It’s normal to feel a little overwhelmed for who’s new to juicing. As there are several types of juicers available, each with its own mechanism, choosing the right one can get confusing.
I remember it took me a few days to figure out all nooks and crannies. The information was scattered all over the place, so it wasn’t a pleasant experience.
Lucky for you, I’ve already had my research done long before I started writing this post. All I had to do was the formatting and voila I’ve got an information-rich post with me.
Anyhow, you’re not here to listen to that. So, let’s get straight to the point-
Contents
6 Different Types of Juicers
Sure, there are a lot of varieties of juicers in the market. But in terms of popularity, your list gets shorter than you’d expect.
That being said, I’ve gone over the most popular types of juicers first and then I followed up with the other types. Let’s start and you’ll know what I mean-
1. Centrifugal Juicers
Apart from being the fastest spinning juicers in the market, centrifugal juicers are also quite affordable. Because of the high RPM spinning, the juice gets separated from the pulp much faster.
In a hurry? Grab your centrifugal juicer and you’ll have your juice ready in 2 minutes. Even the setup and cleaning are a lot easier than other juicer types.
Be that as it may, there are reasons why this type of juicer is cheaper. The number one disadvantage is the low juice yield. Because of the high RPM spinning, you’ll get a lot of tiny pulp particles in your juice.
While you can always fix this with another strainer, chances are low the juice is going to be ‘clean’. You realize this more with soft ingredients like leafy greens and such. The hard fruits and vegetables somehow pass the test, but soft ones suffer the most.
That goes number one. The second problem is the ridiculous amount of noise these things make. To get faster results you’re taking a toll on the juice quality and shelf life.
I mean it’s still an awesome healthy snack. All I’m saying is the juice quality could’ve been a lot better with a whole lot more nutrients.
2. Masticating (Single Auger) Juicers
Masticating slow juicers take the help of an auger to crush the ingredients and squeeze out the juice. But they aren’t called slow juicers for nothing. On average, a masticating juicer can take up to 15-20 minutes to get you a cup of juice.
As the motor spins at only 80-100 RPM, the speed is slow alright but there’s little to no oxidation and heat build-up. When compared to centrifugal juicers, masticating juicers offer a much better juice yield. And as it doesn’t spin at high RPM, you hardly see tiny pulp particles.
The best part is some masticating juicers are multifunctional. Other than squeezing out fresh juice, they also work as a food processor. That’s something you won’t get from a centrifugal juicer.
When it’s a matter of delivering amazing juice, masticating juicers are way better. But you need to make a commitment to juicing as these juicers tend to up a lot of time. Masticating juicers are the best juicers for beginners.
Vertical Masticating Juicers
No, vertical masticating juicers aren’t anything complicated. It’s just as the name suggests, the auger and all the other essential components are placed vertically.
This way gravity can lend a hand in the process. As everything goes down to the bottom, juicing gets much easier. But vertical masticating juicers aren’t that popular because cleaning them up is rather complicated.
Horizontal Masticating Juicers
Horizontal masticating juicers gained more popularity than its counterpart. The simple cleaning and easy-to-use chute feed made it a consumer favorite.
While it’s true that they eat up a lot of time to bring out the juice but at least you’ll know that the juice quality will be top-notch. And did I mention cleaning it is a breeze?
3. Triturating (Twin Gear) Juicers
Do you see a pattern of how I’ve listed the types? If you haven’t already, then let me clear it out. Among the 3 types of juicers, I’ve discussed till now, triturating juicers are the best ones out there.
Triturating juicers come with two gears that grind up anything that falls in that area. Needless to say, the juice quality is outstanding. A higher juice yield and fewer fibrous materials make the juice taste much better.
Juicing up soft ingredients like kale, spinach is a piece of cake. When you’re done, you won’t even recognize the greens from the dry pulps.
Similar to masticating juicers, triturating juicers operate at lower RPMs ensuring the juice doesn’t deteriorate because of heat and oxidation. Thanks to the extraordinary juicing process, almost all of the nutrients and enzymes stay intact.
A lower RPM means there isn’t much noise like centrifugal juicers. It also means you could very well use it as a food processor for peanut butter to soy milk.
In spite of everything, you can’t avoid the high price range of triturating juicers. Triturating juicers are proof that convenience has its own price. Nevertheless, they are the best of the best when it’s about getting a glass of fresh and pulp-free juice from your home kitchen.
