The Great Juicer Guide

Green juices are by far the easiest (& our favourite) way to load up on all those vitamins, minerals & antioxidants that your body loves!

They’re also chockablock full of chlorophyll (the pigment that makes leafy greens green!) which helps your body detox, build blood & heal woulds.

The super-awesome thing about juices is that – unlike smoothies –  all the indigestible fibre is taken out & those beautiful nutrients are easily absorbed by the body & sent straight into your blood stream, giving you a big shot of nutrition whilst at the same time, giving your digestion a nice little break & flooding your entire system with powerful antioxidants.

In short – they’re pretty powerful stuff!

But here’s the thing – for you to get the very most nutrition out of your juice… you’ll want to be putting your produce through a good juicer!

Why?

Well unfortunately – like most kitchen appliances – not all juicers are created equally…

Some juicers can heat up significantly during the juicing process which can destroy the beautiful live enzymes in your juice – kissing that gorgeous nutrition goodbye!

Some can only juice certain fruit or veg like citrus, but can’t handle fibrous leafy greens… ba bowww!

Others can do a pretty crappy job at actually getting all of that beautiful juice out of your produce… which of course will leave you with little juice & a whole lot of wet pulp… not what you’re after!

Oh… & our real pet peeve… some can leave you with nice big chunks of pulp in your supposedly ‘pulp-free’ juice! Not cool!

Now we’ve had our fair share of juicers over the years – but our latest (& greatest) one is by far the best! Which is what originally inspired us (along with many people asking  “Which juicer should I get??) to write this guide!

So whether you’re new to the juicing scene or you’re looking to upgrade – let us take you through the different types of juicers, their pros, their cons & our personal recommendations.

We’ve also given each one a Healthy Rating out of 5 which factors in the nutritional value, oxidation rate & pulpiness (is that a word?) of the juice you’ll get from each!

Enjoy 🙂

Centrifugal juicers are the most common – & unfortunately – the worst juicers you can get your hands on.

They work by using a flat cutting blade that spins the produce at a very high speed to separate the juice & pulp. Unfortunately this method produces heat & can ultimately destroy the vitamins, minerals & live enzymes.

They’re certainly not built to last, & some can have a hard time juicing anything but citrus (Bye bye green juices!)

The good news is you can generally pick one up for under $200… but the bad news – that the centrifugal juicing process kills most of that beautiful nutrition – is enough to eradicate the good. In our opinion they aren’t worth it.

Centrifugal Snapshot

Positive points:

They’re cheap & quick.

Negative points:

They introduce heat & oxygen into the juice which causes oxidation, destroying the live enzymes & goodness of the juice.

They have a hard time juicing greens & are mainly used for juicing citrus.

They generally can’t juice grasses (such as wheat grass) or things like turmeric & ginger + they’re unable to perform any other tasks other than juicing (such as making nut butters, or plant based milks etc.)

Recommendations:

None!

Healthy Rating: 1/5 STARS

Masticating juicers are ‘cold press’ juicers with one gear (or auger) that crushes the produce. The juice is then squeezed through a static screen.

Masticating juicers are a big step up from the Centrifugal juicers because they don’t produce heat, which means that the beautiful nutrition is left intact. However – once you’ve juiced your produce – you will generally need to drink it within 15 minutes to reap the full nutritional benefits – after this time the light & air will start killing off the live enzymes.

Masticating juicers don’t take that long to clean, take up very little room on your bench & can generally juice a large range of fruit & veg including leafy greens, citrus & ginger.

The pulp that comes out of your masticating juicer is never going to be completely dry – & even if you put the pulp back through the juicer, it still won’t be able to get every last bit of juice out. You’ll also find that your juice won’t be pulp free (unless you strain it through a nut milk bag).

Masticating juicers come in horizontal & vertical form, & although we’ve only had the horizontal, I’ve heard that the vertical are easier to clean but the horizontals can juice leafy greens better.

We had a masticating juicer for a number of years & it certainly served us well! They generally range from around $300-$600.

Masticating Snapshot

Positive Points:

Because they are cold press juicers, they leave the nutrition intact.

They aren’t too expensive & make an ideal ‘first juicer’.

They can juice grasses, greens & things like turmeric & ginger.

They can usually perform other functions than just juicing.

They’re usually small & compact making it a good option to travel with.

Overall a good, low cost juicer.

Negative Points:

They can be quite slow to use.

Produce needs to be cut into thin, small pieces.

The pulp won’t be dry, meaning that there will still be juice left in your produce.

The juice won’t be completely pulp free.

You’ll need to drink the juice within the first 15 minutes to get the most nutrition out of it.

