Basically, there are few types of juicers in the market such as
1) Centrifugal juicer (Generally faster rpm)
2) Masticating juicer (single gear and generally slower rpm)
3) Triturating juicer (similar to Masticating juicer but twin gear)
4) Wheatgrass juicer
5) Citrus juicer
Over here we will focus on two main common juicers which are centrifugal juicer and masticating juicer. In every aspect, I’ll try to list down their advantages and disadvantages.
Centrifugal juicer
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Advantages
1) Cheap
a) People who are on a budget will appreciate it more. You can get a pretty decent and good unit with less than $100.
b) If you are unsure whether you like to juice, it’s a good investment for beginner to try it out initially.
2) Faster
a) Generally if you are a person who is always on-the-run and you only need a glass of juice, then centrifugal juicer would be a good choice.
b) It will also be good for a big family where most family members drink juice often and it save a lot of time in juicing.
3) Can take in more fruits
Normally a centrifugal juicer will have a wider opening so that fruits and vegetables of reasonable sizes can ‘fit in’ nicely. It’s much more convenient as you don’t have to prepare and cut the fruits and vegetables into small sizes before juicing. E.g. if you want a carrot juice, all you need is to ‘insert’ the whole carrot into the juicer and let it does the job.
4) Easy to clean
Centrifugal juicer has lesser parts as compared to Masticating juicer to clean after juicing and it’s not time consuming. It’s not a chore and dreadful thoughts of cleaning after every juicing session are lowered.
5) More models in the market to choose from
There are various and plenty inexpensive model units in the departmental store to choose from. If you do not know which model to choose, all you need to do is to tell the sales person your requirement and you can follow with the recommendations given. Just to name a few, popular centrifugal juicers include Jack LaLanne Juicer, Breville juicer, Hamilton Beach juicer, Juiceman juicer and L'Equip juicer.
Disadvantages
1) Noise
Centrifugal juicer is noisier than Masticating juicer. They are not suitable to be used in the morning because of the high rpm that generates the loud decibel.
2) Quality
a) The centrifugal juicer cannot efficiently extract more juice from the pulps (wet pulps). It extracts juice from fruits and vegetables with a high centrifugal spinning effect with sharp blades. It then shreds them into tiny pieces, then using a mesh filter to “spin” the juice out of the pulp at high rpm. This type of method used cannot be effectively extracting all the juice out from every single part of the pulps and therefore the pulps are wasted.
b) It cannot perform well with leafy greens. It only works best with soft and hard fruits and vegetables. The soggy leaf tends to ‘stick to’ the blades and little juice will be extracted.
3) Fast oxidation (juice cannot be kept for long)
As the centrifugal juicer requires high rpm to rotate the blades, more oxygen is ‘pumped’ into the juice. As a result, the juice becomes a little foamy and it cannot keep for a longer period due to oxidation.
4) Faster to heat up
With the high rpm of the spinning effect between the motor and the blade of the centrifugal juicer, the heat generated by the friction kills the nutrients in the surrounding juice which are heat-sensitive in it.
5) Warranty
Usually centrifugal juicer will have a shorter warranty period than masticating juicer. You may want to check out the warranty period of the model you eyed on. Any unit that has more than a year would be good. Bear in mind, the cheaper unit usually do not last long.
Masticating juicer
Advantages
1) Quiet
Masticating juicers are slower and have a low revolution per minute thereby they're quieter. You can operate the unit in the morning if you need a glass of juice for yourself without waking up your entire family members.
2) Juice can be preserved for a longer period
As masticating juicer rotates slower, it introduces less oxygen into the juice as compared to centrifugal juicer. As such, less oxidation takes place and the juice can be preserved longer. However, it is best to drink the juice after it was made in order to get the most nutrient of the fruits and vegetables into your body.
3) Masticating juicer offers more accessories
Not only juicing, masticating juicer also comes with more parts so that it can grind, mince, and puree, to make pasta, homemade baby food, etc.
