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Choosing the right Juicer

everything you wanted to know
by

Ron Lagerquist

Article Contents
What is a Juicer?
Qualities of a good Juicer
Centrifugal VS Masticating Great Debate
Why Juice?

Over the last 150 years, in the noble attempt of creating a better, brighter world, the Small Appliance Industry has invented some pretty fabulous gadgets.  Tiny electronic identity-specific slaves with tails, that at the press of a button, will get busy blending, mixing, dicing, slicing, toasting, grilling, opening cans, cleaning teeth, drying, curling, straightening, cutting or shaving hair.  Without complaint, they will make angel hair pasta, dig out noise hair, massage tired feet, roast without heat, and an endless assortment of other little jobs that mankind, (more like womankind) has had to perform by hand for thousands of years. 

Here’s little useless trivia; the term "gadget" was created in 1886 to mean any small handy item for the kitchen. Folklore says that it was derived from the mispronunciation of the French name Monsieur Gaget who sold miniatures of the Statue of Liberty to homesick Americans living in Paris.  

The first can opener was patented in 1858, fifty years after the tin can was invented in England.  Just in time too, for fifty years hungry folks were forced to get to their beans via bayonets, pocket knives or rifle fire.  Today a Statue of Liberty can opener patriotically sits in many American homes where there is an appliance for every conceivable task.  At the end of one’s life, whoever owns the most small appliances wins, so watch for those yard sales.   

As much as I am a non-small-Appliance-conformist, there is one particular appliance I could not do with out, it is the only one that has the honor of sitting like royalty on our counter at home.  The Juicer, the best thing ever invented this side of electricity.

What is a Juicer?
When it comes to your digestive track, there are two types of material in the food you eat; digestible and indigestible matter.  Simply put, a juicer separates digestible juice locked in the fibers of fruit and vegetables.  There are machines that do this very well, and I can tell you from experience there are many more that do it poorly.  More about that in a minute.

There are three methodologies used by all juicers: 

The most common juicer is centrifugal.  They are the ones commonly sold in your local department stores. Produce is pushed down a chute into a spinning basket.  The base of the basket has tiny teeth that grind the fruit or vegetables into a soft mush.  Because the basket is spinning at a high rate, the wet mush is thrown against the side of the basket, kind of like wet clothes in spin cycle.  Like your laundry tub, the side of the basket is porous, therefore allowing the mush to release its juice using centrifugal force.  The dry pulp flies out the top of the basket and is directed into a pulp dispenser while the juice drains into your cup from a spigot. 

Masticating uses a very different method.  Produce is pushed down a chute into a slow moving screw-like blade that is powered by a strong low-RPM, high torque motor.  Sometimes there are two screws working in parallel.  They chew the food up into a mush which is then pushed down a tapered tube by the screw.  A mesh on the bottom of this tube releases the juice while pulp is deposited out the end of the tube.   One of the most popular masticating machines is the Champion which is also capable of producing nut butters.  

We are all familiar with the citrus press; they work on a very simple principle.  A citrus fruit like lemon is cut in half diagonally across its segments.  Then the cut half is pressed down on a reamer which has an inverted shape to the fruit.  Some reamers are motorized and turn, some larger presses use long arms for leverage, pushing a cup down onto the half fruit squeezing the juice simply by pressure.        

Qualities of a good Juicer
The number one question people ask when they are deciding which juicer to buy is, well, is it easy to clean.   Through countless cheesy late night Informaersuals, we have been taught to approach our appliances with a certain attitude; you better save me time or you will end up knickknacked in yard sale hell, sold for a dollar to a large old lady wearing a pink and blue floral polyester dress who will stick you behind her dead George Forman Grill.

Unfortunately, our timesaving mentality will not work with the juicer.  Juicers will not save you time, they may save your life, and I suppose that is time-saving in the big scheme of things.  Even the best juicers are not easy to clean.  But from cutting to dishwasher, some are definitely better than others.

So, after 14 years of doing this thing I have come to a very simple final analysis.  The most important quality of a juicer is, one that gets used regularly enough that it has a positive impact on the owner’s health.   I put this in bold print because I thought it was a profound insight, which says a lot about what I think about myself.  Or, I have been doing this for so long, I take it all far too seriously.  Or, I have talked to lots of first-time juicer owners who where pumped about their health until the novelty of juicing became less than the pull of a bag of barbecue chips.  I have also felt the anguish of hundreds of abandoned juicers, all purchased with promises and best intentions.  In their honor I am going to repeat myself.  The most important quality of a juicer is one that ends up getting used regularly enough that it has a positive impact on the owner’s health.  

“Know thy self”

an oracle given to Socrates at Delphi

I put this in italics because I think it was another profound insight.  Know thy self, and you will save a whole lot of money on what I call good intention purchases!  That is why ease of use is top on my list of a juicer’s best qualities.   Bottom line, no matter how great the machine is, it may even be able to fold your socks, if it’s hard to use, you won’t use it!

 Here are the things you need to look for when it comes to ease of use:

1. Juice Storage- able to make juice in the morning and will last all day even into the night.  After all most of us cannot carry a juicer around in our back pocket
    

2. Strong Motor- important when it comes to durability and able to chew through those harder vegetables 
    

3. Low RPM's- Less foaming or oxidizing of juice 
    

4. versatility- it actually stays on the counter top and therefore gets used
    

5. Easy to Clean- less parts to clean the better
    

6. Quiet- if you wake the baby nobody's happy

 Also, look for a good warranty and reputation.  In the age of Internet it’s not hard to research what people are saying about a particular product.