Recommendations:

Horizontal: Oscar Neo

Vertical: Hurom

Healthy Rating: 3/5 STARS.

Twin gears are much like the masticating juicers, but contain two gears (augers) instead of one, which interlock & crush the produce to extract even more juice than the single gear masticating – leaving you with a less pulpy, bigger & better juice.

They can also juice practically any veg, herb, grass, fruit, bulb or rhizome, as well as perform other non-juicing functions such as making nut butters or nut milks.

You can usually store your juices for 2 days with twin gears instead of having to drink them within the first 15 minutes, however when it comes to cleaning time, it will take longer than a single gear masticating juicer!

Twin gears generally range from around $700 to $1500.

Twin Gear Snapshot

Good Points:

They can juice practically any form of vegetable, fruit, herb, rhizome or grass.

They produce more juice & less pulp than the single gear masticating.

The juice retains its nutritional value for even longer than juice from a single gear masticating juicer.

They are generally just a little bigger than the single gear masticating, allowing you to take them on the road if need be.

They can perform other functions than just juicing such as making nut butters.

Negative Points:

Like the single gear masticating juicer, they can be quite slow to use.

They can be expensive if you’re on a budget & you can easily get away with using a single gear masticating juicer in it’s place.

They can contain a lot of different parts which makes cleaning time consuming.

Even though they have 2 gears & extract more juice & less pulp than the single gear masticating juicer – they generally won’t be 100% pulp free.

Recommendations: Angel or Greenpower

Healthy Rating: 4/5 STARS.

Here we go – the best of the best.

Say hello to the Hydraulic Press Juicer. This is the juicer that we have.

Not only are they solid as an ox & built to last many many MANY moons (seriously – your friends will think you’ve turned your kitchen into a commercial juice bar), the juice that comes out of these machines is of the highest quality.

The hydraulic press is a 2 step juicer which first uses a vortex cutter to shred the produce into pulp.

This awesome little vortex cutter can cut the fibres of your produce right down to the cellular level which means when it comes to the juicing time – you get the most nutrients out of it!

The pulp is then put into a cloth bag which is pressed (by the hydraulic press) to extract all of that beautiful nutrition into a completely pulp free, beautiful tasting juice.

What we love about this juicer (apart from the fact that it extracts the most nutrition from your produce!) is that you can put a big bunch of produce down the chute at a single given time (instead of one leaf at a time) which it will then crush into pulp for you to put into the press. Although it is a 2 step juicer & you have to spend the time putting the pulp into the press (which takes about 30 seconds) – it actually works out to be a lot faster than the masticating single gear or double gear juicer.

You can also store your juice for up to 3 days which means you only need to do your juicing twice a week & you’re set!

But with any juicer of course there’s a down side. Ready for it?

They are REALLY expensive.

Brand spanking new, the latest model is priced at $2295 – however that’s in USD as they’re American. Now you have to factor in conversion to AUS dollars + shipping.

We actually purchased ours 2nd hand from someone in AUS & paid $1500 for it – It still looks brand new & will definitely be with us for the long haul – for us it was absolutely worth the investment.

Hydraulic Press Snapshot

Positive Points:

100% pulp-free juice

The pulp is completely dry so you are getting THE MOST out of your produce.

The juice has the most nutritional value compared to all other juicers.

The juice has an incredibly slow oxidation rate. This allows the juice to retain its nutritional value for up to 3 days!

You can extract juice from any fruit, veggie, grass, herb, bulb or rhizome.

As well as juicing, you can make nut butters, nut milks, chop veggies, make nice creams & process flours!

Negative Points:

It’s really expensive

It’s really loud (We wear earmuffs when making our juices :P)

It’s big & heavy. 30kgs to be exact.

Healthy Rating: 5/5 STARS.

Recommendations: Norwalk or Pure


So there you have it! The great juicer guide!

We hope this helps you in making your decision & of course if you have any Q’s just reach out!

Crystal & Anth xo

P.S If you’re looking for some nourishing & of course delicious juice recipes that will help you amp up your wholefoods ASAP, make sure you check out our new eBook Drink Your Way To Incredible Health right here! Loaded with over 30 of our favourite body-loving juices, smoothies, teas & tonics to repair, revitalise & energise your body!

Whether you’re after more energy throughout the day, a better sleep, improved digestion or maybe better skin or hair health (or all of the above!!) there’s a juice, smoothie, tea or tonic for it! All of which you’ll find in this book!

One Response to “The Great Juicer Guide”

  1. Cassie says:

    Hi guys I have a thermomix, what are your thoughts on making juices in one of these please?

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