Last Updated on June 10, 2020 by MakeThingsReal
Juicing is the process of extracting juice from vegetables and fruits. The liquid you remove will contain antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins which help build your immunity, protect you from harmful diseases and is suitable for overall health and wellness.
The juicing trend is not coming to an end anytime soon, and that’s great news for those of us who just joined the health wagon.
If you are new to juicing, then you will want to know how to get the best, most nutritious juice and the best kitchen equipment to aid you in making your juice.
There are different types of juicers in the market, all with their pros and cons and their various uses, the juicer you choose to purchase will depend on the results you want to get.
There are two main categories of juicers; cold-press or masticating juicers and centrifugal juicers. Cold-press juicers are the go-to choice if you want nutritious juice as they preserve the nutritional quality of your vegetables and fruit and stop oxidation from occurring during the juicing process.
An essential feature of these juicers is that they don’t produce heat while their centrifugal counterparts produce heat which tends to damage the vitamins and enzymes in the fruits and vegetables thereby reducing the nutritional quality of the juice.
Masticating juicers also extract more juice than centrifugal juicers which means that your fruits and vegetables won’t go to waste.
An interesting fact about cold-pressed juice is that contains a lot of calories, a lot more than you will consume in a salad. So if you are about to hop on the juicing trend, that’s something to keep in mind.
Cold-pressed juice extracted from the juicer is known to be healthier than pasteurized store-bought juices. Pasteurised juices, unlike cold-pressed juices, are exposed to a lot of heat during the production process, the temperature kills bacteria, but it also damages good vitamins and enzymes.
In a cold-pressed juicer, there’s a hydraulic press that smashes fruit and vegetables which is then bottled and transferred to a large, water-filled. The process of crushing kills disease pathogens meanwhile juice is extracted from the pulp and fiber of the fruits and vegetables.
When you want to purchase a cold-press/masticating juicer, another good thing to consider is the functionality of the product. A juicer that is difficult to operate will leave you frustrated, and you may be tempted to abandon your quest for consuming healthy juice. Luckily, if you purchase your juicer from a reputable brand, it will come with a user manual with clear directions on how to operate your juicer. Good masticating juicers also have the convenient ability to break down large pieces of fruit and vegetables, a handy feature for your coconuts, wheatgrass, broccoli and stale carrots.
Very good masticating juicers tend to have the added advantage of being an incredibly versatile kitchen equipment. It is always a relief to have a one-size-fits-all solution to your culinary problems.
There are various brands of masticating juicers that can function as blender and coffee grinder, butter churner, pasta maker and food homogenizer. Some brands include features and attachments that increase the versatility of the product.
Some of these include; pasta nozzles, mincing nozzles and rice cake nozzles so you can make minced meat and even create frozen desserts like ice cream and sorbets. If you are looking to buy a masticating juicer, you should consider your options and these available features carefully.
A masticating juicer is an efficient equipment and saves you time and energy. A good juicer will have a pulp collection system, so you don’t have to empty the pulp bin every minute. The Juicers also come with a feeding chute that is wide enough contain even big pieces of fruit and vegetables, so you won’t have to go the trouble of dicing or chopping the fruits and vegetables. Another significant advantage of cold-pressed juicers is that You can also expect that the quality of juice extracted will be good, froth, pulp, foam free and incredibly nutritious.
Cold-pressed juicers are slower than centrifugal juicers, so if you are rushing out early in the morning, starting your juicer at the last minute may not be a good idea. It takes about five minutes to extract a cup of juice which isn’t so bad, a centrifugal juicer may be faster, but if you pick it over a masticating juicer, you will be forfeiting quality for speed.
An advantage of the low speed of the masticating juicer is that it does not make a lot of noise, you do not want a loud whirring noise first thing in the morning.
Masticating juicers are usually made out of two materials; plastic and stainless steel. It is advisable to go for stainless steel juicers for several reasons. If you are conscious of your environment and health, you do not want a plastic juicer. Stainless steel juicers are also far more durable than plastic juicers; they are easier to clean and maintain.
Good masticating juicers can also be assembled and disassembled for easy cleaning and maintenance; they have dishwasher-safe parts and other features that encourage easy maintenance. A considerable disadvantage to maintaining cold-pressed juicers is that cleaning the juicer can be time-consuming. The process of disassembling the juicer, wiping some parts and popping other components in the dishwasher will take more than a few minutes.
Cold-pressed juicers are usually more expensive than centrifugal juicers. If you plan to buy a cold-pressed/masticating juicer, know that it is an investment and you may have to loosen your purse-strings a little to get a good juicer. The high-end brands can cost upwards of 600 GBP, but if you can’t spare that much for a juicer, more budget-friendly options work just as well.