4) Warranty
Usually masticating juicers will have a longer period of warranty and the quality of juicers is good. I was using my Samson horizontal juicer earlier before I switched to the newer the Hurom vertical slow juicer. It's one of the best juicing machines in the market. I’ve been using it every day for four years and till now; it’s still serving me fine.
5) Quality of juice
a) It can juice leafy greens. It uses ‘cold-press’ method to extract out the juice from every part of the leave so that it will not go to a waste as compared to the ‘rough’ action of the centrifugal juicer.
b) Although there is some heat generated into the juice but it is in the acceptable range as compared to the centrifugal juicer which rotates many times faster, which spoil the nutrient in the juice.
c) Drier pulps as compared to centrifugal juicer’s wetter pulps since most area of the fruits and vegetables are covered by the slow compress that ‘squeeze’ out every droplet of valuable juice.
Disadvantages
1) Expensive
Masticating juicer is usually expensive. If you need just a glass of juice often and live in a fast pace life, then masticating juicer is not worth the investment.
2) Slow, time consuming to juice
a) Prior to juicing, Preparation work such as parts assembly after previous juicing session and cutting the fruits and vegetables into smaller parts so that it can fit to the ‘mouth’ of the juicer.
b) During juicing, for the same amount of fruits and vegetables, since the juicer has a lower rpm, it takes a longer time to complete the juicing session.
c) After juicing, there are many parts and corners that need to be cleaned and dried.
3) Small openings
The masticating juicer is designed to have a smaller ‘mouth’ as compared to the centrifugal juicer so that it can optimize every single inch of the fruits or vegetables that it juices. If you want to be faster and ‘force’ the juicer to take in more fruits or vegetables, it will come to a halt.
Above are the advantages and disadvantages of both centrifugal juicer and masticating juicer. If that still do not help you to decide which type of juicer to choose from then you can look from a different angle:
1) Lifestyle
Ask yourself, what is your lifestyle? Do you just want a glass of juice daily? Is your lifestyle hectic? Are you ready to invest more for the juicer, etc.? These questions will help you to decide which types of juicer are suitable for you. If you are not ready to invest more, then a centrifugal juicer is more suitable.
2) Quality of juice
The quality of juice is also different. The juice that comes out from centrifugal juicer is much more dilute as compared to masticating juicer which provides a much ‘thicker’ juice which includes some pulps. The rotation of the centrifugal juicer with higher rpm (revolution per minute) also plays a major part too. Unlike the masticating juicer which has a lower rpm, the high rotation in centrifugal juicer cannot cover thoroughly the whole area in the fruits and vegetables, thereby juices out a more ‘diluted’ juice.
3) Speed
If you always short of time and live a hectic lifestyle, e.g. single or with a small family, then a centrifugal juice is more suitable because it saves you a lot of time in juicing. From preparation of fruits and vegetable, juicing process and cleaning up, all these take time and effort, especially on a frequent basis. It’s very time-consuming to have a masticating juicer because of its small intakes. Also, the situation will be a nightmare if you have a big family where everyone is into juicing and expect to drink ‘quality’ juice!
4) Parts
Masticating juicer always come with many parts and accessories. Reason is because it not only can juice, it also can grind, mince, and puree, to make pasta, homemade baby food, etc. if the correct parts are assembled. This is the advantage that it surpasses the centrifugal juicer which the latter can only juice.
5) Warranty
As compared to centrifugal juicer, a masticating juicer will have a higher warranty period. For example, five years and above, to give buyer the kind of ‘assurance’ for the investment they made. Not only that, the ‘built’ quality of the unit also looks robust. As for centrifugal juicer, the warranty period usually ranges from a few months to a year, but with the low investment you’ve made, it’s worth.
Having said that, above are mostly the pointers to help you to decide on the type of juicers to choose from. You may want to read up more on juicers from the internet if you decided to make the plunge.
