Juicers

[Pam Genant]

What juicer do you own?  What do you like and dislike about it?

 

Am looking for a juicer myself, so want any and all opinions. 

[Kathy]

I own three juicers, Champion, Acme, and Omega.  I bought the Champion used many years ago but then read I could get more juice from a centrifugal style so I bought the Acme.  I've since learned that getting more juice is not really true.  The screen on the Acme is hard to clean but there are filters that can be purchased.  Besides the high oxidation with the Acme the other thing I don't like about it is there is no chute for the pulp to come out.  I can only make a couple of glasses of juice before I have to take it apart and clean it.  I tried to just open it and take out the pulp but that doesn't work as the machine gets off balance and won't spin properly unless completely cleaned. 

 

The Champion extracts the juice and spits the pulp out so it can be used continuously.  It has little metal teeth on the auger that rip the produce apart as it extracts the juice.  It can also be used for making nut butters or frozen desserts by running frozen fruit through the machine with a different insert than the juicing screen.  The auger on my machine is very tight and hard to get on and off but that just might be my machine.

 

My newest juicer is the Omega 8004 I got for Christmas this year.  It is, by far, my favorite.  It has an auger that presses the juice out rather than cutting the produce.  There is very little oxidation and it can even do wheatgrass.  It's great with greens but soft fruits, like pears, just kind of squish around so it's best to do them first and then the harder vegetables.  It can also do frozen desserts and even make pasta, although I've never used it for that.  It's easy to take apart for cleaning and even came with a little brush for cleaning the small screen. The only drawback to this juicer that I've experienced so far is the small size of the chute.  I have to cut apples into small pieces and fatter carrots have to be cut in pieces also.   The pulp that comes out is a little moist but does not clump together so it's doing a pretty good job of getting out the juice. 

 

If you have any particular questions I'd be glad to try and answer them.  It's such a big investment and obviously it's not an easy decision to make.  I'm pretty happy with the Omega but if I had more money I probably would have looked into buying a Green Star.  Although, I just thought of another thing I like about the Omega.  It's pretty small in size and fits nicely on the counter.  In fact, it's smaller than the Champion and much quieter too.

 

 

[Pam Genant]

Thank you Kathy!! You are awesome.  At this point I don't even know what questions to ask, but your info was very helpful.

 

Thanks again!

Pam

Kathy said:

I own three juicers, Champion, Acme, and Omega. 

[CJ]

i have the omega juicer.  Its the masticating kind and I like it because no heat is at all made in the process of juicing so all nutrients are present.  (the machine booklet says that the juice is still highly nutritious 72 hours afterward but I have noticed a color change in the celery/grapefruit juice I make..... )

I know this one is a bit slower with a smaller shoot to drop the fruits/veggies in, but I feel that it is an ok trade for the maximization of the purity of the juices.

[Pam Genant]

Thanks CJ for your input.

Pam

CJ said:

i have the omega juicer.  Its the masticating kind and I like it because no heat is at all made in the process of juicing so all nutrients are present.  (the machine booklet says that the juice is still highly nutritious 72 hours afterward but I have noticed a color change in the celery/grapefruit juice I make..... )

I know this one is a bit slower with a smaller shoot to drop the fruits/veggies in, but I feel that it is an ok trade for the maximization of the purity of the juices.

[Kathy]

I've been using my Omega juicer a lot this week and wanted to add some more about it.  The finished juice has a lot of pulp in it.  So much that my son mentioned that he didn't like it as well as the other juicers.  I started paying  more attention and realized that it even has several lumps in it.  Since the point of juice is to remove the pulp so that the juice can be immediately absorbed by the body I've been straining the juice after it's made.  This adds another step which takes more time and creates more mess to be cleaned up.  Therefore I don't think I would recommend this juicer after all.  I wish I had continued to save my money to get the Green Star because I need something that does greens as well as other fruits and vegetables. 

Kathy said:

I own three juicers, Champion, Acme, and Omega.  I bought the Champion used many years ago but then read I could get more juice from a centrifugal style so I bought the Acme.  I've since learned that getting more juice is not really true.  The screen on the Acme is hard to clean but there are filters that can be purchased.  Besides the high oxidation with the Acme the other thing I don't like about it is there is no chute for the pulp to come out.  I can only make a couple of glasses of juice before I have to take it apart and clean it.  I tried to just open it and take out the pulp but that doesn't work as the machine gets off balance and won't spin properly unless completely cleaned. 

 

The Champion extracts the juice and spits the pulp out so it can be used continuously.  It has little metal teeth on the auger that rip the produce apart as it extracts the juice.  It can also be used for making nut butters or frozen desserts by running frozen fruit through the machine with a different insert than the juicing screen.  The auger on my machine is very tight and hard to get on and off but that just might be my machine.

 

My newest juicer is the Omega 8004 I got for Christmas this year.  It is, by far, my favorite.  It has an auger that presses the juice out rather than cutting the produce.  There is very little oxidation and it can even do wheatgrass.  It's great with greens but soft fruits, like pears, just kind of squish around so it's best to do them first and then the harder vegetables.  It can also do frozen desserts and even make pasta, although I've never used it for that.  It's easy to take apart for cleaning and even came with a little brush for cleaning the small screen. The only drawback to this juicer that I've experienced so far is the small size of the chute.  I have to cut apples into small pieces and fatter carrots have to be cut in pieces also.   The pulp that comes out is a little moist but does not clump together so it's doing a pretty good job of getting out the juice. 

 

If you have any particular questions I'd be glad to try and answer them.  It's such a big investment and obviously it's not an easy decision to make.  I'm pretty happy with the Omega but if I had more money I probably would have looked into buying a Green Star.  Although, I just thought of another thing I like about the Omega.  It's pretty small in size and fits nicely on the counter.  In fact, it's smaller than the Champion and much quieter too.