Types of Juicers and How They Work

There are basically three different types of juicers for super juicing vegetables and fruits.  For those of you looking to buy a new electronic juicer or replace your old one, you might want to consider these options when choosing the best and most appropriate juicer that fits your needs and lifestyle.

The varieties range in price, so budget is the first thing to think about before making your purchase. 

Of course, for those of you unable to spend money on a juicer at this time, there is another alternative for juicing your produce that requires minimal to no cost.

We will discuss how to do this below.   After all, you should not be left out of the benefits that juicing can provide just because you can't afford a juicer. 

Whether juicing for weight loss or just doing a simple one day juice fast you can make your way around owning an actual juicing machine.

This page, however, is primarily dedicated to all of you searching for that perfect juicer.  We hope that the information and recommendations we provide will help to ease your decision making process. 

All juicers are not created equal, but they do fall into three basic categories depending on the method of extraction, the RPM speed of the juicer and how the appliance separates the juice from the pulp.

Masticating juice machines have single augers that operate at slower speeds compared to other juicer models.  Typically, they rotate at about 80-100 rpm, a much lower "revolution per minute."  These juicers break up fruit and vegetable fibers by "chewing" them. 

The single augers can run horizontal for a longer machine or vertical to take up less counter space.

There is often more fiber content in the juices with this method of extraction, but this varies from model to model. 

These types of juicers can juice those harder to juice leafy greens and wheatgrass blades fairly well, especially when compared to centrifugal juicers.

Some single auger types also allow you to make frozen fruit ice creams, nut butters and pastas. 

They can, however, be a little more time consuming because of the slow rotation speed and the time it takes to actually chop up all your juicing ingredients into small size pieces that you must push through the narrow juicing shoot. 

In addition, these machines tend to be harder to clean with more removable parts to soak or scrub.

The Champion Juicer is one of the original masticating single augers and is the one we actually started with over 20 years ago.  Today there are many upgrades on this model.

Another benefit to masticating slow rotating juicers is that they don't tend to oxidize as fast as centrifugal high speed rotating juicers.  Some say oxidation can decrease the amount of nutrients in your juicing liquid. 

On average most masticating juicers tend to extract more juice out of the plant and veggie material and do not heat it up because of their low rpm speed.

Some juicers are now both a combination of a masticating and centrifugal juicer, like the Omega Vert and the Hurom Slow Juicer (ironically).

Centrifugal juicing appliances are the opposite of masticating types in that they spin, usually via a sharp toothed basket, at very high rpm's (between 6500 rpm to 13,000 rpm). 

These are by far the most popular juicers used by the average person because they are FAST, taking just seconds to grind through your produce and strain out the liquid.

These types of juicers tend to oxidize and expose more air flow into your juice which can break down the nutritional value and sometimes make a duller looking juice that creates a lot of foam. 

For those in a hurry, these are the best juicers available because you don't have to chop up your fruits and veggies and you do still get a good amount of nutrition. 

These types of juicers allow you to throw in whole cucumbers, carrots, greens or beets. The shoots are much wider, usually about 3 inches in diameter, so any piece of produce this size can be dropped in no problem. 

They are not the best for extracting the maximum amount of liquid, however, because the material is being pushed through at very fast speeds, leaving a somewhat wet pulp fiber as a result.

You can use them to juice your leafy green vegetables but they are not as good at breaking down the plant fibers as masticating or triturating juicing machines.  It is helpful, when using centrifugal appliances, to roll up your leaves and place them in with other hard juicy vegetables or fruits. 

Often times, because of the higher rpm, they may not even break down your greens completely leaving whole pieces of kale or spinach in your pulp fiber.  This is especially true for the cheaper models.

This happens to be one of our favorite types of juicers on the market.  It is called a triturating juicer, which means it is designed with 2 interlocking augers or twin gears that lay side by side crushing and pressing the fiber and completely wringing out as much juice as possible.  This provides a higher quality juice with more enzymes, vitamins and minerals.

These varieties turn at a much slower rpm and, like the masticating juicers, can take a little longer to press your veggies through.

