The perfect juicer is powerful, easy to clean, and, unlike a squeezer, can handle vegetables. Olympic nutritionist Adam Korzun tests five.
By Josh Fulmer
Juiceman JM400
At a minimum, a good juicer does two things: chop up fruits and veggies, then extract their nectar. The Juiceman failed at both tasks. Large chunks of produce evaded its stainless-steel blades, and the 700-watt motor choked on a red pepper. “It definitely wouldn’t handle two quarts of carrots,” said Korzun. Worst of all, the juice it produced was grainy and oddly bitter. [$100; juiceman.com]
Rating: 2/10
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Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Pro
Neat freaks beware: The Hamilton spat food shrapnel from its intake chute as Korzun fed more into the machine. Disassembly was a snap, but the blade was a magnet for caked-on sludge, which called for post-dishwasher elbow grease. Yet the Hamilton churns out quality juice without wasting much food, earning a nod from Korzun as a “great entry-level machine.” [$80; hamiltonbeach.com]
Rating: 7/10
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Oster Wide Mouth Juice Extractor
The Oster rivals FEMA for inefficiency, wasting so much good produce that at one point a quarter of an apple landed in its scraps bin. Korzun also knocked the machine for feeling flimsy, saying, “It’s all plastic and looks cheap, so it might break with heavy usage.” For the price you’re better off with the Hamilton. [$80; shoposter.com]
Rating: 5/10
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Waring WJX50
The commercial-grade model sucked produce dry, wasting no liquids. And its 1.3-horsepower, 1,000-watt motor dispatched citrus so easily that Korzun fed it juicer kryptonite: a sweet potato. The Waring devoured it. “You could weed-whack your yard with that motor,” he said. Pulp haters beware, though — the Waring’s juice borders on homestyle. [$485; waringproducts.com]
Rating: 9/10
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BEST IN CLASS Jack LaLanne Power Juicer Pro
A high-speed 3,600-rpm motor turned fruits and veggies into finely pureed juice, yet the Power Juicer Pro was the quietest model tested — a boon for juicers trying not to wake the wife and kids. The only downside: “It empties into a glass — not a large reservoir — so it’s tough to juice a large batch,” said Korzun. [$150; powerjuicer.com]
Rating: 9/10
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About our expert
Trained as a chef and nutritionist, Adam Korzun serves up tasty, performance-enhancing meals to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team at its Park City training center and on the competition circuit. Though his favorite juice concoction combines carrot, apple, and cucumber with ginger and spinach, Korzun notes that all the juicers tested are capable of making excellent Bloody Marys.
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This article originally appeared in the August 2010 issue of Men’s Journal.
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July 22nd, 2010 at 12:32 pm
Nice review
, all of the juicers tested are centrifugal juicers which are designed for speed juicing of solid fruits and vegetables. They are expected to fail with leafy veggies, they suck on that zone!
Juiceman has been observed to die down, at least on the quality of their juicers, Waring of course is one of the best, Jack has very effective infomercials but they’re not durable, they should come with a warning telling people not to use the machine everyday or it breaks down
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Reviews like these empowers consumers, people should always strive to become well informed specially when it comes to something that they should be using for the years to come.
[Reply]
August 29th, 2010 at 8:44 pm
forget juicing…you forgo all that valuable fibre: for a more nutritious (yet will a thicker tasting drink) using the entire fruit/veggie, check out blenders by blendtec, vitapro which are so powerful that they really do break down those ‘intracellular walls’ of whatever fruit/veggie you’re using that is needed for proper smoothies…and even one ‘knock off’ which i’ve gotten (by an online retailer who sells these blenders) is the omni v….
[Reply]
September 21st, 2010 at 7:12 am
Hi
Your post is really a good one. thanks for sharing.
[Reply]