to push the pulp against a strainer screen by spinning it at a very high RPM. It also creates oxidation that degrades over time, so juice needs to be consumed right away.

Masticating juicers use a dingle gear that chews fruit and vegetable fibers and breaks up the plant cells, resulting in more fiber, enzymes, vitamins and trace minerals. They are more efficient then centrifugal juicers because they can extract more juice from the same amount of food. They also extract juice from wheatgrass, spinach and other leafy greens and herbs. Masticating juicers operate at lower speeds resulting in less foam and heat, which means more nutrition in your glass.

Twin-gear juicers are the most expensive type of juicers, but they offer the most benefits. Twin-gear juicers operate by pressing food between two interlocking roller gears. They turn at even slower speed then masticating juicers. They can extract larger volumes of juice from fruits, vegetables, wheatgrass, pine needles, spinach, and other greens and herbs.

Wheatgrass juicers are made exclusively for extracting juice from wheatgrass and other leafy greens, as well as soft fruits like grapes. Wheatgrass juicers are not made for extracting juice from vegetables and most fruits. They are available in both electric and manual models.

Another thing to consider when buying a juicer is how important it is for you to have a pulp-free juice? Juicers that eject the pulp outside the machine yield less juice than juicers that keep the pulp in the basket. Also, pulp is a good source of fiber, but most nutrients are contained in the strained juice.

The recommended horsepower for juicers are 450 watts or greater. But be careful, you do not want juicer that is very powerful because it can destroy the produce with oxidation.

Some other things to consider are the juicer capacity, type of the pitcher (clear or with the viewing window), size of the feeding tube, noise level and the storage capacity. When in comes to the feeding tube, larger opening is better because you don’t have to cut fruit as much as you would if the tube was smaller.

Considerations for all small appliances:

• Determine your cooking needs and wants - both current and future. Is your family growing or growing up and moving out? Are you interested in increasing your culinary endeavors? Are you wishing to simplify and reduce time in the kitchen?
  
  
• Evaluate your kitchen counter space. Where are you going to put all those new small appliances?
  
  
• Check the height of the appliance compared to the height of your cabinets.
  Appliances that mount under the cabinet are available.

• Decide on the color of your new small appliance.
  
  
• Determine the appliance capacity. The number of speeds and settings on an appliance usually increases with the size of the machine. Those who have large families or like to entertain may choose to buy larger appliances.
  

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