Juicer Comparison 

We've conducted extensive tests using a wide variety of common fruits and vegetables.  Our tests demonstrate which juicers are actually the easiest to use/clean and give the best juice yields as well as overall juice quality.

With so many different juicers on the market at various price points many working in diverse ways it can be hard to choose one that is right for you.   Hopefully we can make that decision a little easier with a brief description of the different types of juicers available along with the pros and cons of each.  We recently conducted extensive tests on middle to high end health juicers.  Our main purpose was to make your purchasing decision a great deal easier by providing you with the most accurate information on the effectiveness and performance of the juicers we sell.

 There are 2 main types of juicers, Centrifugal and Masticating:

Centrifugal juicers.  
These work by shredding the produce using a high-speed blade.  The juice is sieved out through the juicing screen and the pulp is ejected into a container (Note the Magimix does not eject the pulp). The advantage of this kind of juicer is that it is the fastest method of juicing and is usually easy to use.  The juice yield varies depending on the produce used.  They do an excellent job of carrots, celery, cucumber and apples.   With some fruits such as pineapple, the juice can be rather frothy, and they are not really suitable for greens, unless you are willing to accept a juice yield that is way below what you could expect from a machine that is designed for such a task. If you were looking to juice greens on a regular basis you would need nearly twice as much produce to produce the same amount of juice as you would expect from a more expensive machine.  This type of juicer is also unsuitable for wheat grass.  The real disadvantage to the centrifugal juicer is that the quality of the juice is severely compromised due to the high speed cutting action of the blade, (and the production of excess foam) which oxidises the produce resulting in damage to the enzyme and nutritional quality of the juice.  This is usually apparent from the colour of the juice i.e. the juice from green apples is normally brown, an indication of oxidation.

Masticating Juicers.
These fall into 3 types.  The Champion, the single (auger) gear, and the twin gear.  

• The Champion juicer, whilst classed as a masticating juicer, is really just a centrifugal juicer with a different dress on.  It works on exactly the same principal.  The only real difference is that the cutter is cylindrical in shape and the design on the machine is more robust. (It also has optional attachments that enable it to be used as a grain mill). The juice yield is comparable and, in many cases, less than that achieved with a centrifugal juicer, and like the centrifugal juicers, is not suitable for wheat grass. 
  
• The single gear juicers work by gently crushing the produce, with the use of a slow turning screw or auger.  This is forced against a juicing screen that separates the pulp and juice in two separate containers.  These machines have the added advantage of being used as natural food processors as well, with the ability to make pasta, noodles, nut butters, frozen desserts and minced produce.  This type of juices is slower in the length of time it takes to make juice, but this is because these machines are designed to extract the highest quality juice possible with little or no damage to its nutritional content.  How well they work depends on which one you buy.  The Samson 6 in 1 will juice pretty much anything you can throw at it whereas the L’Equip Visor tends to clog up with less fibrous produce.  
  
• The twin gear machines are the best juicers you can buy on the market. They will, like the Samson, juice pretty much anything you can throw at them, but they work on a twin gear rather than a single gear technology, which gives a better juice yield.  The two gears press and crush the produce with the juice being sieved through a screen and the pulp being ejected out the front.  With a twin gear machine, you can expect a higher juice yields with pretty much anything.  The juice quality is comparable to the single gear juicers, except that the juice is less pulpy and slightly smoother tasting if you use the vegetable screen.  These machines have the same food processing capabilities as the single gear juicers, although the single gear juicers do a better job with less wastage. Twin gear juicers are best suited to people who are dedicated juice drinkers as they will extract the maximum juice out of your produce, which will in the long term save money compared to juicing with cheaper machines.

Below is a graphical summary for some of the juicer tests we've been conducting.  A more comprehensive presentation of all the data will be made available in the future.  We used 1kg of each fruit and vegetable for each juicer, these were all taken from the same batch to ensure consistent results..   

* The visor was unable to complete the test for Pineapple and red grapes due to clogging problems.

L’Equip Mini pulp ejector Model 110.5 - BEST CENTRIFUGAL JUICER
If you are on a budget, the L’Equip mini pulp ejector model 110.5 is one of the best centrifugal juicers you can buy.  It does a good job of most fruits and vegetables, (except greens and wheat grass) but due to the high speed cutting action of the blade within the juicer, the nutritional quality of the juice is compromised and the juice yield is not as high as that obtained by either the single or twin gear juicers.  

One advantage it does have over the more expensive machines is that the juicing time is much faster.  If you are looking for something that will make a glass of fruit juice (or carrots, celery, beets etc.) quickly, then the mini would be an ideal choice, but if you are serious about juicing for health or to address a health concern, a single or twin gear machine would be advisable.  

Breville AWT - Anthony Worrall Thompson Juicer
The AWT juicer works on the same principal as the mini.  The difference is that the feeding chamber is designed to take whole fruit, which significantly cuts down on preparation and juicing time, as it is not necessary to cut the fruit prior to placing it in the feeding chamber.  This is similar to the Jack Lalanne power juicer only cheaper.  As a result you can make a glass of fruit juice in seconds.  The results are similar to the mini, although with the AWT, the juice was more prone to frothing, especially with pineapple.  

