The type of juicer you will purchase will depend entirely on your needs and wants. Do you want to juice more fruits or leafy greens? Do you want to juice as quickly as possible, or is nutritional content most important? Whatever your priorities, there is the right juicer out there.
Things to consider when choosing a juicer:
Nutritional Content: Slow masticating and twin gear juicers yield more nutrient-dense juice simply because the machine crushes produce slowly and thus maintains a low temperature that won’t destroy enzymes, vitamins and trace minerals. Centrifugal juicers work at high speeds that cause oxygen to dissolve into the juice, thus resulting in juice with less nutrients and minerals, and that spoils faster.
Time: Centrifugal juicers have large engines that can crush produce and extract juice quickly. The feeding chutes are often wide, and the powerful engines are powerful enough to crush larger pieces of produce, meaning you don’t spend as much preparation time cutting produce into small pieces.
Efficiency: Slow masticating and twin gear juicers tend to yield more juice from produce, because they are more slowly, more efficiently squeezing as much liquid as possible from the produce. Between the two, twin gear juicers yield the most juice and produce the driest pulp. Centrifugal juicers are incredibly quick in extracting juice, but often do not yield as much as a result.
Type of Produce: If you intend to juice leafy greens, you probably want a twin gear or horizontal single auger style juicer. They are more efficient in pressing the leaves to extract as much juice as possible. If you prefer fruit juices or wish to juice a wide range of produce, you may want a vertical single-auger style or a centrifugal juicer.
Cleaning time and ease: Some juicers are a breeze to clean and others are…not. Think about getting a single-auger horizontal juicer if you want a quick clean-up time. Vertical juicers (whether they are centrifugal or single-auger) tend to be more difficult and time-consuming to clean due to a large screen. (Putting it into perspective, horizontal single-auger juicers tend to require longer preparation time despite their quick cleaning time.)
Kitchen Counter Space: Horizontal single auger and twin gear juicers take up more counter space. Vertical single auger juicers take up relatively less space. Centrifugal juicers vary in size.
Cost: Centrifugal juicers are usually the most affordable. Single auger styles are mid-range, and twin gear styles are most expensive.
Other Benefits: Juicers can also produce nut butters, sorbets, sauces, baby foods, patés, and pasta dough. These additional features vary greatly between the style of juicer and the manufacturer as well.
There is so much information about juicing equipment available, and a phenomenal source to use is John Kholer’s Raw Foods Youtube Channel. Kholer has hundreds of videos comparing different juicers, so you can find the best piece of equipment for your needs. Pretty much any question you can think of, Kholer most likely has a video that provides the answer. Sure you will only juice pineapples? He has a video to help you determine what will produce the highest yield of delicious pineapple juice with the least amount of foam.*
*I used his site when researching juicing equipment and found the best juicer for me. He also has an online shop (called Discount Juicers) that sells juicing equipment, dehydrators, blenders, and water filters.
Source:
What Juicer is Right For You? Harvest Essentials. http://www.harvestessentials.com/whatjuicisri.html.
Juicer Comparison Chart. Discount Juicers. http://www.discountjuicers.com/compare.html.
