Juicer Comparison - Masticating Juicer, Twin Gear Juicer, Single Gear Juicer

Here are described different types of juicers: Centrifugal Juicers, Centrifugal Ejection Juicers, Masticating Juicers, Manual Press Juicers, Single Gear Juicers, Dual Stage Single Gear Juicers and Twin Gear Juicers. Each type has some specific properties and different method of juice extraction. You can use this juicer comparison to find the type of juicer that fits your needs.

We are also providing a list of Top 10 Juicers. You should understand this list only as information about the most popular and widely used juicers. The Top 10 Juicers website does not endorse any specific juicer. However, it is a good idea to check those popular juicers and make a personal juicer comparison. This is the best way to find the juicer that best fits your needs. Another resource is the Top 10 Juicer best sellers page from the Top 10 Catalog.

Because fruits have cells with soft walls they need some gentle method of juice extraction. From some fruits like pear, pineapple, apples, etc. juice can be extracted even if the fruit is not peeled. Unfortunately, the same does not apply to citrus fruits (limes, lemons, oranges, grapefruit) because they have bitter outer peel. The easiest way is to remove the outer colored peel and leaving the white "pith". Citrus fruits contain also pectin which is usually used as a gelling agent in various foods and drinks, but because it is also soluble fiber it is used in high cholesterol diets. Of course, the most popular method to squeeze juice out of citrus fruit is to use the "reamer" style citrus juicer. Be aware of the oxidation - carrot or apple juice will became brown after a while. You should also understand that juices that are sold in stores will never oxidize because they were heated to destroy all the enzymes. Enzymes are one of the reasons why freshly squeezed juice is so healthy.

Unlike fruits which has soft cell walls, vegetables have pretty tough and fibrous cell walls. Because of this juicers for vegetable use more aggressive methods to extract the juice out. Vegetable juices have low levels of acid components. Therefore they must be consumed immediately after the squeezing. It is also worth mentioning that enzyme activity significantly drops only half an hour after juice extraction.

Centrifugal juicers were one of the first juicers. The juicer works by rotating the produce at a high speed in a shredder disk (drum). The drum walls keep the pulp while the juice from the shredded produce is released and because of centrifugal forces it extracted out of the rotating disk to be collected in a container. Because the pulp stays in the machine the juicer must be stopped after a while to clean the rotating disk. Centrifugal juicers can be used for most fruits and vegetables.

Centrifugal ejection juicer operates almost exactly the same as normal centrifugal juicer with the exception of the "self cleaning" feature. The sides of the rotating disk (basket) are slightly slanted to allow the pulp to be ejected out of the rotating basket (usually to a separate container). Because the pulp is in the basket for a very short time the basket needs to spin very fast (6000 rpm or more), faster than is needed for conventional centrifugal juicers (about 3500 rpm). Because of the high speed the juicer is very noisy. Some juicers have a large feeder (about 7 cm in diameter) which allows to extract juice from large pieces of fruit without any cutting. Centrifugal ejection juicers can be used for most fruits and vegetables. They are pretty easy to use and very easy to clean.

Masticating juicer masticates the pulp to break down cell walls and then the pulp is squeezed to extract the juice. Masticating juicers usually use slow turning motors. They can be used to extract juice from almost any type of fruit or vegetable. Masticating juicers can also be used to make baby food or nut butter. It is also possible to make ice cream deserts from frozen fruits.

Manual press juicers use pressure to squeeze the juice out of the fruits or vegetables. There are two types of the squeezing mechanism: one uses leverages while the other uses hydraulics. Some juicers include also grating unit. Manual press juicers produce pulp free juices which usually pass through cloth. This type of juicer is recommended for soft fruits. This type of juice extraction also causes the least oxidation of all methods.

The juice in single gear juicers (or single auger juicers) is extracted by a single auger which crushes the produce into the walls. This juicer runs at low speeds and thus causes little oxidation. Single gear juicers were used to juice wheatgrass but now can be used also for other vegetables and fruits, although they are not the best fruit juicers.

Works exactly like the single gear juicer above but has also a second stage where the crushed produce is further squeezed to get more juice.

Twin gear juicers have two gears to extract the juice out of the fruits or vegetables including wheatgrass. The produce is squeezed into two slowly rotating screws where it is shredded and then squeezed. Twin gear juicers work best with fibrous vegetables and are widely used for wheat grass juicing. They are more expensive than other juicer types (e.g. centrifugal juicers or mastication juicers) but the juice quality compares to the juice from hydraulic press juicers. Twin gear juicers can also be used to make fruit sorbets, nut butters, or baby food.

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