Apart from the cutting blade this juicer is made completely out of plastic.  Another disadvantage is that it is very noisy due to the incredibly high speed at which the blade turns.  

Champion 2000+
It's classed as a masticating juicer, however, due to the high speed at which it operates more than 1200rpm, its results will be similar to that of mid to high end centrifugal juicers.  The only real difference is that the cutter is cylindrical in shape and the design of the machine is more robust.  The juice yield is comparable and, in many cases, less than that achieved with a centrifugal juicer, and like the centrifugal juicers, it is not suitable for wheat grass.  As a result of the way the high-speed cutter shreds the produce, our tests showed that the juice did sometimes contain more foam than the mini.  

The Champion does a terrible job of greens and is not suitable for celery unless you first dice it.  The only advantage the Champion has over a centrifugal juicer is that it is more robust and can also be used to make nut butters etc.  The only advantage it has over single and twin gear machines is the speed at which it produces juice, but this is virtually negated by its performance and juice quality, it is a measurably inferior machine.  

L’Equip Visor  Model 509 (single gear) 
We had high hopes for this machine given its price, but unfortunately our own testing showed that although similar in it’s design to the Samson this juicers performance did not live up to our expectations.  

The problem with the Visor is that it is rather selective about what it will juice without the juicing chamber becoming clogged up with a backlog of juice and pulp.  It does carrots and celery, and can juice wheat grass with no problems at all. In our tests, with fruits such as fresh pineapple, seeded grapes and crisp apples, the juice chamber became clogged. Repeatedly using the reverse button did not appear to resolve the clogging problem. This then turned into a fruit puree with none or very little resulting juice.  It seems as though this maybe a result of the holes in the juicing screen being too small (hence being able juice some types of vegetables but very few fruits).  

The Visor is very easy to clean, assemble and disassemble.  If you are looking for a machine that will work with carrots, celery and wheat grass then the visor is a cheaper alternative to the Samson, but if you are looking for a juicer that is an all round excellent performer, the Visor will prove to be a false economy in the long run.  

Samson 6 in 1 Model GB9001 (single gear) - BEST ALL ROUND JUICER
The Samson is by far the best single auger juicer on the market that we know of.  It will juice anything you can throw at it with ease, and does not suffer any of the clogging problems that render the Visor unusable with many fruits.  On the rare occasions that the Samson 6 in 1 did clog up, the problem was easily rectified using the reverse button.  The Samson produced an excellent juice yield with most fruits and vegetables; in fact the yield from seeded grapes was so great that the resulting waste/fibre was bone dry.  We used grape, seed and stems whilst testing grape in all the juicers, the extra fibre helps the gear juicers to extract more juice. 

The Samson does an excellent job of making nut butters, pasta, noodles and frozen desserts with no wastage.  The Samson is very easy to clean, assemble and disassemble. 

The only disadvantage to this machine is, like most high-end juicers; slower juicing time; which is necessary to produce juice that has all its nutrients intact.  It is worth noting that the manufacturer Greenbison, Inc have made significant design improvements on older Samson models, notably increased robustness, juice yield, safety and value.  

The Samson comes with a video manual which shows you how to utilise it’s many functions. If you are looking for an all round excellent juicer and food processor, then the Samson 6 in 1 comes highly recommended and will prove to be well worth the extra expense compared to the Visor.

Samsonultra Model KPE1301 (twin gear) - ULTIMATE JUICING MACHINE
If you are looking for a dedicated juicing machine that will extract the maximum amount of juice with its nutrients still intact and an incredibly dry pulp, then the Samson Ultra is your best bet.  This machines is best suited to people who want to juice large amounts of greens and require the maximum juice extraction.  It does an excellent job of all produce, and with the exception of soft apples, will out perform the single gear juicers with regards to the amount of juice extracted.  

If you juice large amounts on a daily basis, especially greens, the SamsonUltra will prove to be a cheaper alternative in the long run, as you will need up to 30% less produce to obtain the same amount of juice.  The only problem we encountered with this machine is with soft apples.  The pulp did tend to back up a bit, but it really was just a case of allowing the backlog to clear which doesn’t take long, or alternatively, you can use the juicing screen with bigger holes which will prevent the problem occurring in the first place, but resulting in a pulpier juice.  Alternatively using crisp fresh hard apples gives fantastic results. 

The only other disadvantage with this machine is the slower juicing time, but as with the single gear machines, it is the price you have to pay if you want nutritionally superior juice.  The SamsonUltra also has the food processing capabilities of the single gear juicers, but some of the produce can get stuck in the gears which means if you wanted to grind a small amount of nuts for example, you would require slightly more to get the same amount than if you were using a single gear machine.  

This machine also comes with a juice Bowl containing a Bio Ceramic Magnetic System, which apparently allows you to store fresh juice for up to 72 hours.