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What to Know Before You Buy a Juicer

juicer_juicegeneration_400Thinking of gifting (or begging Santa) for a juicer? Not all juicers are the same–you’ll have to choose between a centrifugal and a masticating juicer. Here are the differences, and which one might be right for you. From The Juice Generation: 100 Recipes for Fresh Juices and Superfood Smoothies.

There are two kinds of juicers for at-home juicing. centrifugal juicers grind produce to a pulp and release the juice by spinning it through a serrated metal basket at an extremely high speed. Masticating juicers “chew” the produce slowly, by pushing it through a slow-moving drill and squeezing out the juice. Centrifugals tend to be cheaper and are considerably faster at their job. Masticating juicers have their own advantage: Their slower speed means they don’t cause as much friction as centrifugal spinners, meaning less heating up of the produce. Heat will speed up the oxidation of the naturally occurring enzymes and nutrients in the produce that occurs when you chop and break down whole food.

A masticator also tends to get more juice out of your vegetables and fruits, especially the essential leafy greens. They can usually extract liquid from delicate plants like wheatgrass and sprouts, where most centrifugals cannot. They are typically more expensive to purchase; however, the benefts reveal themselves over time, when money is saved due to their effciency with extraction. Other selling points: Many of the “single auger” masticating juicers come apart quickly and are extremely quick to clean. And there are now some vertical masticating juicers that can ft neatly into a snug kitchen corner. The cons: They do juice more slowly, and almost always require that you cut your produce into smaller chunks. If every second counts in your morning, you may want to look for one of the good-quality, speedy centrifugals. When shopping, keep in mind that cheap juicers tend to deliver less volume, and are less durable.

Juicing Tips
When juicing, keeps these points in mind:

1. Pass your pulp through a second time to extract every ounce of juice from your produce.

2. Centrifugals usually produce more foam in the juice because they are more oxygenated. If foam bothers you, pour juice through a tea strainer and squish it through with a clean finger.

3. Keep a toothbrush by your kitchen sink to clean pulp off your juicer’s metal graters.


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