Keep Healthy on A Budget with these Six Budget Juicers

Without a doubt, the most important distinction to make between the six products listed above is the distinction between the centrifugal and masticating options. And while one of our products, the BLACK+DECKER Citrus Juicer, doesn’t fit into these two categories, it’s important to keep in mind what sorts of benefits come from each.

Centrifugal juicers, as the name implies, rely on centripetal force and a centrifuge of blades to spin and decimate fruits and vegetables. The operation is quick but also quite loud. While many of the juicers on our list rely on centrifugal juicers, and these types are often considered the standard, a second type is certainly worth considering.

Masticating juicers are lesser-known and often the rarer of the two main types of juicers. With their slowly/rotating press and unique design, however, these types of juicers tend to squeeze out more juice and produce less pulp than their centrifugal counterparts. That’s not the say that centrifugal juicers shouldn’t be considered; aside from costing less on average, centrifugal juicers come with their own benefits, including speed, size, and power.

For a more in-depth look into the differences, we recommend you check out the following chart:

While we highly recommend both centrifugal and masticating juicers on our list, we also want to highlight some of the best blenders for juicing should making juice not be the highest priority for you. Combining blenders and juicers into one appliance can be helpful for those who aren’t as focused on one type of processing over another.

Aside from the type of juicer you choose, considering wattage and capacity are also highly important. While it’s not a one-to-one comparison, generally speaking the more wattage your juicer comes with, the more powerful you can expect the juicer to be. Theoretically, a 1000W juicer should be able to tackle fruits and vegetables easier than a 100W juicer.

While this is a good overall approach for comparing juicers, remember that the type of juicer you’re considering plays a big factor in its wattage. A citrus juicer, for example, like the one on our list is going to need less wattage overall than a masticating option. Overall, masticating juicers need fewer watts to get more done than their centrifugal cousins.

Similarly, the capacity of your juicer is worth looking into to ensure that juicing doesn’t take any longer than it has to. While many people use their juicers for individual drinks, you may want to use your machine to prepare juice drinks for several people or several times during the day. If you’re confident you’ll only need a juicer for a single serving, you may also want to consider whether or not a bullet blender works well for your needs. The smaller the collection picture and pulp bin are, the more often you’re going to need to stop the juicer, unplug the unit, clean the parts, and start all over again.

Finally, you’ll need to keep in mind that budget juicers aren’t going to come with all of the bells and whistles you may have been expecting when looking into a model for purchase. Many of the desired features that are simply too expensive for budget manufacturers include higher speeds and froth separators.

Variable and multi-speed juicers can make juicing certain ingredients much more efficient than single speed options, which is why we think the two speeds offered by the AICOK 1000W Juice Extractor is worth noting. Likewise, simpler features, like pushers and included tools for cleaning, are going to range in quality and availability based on which product you’ve picked out.

Generally speaking, the choice between a centrifugal and masticating option is going to be more important than pushers and cleaning tools. If you’re really looking for the convenience of a froth separator or really need your juicer to go the extra mile, however, you may want to consider holding off on a budget juicer and saving up for a premium option.

• How Do I Clean My Juicer?

• Effectively cleaning your juicer is often far more about when you clean it than how you clean it. Whether you’re utilizing a centrifugal or masticating juicer, you’ll need to try to get your juicer to the sink as close to when you’ve finished using it as possible. Many juicers (including juicers on our list) utilize meshes and tight corners for pulp to travel through. Should these sections be allowed to dry, cleaning your juicer is going to take far longer and be more difficult.Generally speaking, you’ll want to disassemble your juicer as completely as possible and place the non-electric components in the sink for washing. Likewise, if your juicer has come with special tools to clean tight crevices, you’ll want to take these out as well. Fill your sink with dish detergent and hot water and try to soak each piece for a few minutes before giving them a final rinse. Don’t forget to take a damp cloth or sponge to the juicer itself. Just be mindful of any electrical components and make sure to get all of the pulp and juice out of the machine each time before the residue has time to dry.

• Do I Get All of the Vitamins and Nutrients from My Produce When I Use a Juicer? How about Fiber?

• Juicing can be somewhat controversial, as different groups make different arguments concerning just how efficient the juicing process is. We feel adequately confident, though, to make a few baseline assumptions.Juicing, while highly effective in processing fruits and other ingredients, is going to leave some amount of vitamins, nutrients, and particularly fiber in the pulp. While the best juicers will get as close as possible to retaining all vitamins and nutrients, the issue of fiber is one of the biggest when it comes to the health benefits of juicing. Juicing will remove most of the fiber content from the fruit, as the juicing process removes the natural tissues and fibrous elements that keep the fruit together and retain its shape. The vitamins and nutrients in fruit, though, can mostly be transferred to the juice created from any of the juicers on our list.It’ll be up to you to decide whether or not juicing is going to fit in with your nutritional goals or diet. We can tell you that juicing is perfectly healthy and is absolutely preferable to not getting your fruits and veggies in at all.

• Can I Juice Leafy Greens like Kale?

• Kale, spinach, and other leafy greens are harder to juice, but all of the juicers on our list should be able to tackle them just fine.While juicing kale and other leafy greens is certainly possible, you’ll need to remember that these leaves are low in moisture and quite thin. Getting the juice from these plants are going to produce a lot more pulp and waste than more saturated options like apples.To juice leafy greens, you’ll need to focus on compressing the leaves as much as possible and considering adding in other ingredients to help your juicer rise up to the task. Taking a few seconds to roll up greens in a cylinder before juicing, for instance, is often a great way to maximize the juice you’ll get from the leaves. Likewise, you can consider adding in apples, carrots, or other veggies to give your juicer something more substantial to puree.