Juicers

Citrus juicers

There are two main types of juicers: citrus juicers and juice extractors. Citrus juicers - essentially electrified hand reamers – are meant solely for citrus fruits. The process is simple: You press the fruit onto the peak of a cone that spins, extracting the juice. Release the pressure and the machine stops.

Unlike most citrus juicers, the Breville 800CPXL Die-Cast (*est. $150) combines a spinning cone with a mechanical lever. It costs more than other citrus presses, but owners say that you get a handsome, durable machine for the money. Its features include a drip-stop spout, safety switch, dust cover, cord storage and two filters. Owners posting to Amazon.com say that the Breville Die-Cast outclasses every other citrus juicer, but if you just want to occasionally juice a lemon or lime, it's probably overkill.

Experts at Cooking.com recommend the Black & Decker CJ525 CitrusMate Plus (*est. $20) , which has a plastic housing and few moving parts. Editors at Amazon.com call it their top juicer under $50 and owner reviews there are good. Juice is conveniently dispensed into a 1-quart pitcher with a handle. Owners posting to Epinions say it's quick to operate and easy to clean. Its parts are dishwasher-safe and it includes cord storage.

The sleek CitriStar Citrus Juicer (*est. $40) costs a bit more than the Black & Decker, but reviews say it works well. It has a spout-lock feature to prevent drips, as well as a stainless-steel filter, 50-watt motor and a one-year warranty.

Best juice extractors

If looking for a machine that will also make vegetable juice or fruit-and-vegetable combinations, you'll need a juice extractor, which ranges in price from about $85 to over $500. Juice extractors use a sharp blade to release the maximum amount of juice from vegetables and fruits. The most popular models use centrifugal force. After chopping, the pieces are spun in a basket at high RPM to force juice out of the pulp. Centrifugal ejection models discharge leftover pulp into a separate container, allowing you to juice continuously without emptying the basket. Dry pulp indicates that the maximum amount of juice is being extracted.

Breville centrifugal-ejection juice extractors earn high marks in reviews. The Breville Juice Fountain Elite 800JEXL (*est. $300) receives perfect scores from dozens of owners at Amazon.com and Cooking.com. Editors at Choice magazine crown the Breville juicer best overall. It boasts a 1000-watt motor, 3-inch-wide feed chute, two speeds and a dishwasher-safe filter. The Fountain Elite is also the best-performing juicer in tests at Which? magazine, where it proved especially adept at vegetable juicing. The Breville Fountain Elite carries a one-year warranty on all parts but the motor, which has a three-year warranty.

Unlike cheaper machines, which are mostly plastic, the nice looking Fountain Elite has stainless-steel housing. Its two-speed motor allows for better torque when juicing hard foods such as beets. Experts say it is easy to use and owners say it's efficient.

The 850-watt Breville Juice Fountain Plus JE95XL juicer (*est. $150) also has a 3-inch-wide chute and two speeds, but its motor is less powerful than the Fountain Elite's and its housing is mostly plastic. Although this juicer has many fans among owners, motor-failure complaints are sprinkled amidst the compliments. The Breville Fountain Plus has a shorter warranty: one-year on all parts, including the motor. Still, the Fountain Plus juicer earns second place in Choice and Consumer magazine's tests. It's a good choice if you don't plan to juice hard foods such as carrots and beets.

The new Breville BJE200XL 700-Watt Juice Fountain Compact (*est. $80) is a less powerful sibling to the Fountain Elite and Fountain Plus but, like them, it has a three-inch-wide chute and an up-to-date design. It includes a grey plastic housing, dishwasher-safe parts and a one-year warranty. Owners posting to Amazon.com love this machine, which they say outperforms other machines in its price class. Reviewers here say it's more powerful than the LaLanne juicers and better designed. A few note that soft fruits, like berries, have a tendency to spatter juice – a problem that is easily prevented by blocking the feed tube. At 16 inches tall, this unit is not much shorter than the Juice Fountain Plus.