Our favorite juicer out of all the juicers is the Green Star Juicer, which is a twin gear triturator.  It is similar to masticating juicers in that it also enables one to homogenize nuts for nut butters or make frozen fruit ice creams. To do this you simply remove the juicing screen plate and replace it with the solid plate. 

These juicers also have magnetic and bio-ceramic technology that slows down the oxidation process, which is good if you want to make and store your juice.

Triturating types of juicers are also more versitile at juicing almost anything and are particularly great for leafy greens and exceptional for juicing wheatgrass, hence the name "Green" Star.

You will most often get the maximum amount of juice from triturating juicers than the centrifugal or masticating types of juicers.

These are our favorite juicers that we have personally owned and used or know other trusted friends who highly recommend them.

1. Tribest Green Star Juicer
2. Omega 8005 Juicer or Omega Vert
   
3. Hurom Slow Juicer
   
4. Breville Juice Fountain Plus or Elite

The different types of juicers can also be categorized into juicers that eject the pulp and those that do not.  In other words, some collect the pulp inside of the machine and some squeeze the pulp out into an external container. 

If you tend to juice on a regular basis, we recommend purchasing a juicer with pulp ejection. 

They are much easier to clean and are better machines for juicing over one quart of fresh juice at a time. The non-pulp extracting juicer types build up pulp that you may have to remove from the internal pulp collection basket in order to keep juicing. 

Some people will not juice as often if the juicing appliance is hard to clean.  Most juicers, unfortunately require regular cleaning that may require 5 minutes of your time.  

Most manufacturers advise against washing machine parts in the dishwasher as the hot water may ruin them and effect the operation of the machine long term. 

We have discovered over the years that your juicers do not necessarily need to be cleaned immediately if you are using them all day long.  This would be the case when juice fasting for many days in a row or just doing a simple juice cleanse.

Often times, if you run a quart or so of water through your machine after juicing it will help to wash out material that will make it easier to clean if you don't wash it right away.

At the end of the day you should clean your juicer so that it is ready to use the next morning. 

Some models have more removable parts than others, so you will have to take this into consideration when making the decision on the best juicer to buy for your needs. 

They all usually come with their own unique brush or brushes for scrubbing different parts and equipment.

The twin gear Samson Super Juicer or the Green Star are the top choices for this purpose.  The Green Star juicer is, in our opinion, the best juicer for juicing green leafy vegetables as well as wheatgrass. 

This is because of the way it presses the juice via a twin gear rotating process that slowly squeezes out the juice without heating or oxidizing it in any way.  The pulp that remains also seems to be incredibly dry which is a good sign you got the most juice as possible.

When juicing greens through other juicers we recommend bunching them in with other vegetables like cucumber or celery rather than alone.

This seems to help break down the plant fibers and extract more of the nutrient chlorophyll-rich liquid.

There are many manual hand crank juicing machines to consider for those interesting in juicing wheatgrass exclusively.  They are usually under $100, a much more affordable price than other types of juicers.

Manual wheatgrass juicers are also wonderful at juicing, of course wheatgrass, but are also able to press other green plant varieties. 

There are several electric wheatgrass juicer models on the market for those of you who are serious about wheatgrass juicing or are making it in large quantities.

Fore more on wheatgrass juicer visit our store.

• Z-Star Wheatgrass Juicer - Manual
  
• Lexen Manual Wheatgrass Juicer, Healthy Juicer
• Miracle Electric Wheat Grass Juicer
• Wheateena Marvel Red Label -Electric
  
• Samson Advanced 6 in 1 Electric Wheatgrass Juicer
• Tornado Stainless Steel Manual Juicer
  

It is also possible to juice with a blender, rather than a juicer, by completely pureeing your juicing material with a little bit of water if necessary. 

After this is achieved, either by using a high speed blender or NutriBullet, you can pour the liquid puree through some kind of straining device.  We like to use a fine mesh nut milk bag to completely separate the juice from the pulp.

This method is quite effective at extracting most of the water content out of your produce.

So, no excuses... if you don't have a juicer or can't currently afford one, now you have another option!