Juicers - Which One 4 Me?

What to look for when shopping for a juicer

Although you may not realise it now, making the decision to purchase a juicer is one of the most important decisions of your life. A juicer is an investment. It is an investment in your health, it is one of the most important investments you will ever make.  

Nothing that you can do will alter and improve your health and lifestyle as much as getting into the habit of making your own fresh fruit and vegetable juices every day right in your own kitchen. The decision to get involved with juicing can be a confusing one when you enter the marketplace and discover the price range of juicers goes from $30.00 to $2,000.00! What in the world is the difference between a thirty dollar juicer and one that costs several hundred dollars? After all, don't they all make juice? Well yes and no. There are several factors to consider. 

Ease of operation and clean up
*  If juicing is a hassle you won't do it. Or you won't do it as often as you should, or would like. You need a juicer that is easy to use and easy to clean, so that when the mood to make juice hits you, you don't think, no I don't want to go through all that work for just one glass of juice. 

Will it last?
*  Quality juicers have quality warranties. A 30 or 90 day warranty is not a good warranty. A one or two year warranty is good, while a five or ten year warranty is excellent. All the juicers that we have selected in the A Zest 4 Health range have five to twenty year warrantees. Many of the juicers under $100.00 have cheap brush motors that are not horsepowered and can not handle grass, seeds, rinds, stems or cores. You have to slice every piece of produce into tiny pieces so the motor does not burn out. Most purchasers of these inexpensive department store machines ignore the directions and the motor quickly burns out in less than a month - and there are cases where such machines have burned out in as little as three weeks. This leads us back to #1. If preparing the produce is a big hassle because your juicer can't accommodate it, you won't do it as often as you should. A $69.95 juicer is not a bargain if it only lasts 3 to 9 months. 

Yield, or Mls of juice per Kg of produce 
*  This is what really separates the bargain basement juicers from the quality machines. A good juicer can get extract much more juice per kilogram of produce than a cheap one. You may save $100.00 by buying a cheap juicer now, but every time you make juice you are throwing money away in lost juice. How much money? A lot! A good juicer gets 17% to 25% more juice than the bargain basement models. It's easy to waste 25 cents worth of juice - or more - a day with a cheap machine. So in one short year your $100.00 savings goes down the drain - literally!  A high yielding machine gives 40+% more juice than some cheap centrifugal juicers. 33% less juice is equivalent to throwing 1 glass of juice down the drain for every 2 glasses you drink.   Please DO NOT underestimate the importance of enzyme in maintaining good health  If you put your pulp through twice to get more juice then you have a low yielding machine. Also when you put pulp through twice you are further destroying the enzymes, antioxidants and vitamins through heat and friction.
 
Power 
*  You need a machine with a horsepower motor of 1/4 horsepower or higher. Power is measured by watts and not Revolutions Per Minutes. RPM's measure the number of rotations per minute. The higher the RPM, the faster the nutrient from the produce is destroyed by oxidation. A slow speed juicer has a different wattage requirement (and wear factor) than a juicer turning at many thousands revolutions a minute.

The 3 Types of Juicers - Centrifugal; Low Speed and High Speed Masticating; and Slow Turning / Cold Press Juicers.

1.  Centrifugal Juicers Probably the most common, these juicers grind the fruit and vegetables by pushing them against a strainer at a very high speed. The heat and the static electricity destroys a large percentage of the nutrients and enzymes. They also introduce oxygen into the juice, creating oxidation.   Oxidation degrades nutrients not immediately but over time. To maximize the nutrients of such juices, we recommend you drink the juice as soon as you make it. High speed also affects the 'living juice' potential as enzymes are very intolerant to heat.

2. (a)  Low Speed Masticating Juicers produce a higher quality juice because they don't produce as much oxidation.  They are  little slower than centrifugal juicers but still quite fast. These types of juicers chew the pulp and then push it through a sieve. This method also destroys a lot of the nutrients and enzymes. 2. (b)  High speed masticating juicers can be problematic if heat is generated. Heat will destroy nutrients and enzymes on contact, unlike oxidation which occurs over time. 

3.  Slow Turning / Cold Press Juicers produce very little oxidation and heat, and therefore produce the highest nutrient juice.  These machines turn at a lot slower speed and are by far superior when it comes to retaining as many nutrients and enzymes as possible in your juice. They can be slower to juice but can do basically everything that a centrifugal and masticating juicer can do and more (including making nut butters, deserts, soups and babyfoods), as well as extracting juice from wheatgrass. A Zest 4 Health juicer range provides a selection of  slow turning / cold press juicers. 

Juice Quality
*  As mentioned above, different juice extraction processes produce varying quality juice in terms of nutrients.  We highly recommend the books of Dr Norman Walker who at one hundred said "I feel as fit and alive now, as I was at twenty". He pioneered low speed cold press juicers in the thirties.
*   A good juicer makes juice of a high quality. A high quality juice has a high nutrient and enzyme content. 

Replacement Parts
*  Finding replacement parts for unknown juicers can be a nightmare. Getting replacement parts from some manufacturers can take 4 to 8 weeks. Once you get into juicing every day, 1 week is too long to go without a juicer. Imagine not having a toothbrush for 4 to 8 weeks! 

Versatility
*  What else can the juicer do besides juice?
Our juicers can also grind/mince and chop (seasonings, coffee, frozen produce and ice), make nut butter, deserts (sorbets) and act as a food mill (make bread sticks, pasta, noodles, cookie dough) and more.

Wheatgrass
*  Can the juicer also juice wheatgrass or other medicinal plants such as aloe or pine?  If you are considering growing your own wheatgrass then avoid the expense and inconvenience of having to use a separate wheatgrass juicer.

Manual or Electric?
*  This is a personal choice. Often the decision is made due to budgetary constraints, and you may choose a manual over an electric due to the less initial investment, and later move up to one of the electric models.  Some people may choose a manual juicer for environmental reasons as they don't use electricity, or for the light weight, size  and convenience to pack while they are traveling. However, generally the electric machines are a lot easier to use; are a lot quicker; and extract more juice. When it comes to cleaning both types are very  similar, but manual juicers generally don’t have the same amount of features as the electric models and don’t juice as big a variety of fruits and  vegetables.

Value 4 money
*  All the factors above, combined with the cost of the juicer, give the real value for money.  Only you can decide which brand and model will work for you.  However, if you plan to juice regularly, we would not recommend any of the cheap juicers for $200 or less. Motors with low wattage are not built for high RPM  juicing. The most common complaint is that these motors are overstrained and they burn out within 6 months, right after your warranty runs out. 

Conclusion:
Buying a good juice extractor from the start is well worth it. It can be expected to last 20 or more years, and if it is also low speed with hydraulic press action, it will provide you with enzyme-rich or 'living juices'. Such health benefits will make the purchase of a good juice extractor one of the very best investments of your life. 

Here at A Zest 4 Health, we have taken most of the pitfalls away for you, as we only offer the highest quality range of juicers.  Go to Our Juicer Range Comparison Chart to select one that best meets your requirements.  Whether you want a juicer that  will juice wheatgrass, as well as fruit, vegetables, grains, etc., that comes with exceptional warranties guaranteeing peace of mind, and years of faithful service, and juice, juice, and more living juice - we have it for you at A Zest 4 Health!