Which is Best Centrifugal Juicer for you? Did you know there are two types?
Centrifugal juice extractors are the fastest juicing machines on the market. The fruit and vegetables are fed into a feeder tube which delivers them onto a spinning grater blade. This shreds the produce up and then spins this pulp around in a basket whereby the juice is separated from the shredded pulp using centrifugal force.
When you compare juicers, you find there are two types of centrifugal juicers . One keeps the pulp just outside the spinning mesh basket and you have to manually remove it periodically before juicing more. An example of this would be the Omega 1000 juicer. The other type ejects the pulp from the basket automatically into a removable pulp container. An example of this would be the Breville Juice Fountain Plus juicer. Most people use the self ejecting machines because it makes for a continuous juicing process. However, I've found you still have to pull the pulp out of the ejecting juicers sometimes if you feed in a lot of stringy and fibrous produce too fast. And the ejecting juicers tend to be the loudest juice extractors available.
Regular centrifugal juice extractorSelf ejecting juice extractor
The Braun Mp80 juice extractor I bought is a self ejecting juicer and I thought the best centrifugal machine for the money at the time I bought it. It has been an excellent entry for me into the world of juicing. The machine is a good solid juicer even though it has some short comings. None of those short comings overshadow the fact that for the money I still feel it was quite a bargain. Here is a breakdown of the positive and negative things I've experienced with this juicer.
Check out this video I did of the Braun juicer below. It will demostrate how the juicer is put together and taken apart. Plus it shows it juicing various fruit and vegetables. Also a quick look at what is involved in cleaning it. Overall it will give you a feel for what the centrifugal juicers are like and you can compare it with the Champion and Omega videos for a better juicer comparison.
Positive features of this Braun juicer:
I've had it for 15 years with no motor issues. It is very solidly constructed.
The 250 watt motor is strong enough to cover most jobs.
This juicer is fast. I use it mainly for carrots, celery, ginger, apples and other fruit when I'm in a hurry.
It's smaller in size and in my opinion moderately easy to clean up. It is not as easy to clean as my Omega 8003 juicer.
This type juicer is a great way to start juicing if you haven't done it before because you can juice a lot of fruit and vegetables with it.
This juicer was inexpensive at under $100.
Negative features of this centrifugal juicer:
It's loud. Definitely not to use early in the morning or late at night if you have neighbors.
The pulp of some fruit when ejected comes out wet. This means the juicer is not as effective as some others because it's getting less juice yield from the produce. Pineapple is especially soggy.
You do have to clean the pulp out of the basket every once in a while or the juice can't get through the screen. Plus it will eject pulp too early that hasn't been properly stained.
I don't really know if this is a negative but I learned you can't leave citrus pulp on mesh basket for long or the acid in the citrus will eat away the metal meshed basket. Don't get lazy like I was and ever leave pulp in your juicer for a day just because you are in a hurry.
The juice can sometimes be pulpy but I don't mind that. If I did, I would strain it with a strainer.
The feeder tube is small so I have to cut the produce up. However, the chute is the right size for the motor. If it was larger, the machine at 250 watts would bog down. Nowadays centrifugal juicers like the Breville juicers have big mouth chutes where you can fit a whole apple down them. They also have 1000 watt motors.
The juice does get foamy which mean oxidation is taking place more quickly with this extractor than say the Omega 8003 juicer. (Read more about juice oxidation.)
I don't think Braun makes this juicer anymore so finding parts might be more difficult. I've had to buy several of the baskets and luckily found them. However, I haven't had to buy one in a while so I'm not sure how available they are now.
For the money I paid for this juicer, I felt it has served me well.
Unfortunately, like I said, it doesn't appear Braun makes this juicer anymore which is a shame. However, I don't think I'd buy one now even if I could find one. There are better juicers on the market currently with newer technology. For a few bucks more than what I paid you can get a much better machine.
After doing a lot of research I can tell you I'm definitely not interested in Jack Lalanne's power juicer or any of the Juiceman juicer models. There are too many conflicting reports in home juicer comparisons about quality of workmanship on those and I just plain don't want to deal with any doubts. After reading enough of those negative juicer reviews, I decided the next machine I buy will be from a company that gets reviews as good as their products. That's why I'm thinking I would like a L'equip Mini Model 110.5, Breville Juice Fountain Compact BJE200XL or the Breville Juice Fountain Professional Juice Extractor Plus JE-95XL.
The L'equip model is about 600 watts and a pulp ejecting model. That's almost three times more powerful than my Braun. It also has a stainless steel bowl to prevent staining and it easy to clean. It comes with a 6 year warranty which is awesome. Anything over 2 years in a warranty is decent. This is a smaller model and I'm also looking at their L'equip big mouth 215 XL pulp ejector model juicer. It's not much more money and has more power as well as the larger feed chute.
I feel pretty good about all of Breville's centrifugal juicers too. The two juicers I'm considering are smaller ones and come in around $100 or so. The Breville BJE200xl is not a self ejecting model and doesn't need to spin as fast because of that. Chances are the juice quality is a little better than the faster spinning ejector juicers. It's pretty quiet for a centrifugal too. The Juice Fountain Plus JE-95xl is an pulp ejector model. Breville's bigger fancier machines are a more expensive but all the models are high quality. They get good reviews continuously and that creates peace of mind. They have bigger motors and bigger feeder tubes. The one bummer is they seem to have a limited warranty. The warranty is for a year. That may not be bad since I haven't found any comments about them breaking down ever.
Anyone of the L'equip or Breville machines will make a fine replacement for my old Braun Mp80 when I get ready to let it go.
Check back here soon as I'll be purchasing one of these juicers myself and making a video of it soon.