4. Citrus Juicers/Manual Juicers
Citrus juicers are exactly what the name suggests. As most citrus juicers are manually operated, some would call them manual juicers too. Although there are electric citrus juicers they’re not as popular as other types of juicers.
Hand-Held Reamer/Juicer
Hand-held reamers are a quick and easy way to squeeze out fresh juice. It’s basically a wooden or metal piece with ridged cone and a tapered tip. When you twist the tapered tip into half-cut citrus, the juice comes out.
The best part about hand-held reamers is they couldn’t get any easier to clean. When you’re done, simply throw it in the sink and it’ll clean on its own.
However, you might want to avoid them if you have to go through large quantities. As you have to use a lot of force, it won’t take long for your hands to turn sore.
Electric Citrus Juicer
Let me keep it simple, electric citrus juicers work exactly the same way as reamers. Except you don’t have to do anything yourself. But this obviously means cleaning it won’t be as easy as before. You never know when an electric citrus juicer might come in handy.
Lever-Action Hand Juicer
Turns out, there’s a better alternative when it comes to efficiency. Lever-action hand juicers work without electricity but they give out quick results without taking a toll on your hands. Over the years, the reliable performance of the heavy-duty gears ensured a good hold on its reputation.
To operate the juicer, place the half-cut citrus in the middle and pull the lever. Within a matter of seconds, the juice will come out.
Hand-Crank Juicer
Some people call hand-crank juicers wheatgrass juicers. Think of them as a basic type of masticating juicer except they don’t have any of the mechanisms other than a similar design.
Hand-Squeeze Juicer
There’s nothing new about hand-squeeze juicers. Chances are you’ve seen them many times. The mechanism is similar to lever-action juicers but they’re a little bit harder to operate as you have to put in more force.
5. Hydraulic/Pneumatic Press Juicers
The most surprising fact is no other juicer can produce such high-quality juice as hydraulic or pneumatic press juicers. So, why did I place them almost at the bottom of the list?
Well, when choosing an ideal juicer, there’s a lot more to it than juice quality. You’d have to consider whether you can store it in your kitchen. And obviously, you can’t ignore the price.
Despite doing an incredible job of making top-notch juices, hydraulic juicers are not at all conventional. Their prices are jacked up so high that most people would never even think of buying one.
Be that as it may, pneumatic press juicers create 6,000 PSI of force when squeezing out the juice. Because of such extreme pressure, the juice instantly comes out with little to no oxidation and heat buildup. And that means you’ll get to store the juice for a much longer period of time.
Electric
Unless you need 100 glasses of fresh juice every, there’s no point in getting electric hydraulic juicers. If it were a competition, other juicers won’t even stand a chance against electric pneumatic juicers.
Manual
If you know your way around a tire jack, you know how a manual hydraulic juicer works. Compared to electric models, manual ones are a lot more affordable. But even then the price is much higher than average electric juicers.
6. Steam Juicer
Steam juicers are not your typical everyday juicer. They have a very specific use, making them unsuitable for most households. As the name suggests they use steam to extract the juice out of fruits like berries but the fruit stays intact.
This is in fact a great way to preserve the fruit for further use. You get to use both the fruit and the juice. But unlike other juicers, you can’t serve the juice instantly as it’ll be steaming hot.
How to Find the Right Juicer for You?
Before you pull the trigger, ask yourself these 3 questions and see what the answer is. This will determine what type of juicer is more suited for you. Let’s start-
Are you willing to put in the time?
If you’ve stuck around till now, you know that juicing takes quite a lot of time, especially when you want to have high-quality juice. It’s completely fine if you don’t want to spend any extra time juicing. But remember that you’d have to sacrifice the juice quality for a faster operation.
Is it a health ritual or do you want a quick snack?
To tell you the truth, a lot of people don’t take juicing that seriously. They think of it as a quick way of getting some nutrients in your body. Unless you don’t consider it as a health ritual, there’s no reason to spend big bucks buying top-graded juicers.
More juice or more nutrients?
The math here is simple. Centrifugal juicers will give you more juice but they’ll have much fewer nutrients because of the oxidation and heat buildup. On the other hand, masticating or twin-gear juicers work slower but they’ll make sure the nutrients stay intact.
The Final Verdict
You know your choices now. I’ve gone over every type of juicer out there with enough details so that you have a clear understanding of how each one of them works.
Still and all, you might have some confusion tingling around in your mind. That’s why I encourage you to head over to the comment section. No matter how long it takes I’ll make sure you get the solution you need.