What to Avoid in a Juicer
Before you buy a juicer, you should know why people who were enthusiastic about juicing suddenly stopped... They did not quit juicing because they stopped believing in the nutritional and healthful benefits of fruits and vegetables...
Rather, they quit because their juicer made it a chore to prepare ingredients before using it and cleaning up the mess afterwards. Also, they realized they were throwing away money spent on fruits and vegetables because their juice extractor left behind pulp that was still wet... And another thing about the juice maker people own was that it unexpectedly failed during use.
What to Look For In a Juicer
To avoid the problems these people had with their juicer, you have to study the brands available and arrive at a buying decision carefully based on features and techniques that overcome these problems.
Feed Chute
The problem with spending too much time slicing up fruits and vegetables can be overcome by avoiding juicers which have small sized feed chutes. Look for feed chutes wide enough to put most fruits or vegetables through whole. There are juicers that come with feed chutes 3 inches wide.
Parts
There is no way to totally escape the necessary chore of cleaning the juicer after each use. However, some juicers are easier and less time consuming to clean. Look for juicers that have the least number of parts to assemble and disassemble. These parts should also be dishwasher safe. When examining these parts, make sure to avoid juicers with too many crevices that will make removing residue difficult. To make cleaning the filter easier, soak it immediately in water and use a nylon brush to scrub off particles. Some juicers have a separate bin to collect pulp. Line this receptacle with a plastic shopping bag to make clean up easier.
Variable Speed
People have complained how very little juice gets extracted using their juicer. The pulp they feel is still wet. Putting the pulp back into the juicer for another round may still leave some juice remaining. One of the features in a juicer that is lacking when this problem occurs is having the choice of more than one speed. Look for juicers that have variable speeds. Softer textured fruits and vegetables require slower speeds to extract their juices. Harder textured fruits and vegetables require higher speeds.
Technique
Introducing ingredients through the feed chute slowly is a technique that helps get more juice out of the fruit or vegetable. Some juicers aren't designed for extracting juice from leafy vegetables. Wrapping or sandwiching them between solid foods will help. Other ways to extract the highest juice output possible is to make sure the filter isn't clogged and the way to accomplish this is by cleaning it immediately and thoroughly after each use.
Overload Protection
In rare instances, a juicer will fail. Users may think they just got the lemon from the batch. A warrantee and a call to the manufacturer's customer care department may help with getting a replacement if the juicer is defective. However, some juicers will automatically stop running to protect itself when it senses it's being overloaded. Before it can be used again, it must be allowed to cool down and the user must press a reset button. Some juicers are not designed for one long continuous use. Users who put in too much food into their juicers at once are only asking for trouble.
Ultimately, to enjoy the benefits of juicing a certain amount of time and effort is required. No juicer can totally eliminate that... However, if you shop carefully you will find the juicer that is easiest to use and maintain.
Copyright © Jon Chan
