Juicing most likely seems to be more “work” than it really is. It’s not completely necessary to have every little gadget juice gurus are pushing out there.

You do not have to buy “superfood” seeds, powders, vitamins or extracts. Your vegetables, fruits and herbs being juiced ARE superfoods.

A vegetable wash spray can be made at home, boom vinegar and lemon juice boom ;-)! If you are using organic produce and are using a vegetable brush to wash your goodies I personally think that’s enough right there. The sprays, supplements, oils and other things out there right now are to just sell products and are not honestly for our health.

So for juice prep, wash your vegetables

Make sure your juicer is not moldy

Cut your produce on a cutting board that you have treated with coconut oil or olive oil

Try to use as much local and or organic produce as possible

Please wash your produce even if it’s boxed kale or so forth

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I’ve been asked oodles of times about juicers especially in the last month or so, they truly do make excellent holiday gifts. I want to share some basic information, the bones and facts about juicers. Then I will share with you all the juicer I have and some recommendations. But for the most part people who juice have their preferred brand, just like some people prefer Starbucks VS Dunkin Donuts or Toyota over Ford. I’d rather give you the information, and you decided which is best for your personal needs, budget, and so forth. I have TONS and TONS of juice recipes on my site and in several posts I have gone over cleaning juicers also. Most machines will come with a cleaning guide and some sort of cleaning brush. Please never put your machine, any of the parts and so on in a dish washer.

Currently the juicer machines that we are all seeing everywhere; Bed Bath & Beyond, Macy’s etc are centrifugal juicers. This isn’t a terrible machine, it’s affordable, easy to clean except for the metal mesh looking cup but a brush will take care of that. My major concern with this machine is that the juice is oxidizing rather quickly, meaning this juicer isn’t ideal to make a juice that will sit around. I personally feel like ordering a centrifugal juice at a juice bar is a waste of my money, but yes in social circumstances I will end up buying one any who.

Centrifugal juicers make things quick, easy, fast and cheap…this isn’t exactly how our bodies, nutrition and personal value should be seen. Almost always they are upright in design and the food is being chopped rapidly in a spinning mesh chamber with sharp teeth on its floor. The teeth shred the food into a pulp, and the centrifugal motion pulls the juice out of the pulp and through the mesh filter, where it is funneled out of the juicer.

Of course, picking a juice from this juicer over eating processed foods or foods that are not plant based is a better choice. Centrifugal juicers also leave behind a lot of foam, depending on what you are juicing it’s most likely at least an inch of foam per drink (around a 12oz drink). The pulp from this juicer isn’t exactly pulp either, it’s very moist and could go through the juicer at least one more time and still have juice being produced from it. 

I personally would never put wheatgrass through a machine like this, it isn’t meant to handle something this strong. Herbs like parsley and cilantro end up being shot right into the pulp bin since this blade is moving so quickly is doesn’t pick up an ingredient that is so small and thin.

A Jack LaLanne, Breville, Juiceman…these are all centrifugal machines. I personally started off with one of this to make sure that I would stick to juicing, I would actually juice and enjoy the process. Once I realized I was pretty serious about it and juicing was part of my lifestyle it was time to upgrade. I sold my old juicer and with the money I used it towards purchasing something that was truly an investment. I will most likely have this juicer for the rest of my lifetime just like many of the other kitchen appliances I have purchased.

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Masticating juicers move at a much slower pace, not as much produce can be put in the machine at once, and the items are literally twisted. They are horizontal in design with a tube containing the auger (a plastic piece no metal) extends out of motorized base. Pieces of fruits and vegetables are pushed into the top of the machine, and they are squeezed by the juicer. Juice drains out of the underside of the tube, while the pulp is squeezed out at the end of the tube.

The slower twisting and squeezing action produces juices that will last much longer than juice made in a centrifugal juicer, which should be consumed right away as it starts losing nutrients nearly immediately. Masticating juicers are pricier than centrifugal models; starting at around $230 for most models. Some of the brands to look for are Champion, Omega, Lexen, Samson and Green Star. These slow juicers extract even more nutrients and juice than existing masticating models.

I personally own an Omega J8006, it’s extremely easy to clean, it can do wheatgrass, the noise from the machine isn’t nearly as loud as the Jack LaLanne juicer I started off with. I always leave my juicer on my kitchen counter, cleaned, set up, and ready for me to juice away.

I have YouTube videos showing this juicer producing my meal for anyone interested in seeing this machine in action 😉

If anyone is interested I can do a video showing how to assemble the juicer and I can go over each part of the machine. I’m not sure if this sounds boring? But it’s educational and might help those feeling lost or intimated by a juicing machine.

Please leave me a comment or send me an email at livinggirllivingfoods@gmail.com if there is something more you would like me to go over.

Thank you all oodles for taking the time to stop by my site and read my jibber jabber. Wishing you all a magical holiday week! Much love ❤ and raw power 😉

Jess