Another new-to-market machine, the Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Pro 67560H (*est. $70), hasn't accumulated as many ratings as the Breville juicers, but those reviews we do read are positive. The Big Mouth Pro boasts a chute that's wide enough to accommodate whole apples and (peeled) oranges. Owners posting to Amazon.com say that the Big Mouth offers a lot of power for the price. It has an 820-watt motor, dishwasher-safe parts and a one-year warranty. Although it's not as sleek as the Breville juicers, its black plastic housing does hide stains. A few owners complain that the Big Mouth Pro's power cord is too short.

The Omega 4000 juicer (*est. $190) boasts heavy-duty components and an impressively long warranty (15 years). Its parts are not, however, dishwasher-safe. Although testers at The Wall Street Journal find the Omega's feeder chute to be unacceptably small, owners posting to Cooking.com and Amazon.com don't seem to mind. They say that this unit is powerful and solidly built, and award it high marks for performance. It has a large container for pulp, which owners say comes out relatively dry. A few owners note that the Omega is hard to find in stores and rarely goes on sale.

The L'Equip 110.5 (*est. $110) juicer earns respectable marks from owners posting to Amazon.com, Cooking.com and Target.com. The L'Equip 110.5 juicer takes up less counter space than most juicers, yet BuyJuicers.com says it yields more juice than the larger L'Equip 221 (*est. $185). The L'Equip 110.5, like the Jack LaLanne juicer, is made mostly of plastic but the grey housing hides carrot juice stains. With its 600-watt motor, the L'Equip 110.5 juicer is more powerful than the LaLanne juicer. It's also backed by a six-year warranty, which far exceeds the LaLanne's 90 days. Although the L'Equip's feeder chute isn't as large, its longer warranty makes it the better deal. Some owners say it's best for soft fruits and isn't up to the challenge of juicing beets and carrots. For that, you'll want a more substantial juicer.

Owners posting to Amazon.com, Epinions and Cooking.com praise the budget Waring Health Juice Extractor JEX328 (*est. $70) , which they say is powerful, sleek and easy to clean. The Waring, which has a one-year warranty (five years for the motor), is encased in stainless steel. The Waring has a less powerful 400-watt motor than the 600-watt L'Equip 110.5, and its warranty is shorter. We read some complaints about noise and leakage but, overall, owners seem happy with this juicer, which is not included in professional testing.

Newer juicers, known as centrifugal ejection models, send leftover pulp to a holding bin that can be lined with plastic for easy clean-up. From there, it's easy to discard the pulp or add it to the compost pile. Older models, like the Acme Supreme Juicerator 5001 (*est. $180) , also use centrifugal force but the pulp remains in the chopping hopper, which means you have to empty the basket periodically during juicing. The tradeoff for this minor inconvenience, however, is greater juice extraction. By holding onto the leftover pulp, the Acme can increase juice yield by 20% to 35%. It's a little more difficult to clean than the Breville and L'Equip juicers, which offer automatic ejection, but the disposable filters ease the burden somewhat. One Amazon.com user says she has had her Acme juicer for decades. The Wall Street Journal also declares the Acme its best overall juicer. Note that Waring now owns Acme; we also saw the Acme also sold as the Waring Professional PJE401 series (*est. $200) .

Vegetable and wheatgrass juicers

Although the most popular juicers use centrifugal force to extract juice, some high-end juicers use other methods. The Omega 8005 juicer (*est. $250) is a single-auger, masticating juice extractor that crushes produce to a pulp before squeezing out juice. Experts say this kind of extractor is great for making pasta, baby food and nut butters. The 8005 is capable of juicing wheatgrass, a task only pricier models can typically perform. A low RPM speed ensures that the process does not generate excessive heat and the low grinding speed ensures smooth nut butters and pastes. Although it is more expensive than some other models, the 8005 performs some functions nearly as well as a food processor.

We saw some conflicting reports on the Champion Juicer (*est. $220) , another masticating juice extractor. Reviewers at Cooking.com like this juicer and praise its continuous-feed chute. This versatile juicer can also make sorbets, butters and even specialty flours when using the optional grain mill attachment. While EatVeg.com recommends the Champion juicer, Juicing.com's editors say it's difficult to operate and clean, amasses too much pulp and heats juice, resulting in oxidation. Heating juice excessively can degrade nutrients, reports nutritionist Nancy DiMarco of The Wall Street Journal. Others complain about the bulk and heaviness of this unit, which is not recommended for wheatgrass juicing.