Centrifugal VS Masticating Great Debate
Here’s how it goes.  The masticating people say that centrifugal juicers spin too fast resulting in the heating and oxidizing of juice, damaging delicate enzymes and greatly reducing storage life. Also, the chewing process of a masticating juicer is said to release a greater percentage of minerals from hard fibers compared to the grinding process of a centrifugal juicer. 

Up till late I was quit skeptical of such claims.  I have been searching for solid comparison studies, after all if this is true Freedomyou needs to rethink the type of juicer we promote.  It is a critical subject.  A superior juice would yield more nutrition for you money, but of even of greater importance is a improved nutrient-dense food nourishing and cleansing your trillions of cells.  The relevance of the claim that masticated juice lasts longer is represented in a common question I often receive through e-mail, is my juice good all day if I make it in the morning?  Most of us do not immediately drink the anomic juice flowing from our juicers.  Like myself, we make a large batch in the morning to be consumed throughout the day.  Flavor tells us a lot about quality and freshness. Taste alone will tell you that juice deteriorates quickly.  There is nothing like drinking juice fresh from the spigot, especially the more delicate melon juices.  Water melon juice is almost unpalatable to me after only a few hours, but I love its taste when fresh.

 New laboratory research is backing the masticating claims.  The juice lasts longer with enzymes in tact and there is a greater concentration is nutrients, including minerals.   This is one reason why we have taken a different course and decided to promote the Champion Juicer.  Also, Champions are more than just juicers, able to produce fresh raw nut butters, baby food, frozen smoothies and soup purees.   Freedomyou has learned the hard way that a juicer is only as good as the company backing it.  This is a family owned operation and has been in business of over 50 years.  But the principal criteria was the Champion is easy to clean, easy to use!  Learn more about the Champion

In spite of this new research Freedomyou has still decided to sell the very affordable Hamilton Beach HealthSmart centrifugal Juicer.  Find out why.

Why Juice?
Your digestive track is nothing more then a very efficient juicer, consequently a juice machine does all the work for your body.  This can benefit health in a number of ways.  First of all when was the last time you got the munchies, bellied up to the TV and gorged on a five pound bag of carrots, three apples, a lemon, three stocks of celery, and generous handful of parsley?  It doesn’t happen.  But there have been many times I have drank the juice of all of those veggies throughout a day.  You may ask, is it really necessary to consume that much fresh produce?  If you asked me that in Jesus’ day I would say no.  But because of all the toxins we breath, drink and eat, (not to mention toxic thinking which has its own toll on the body) combined with the slow-motion lifestyle most live, I say yes!  Today, it is a great benefit to health if you were to drink fresh, raw, nutrient dense juice on a daily bases.  In fact, why not replace an entire meal with tall glass of fresh juice?  What could be wrong with saturating every tired, tainted, toxic cell with the, enzymes, micronutrients, pytochemicals, bioavailable vitamins and minerals generously supplied in the juices of fruits and vegetables? 

 If we are honest, there is hardly a North American that consumes adequate amounts of fresh fruit and vegetables.  Spending the 30 minutes it takes to juice a jug of living juice will be well worth the time.  You can pour fresh juice into a thermos and drink on the fly, curbing your hunger for that sneaky Snickers binge.  

 Another benefit is juicing during a fast.  Drinking only juice absent of fiber for a set period of time will shut down the digestive system allowing the body to enter a cleansing and detoxification phase.   The juices will assist in riding the body of a thousand tragic Happy Meals.  You can read more about this in the article Detoxification.     

 Isn’t the fiber in produce good for me?  Yes, it is very important to eat a high fiber diet.  All whole foods from the plant kingdom are rich in fiber.  But you simply will not eat enough raw produce to undo and maintain a clean body in this toxic world.  Think of juicing as a great first step to becoming a healthier you, changing awareness and attitude toward how you are treating your body.  Think of it as a big thank you to your ten trillion cells for their years of thankless service, working night and day to keep you in the here and now.

 What about the juice found in the supermarkets, or health stores?  You tell me.  Drink a glass of freshly made juice and compare the taste.  Your taste buds will not lie, it is totally different.  The juice is alive, tastes alive, full of undertone flavors not found in pasteurized, frozen or bottled juice that has been exposed to light, heat and air for goodness knows how long.  And some of my favorite juices are not available in stores, like cantaloupe juice.  Don’t get me started; I just love the taste of freshly made cantaloupe or honeydew juice.  Frozen in popsicles, and the kids will go wild.  What about fresh strawberries, or pineapple juice?  Killer stuff, that unique fresh flavor is imposable to market. God has the patent on fresh.

 If it’s a choice between a Statue of Liberty electric can opener or juicer, my money is on the juicer.  I think there ought to be a government rebate on juicers.  When you curtail enormous medical bills because you decide to juice yourself to vibrant health, that action alone will take huge pressure off a floundering Medicare system. Just think of how patriotic that will feel.   The only people crying to the bank will be the Multinational Pharmaceutical Companies.   Don’t get me started.

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