If you want the absolute best juicer at any price, expert reviews say you should check out the Green Star GS-3000 juicer (*est. $440) . Basing its claims on an independent study of five different types of juicers, the manufacturer says that juice squeezed in a Green Star juicer stays fresh longer than juice from other machines. The Green Star's press produces the juice by slowly squeezing produce through two gears. The process also requires the user to force food through the juicer, which is shaped like a meat grinder.

Like the Omega 8005, the Green Star juicer can be fitted with attachments for nut butter, baby food, frozen desserts and pasta. Many natural food enthusiasts use it to make wheatgrass juice and mochi (a type of soft rice cake). Experts say twin gear press juice extractors work best with leafy green vegetables and fibrous vegetables such as celery. Although the Green Star ships with fruit juice attachments, the machine fails to do as good of a job of juicing them. If you only want to juice oranges, the Green Star is clearly overkill.

Important Features: Juicers

Experts recommend that you should consider the following variables before deciding on a juicer.

• Consider what you want to juice. A wheatgrass devotee requires a different machine than someone who merely wants fresh squeezed grapefruit juice. Centrifugal ejection machines are good all purpose juicers. Low-speed masticating juicers are superior to centrifugal ejection machines when it comes to juicing leafy greens and their low speed reduces nutrient degradation. A citrus juicer is all you need to squeeze oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruit.

• Check the warranty. Juicer warranties, which range from 90 days to 15 years, may cover the motor for a longer period than the other parts. Warranty length usually corresponds to price.

• Centrifugal ejection juicers are the best all-around choice. This type of juice extractor offers ease of use, versatility and price. These models eject pulp into a separate container where it stays until you empty it. Centrifugal juicers (which do not eject pulp) squeeze more juice from fruit and vegetables, but they require you to stop juicing to discard the pulp. They are also harder to clean.

• If you want to juice hard vegetables and leafy greens, look at a masticating or double-auger juicer. Such juicers, which include the Omega 8005 and Green Star GS-3000, use a slow, grinding motor that doesn't require high wattage. These models take more time but yield juice with less pulp.

Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
All The Reviews Reviewed chart.

# No of picks	Model (with retailer links)	Details from Amazon.com
5	Breville Juice Fountain Elite 800JEXL (*est. $300)	details
4	Breville Juice Fountain Plus JE95XL (*est. $150)	details
3	Acme Supreme Juicerator 5001 (*est. $180)	details
2	Black & Decker CJ525 CitrusMate Plus (*est. $20)	details
2	Omega 4000 (*est. $190)	details
2	Waring Health Juice Extractor JEX328 (*est. $70)	details
1 each	Kitchen Aid Dual Action KJE500, Villaware Moderna V41002, Omega O2 , Miracle MJ1000, Juiceman, Hamilton Beach Commercial 96700H, Breville Juice Fountain Junior, Breville 800CPXL Die-Cast Citrus Juicer , SoloStar-II SS-9002 , Sunbeam Fresh Start JE6400, Phillips HR 1861/00, Jack LaLanne Power Juice , L'Equip 110.5 , Champion G5-NG-853-S, Green Star GS-3000, Omega 8005

Breville juicers stand out in reviews for their three-inch-wide chutes and strong motors (the Breville 800JEXL's Fountain Elite is 1000 watts). The Fountain Elite gets the highest ratings in reviews at Choice and Consumer magazines -- the two most thorough juicer reviews we find. Omega juicers are popular with health food aficionados. The Omega 4000 is a centrifugal ejection juicer, while the Omega 8005 is a masticating juicer that can prepare foods such as baby food and nut butter. Green Star is the ultimate machine for juicing enthusiasts. We did not see as many reviews for citrus juicers, which use a fairly simple mechanism and vary less from model to model than juice extractors.

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