Today I used my Green Star 3000 to make mainly a vegetable juice. My juice recipe for today consisted of:

• 2 big leaves of kale
• 3 carrots
• 1 green apple
• 1/4 of a beet
• 1″ of ginger
• 20 dandelion greens

The Green Star 3000 juices all these easily. I like this juicer a lot and oddly enough one of the things I like best about it is the handle. Some juicers, like the Champion, are awkward to move around. That fact alone does not exactly motivate you to pull the juicer out to use. But the Green Star juicer and similar twin gear juicers like the Green Power Kempo are easy to move.

First step I did was to wash all the produce and then cut it up into smaller pieces. Most all the best juicers on the market have small feeder chutes. Therefore to get the best yield and to ensure the mechanical process of juicing is more successful it is best to cut the produce up. This works great but does take a few more minutes.

I also removed the apple seeds today. Some days I do remove them and some I don’t. The seeds contain a low level of cyanogenic acids. The body can handle and detoxify low levels of this poison but I don’t drink it every day. Most people remove the apples seeds to stay clear of the problem.

After the prep work was done I just fed the different vegetables and the apple slices through the juicer. Everything juiced up easily in the juicer.

My final yield of juice was about a cup of juice. Looks like about half a glass of juice, which I think is plenty of fresh juice at one time. Juice from dark leafy greens is really good for you but I have some trouble with my stomach if I drink too much at one time. Therefore, I try to only drink about half a glass. This could be the best juicer for leafy greens just because the twin gear mechanism is thorough and a little faster than the single auger juicers.

You will notice there is a fair amount of foam in the glass as there is in the juice container. That just happens to some degree with all the juicers I’ve ever tried. It seems related to the kind of produce I’m juicing as well as the process of juicing itself. There is a huge debate about it because the foam suggests that oxidation is present sooner. More of the juice is exposed to oxygen and thereby begins to decompose so you will lose micro-nutrients and live enzymes sooner. Smaller bubbles are more damaging because they have a larger surface area and expose more juice to oxygen. You can see plenty of large bubbles here with the Green Star juice extractor, which is better.

Overall I think if you drink the juice within a short period of time after making it you will receive plenty enough nutrients to make your juicing effort worthwhile. I don’t worry about it much. I also never store juice in the refrigerator. I simply make what I’m going to drink at that moment.

This juicer is very effective in its juicing process.  The pulp is super dry.  I hardly get any more juice out of that pulp if I run it through the juicer again.  (Click on the photo with the pulp for a more detailed look.  You can click on any of the photos to get a larger picture.)

Cleaning the Green Star 3000 is easy. There are a few more parts than my all-time favorite juicer, the Omega 8003 juicer, but it is still quick and easy to clean.  I use a little kitchen brush that looks like a toothbrush to clean the twin gear grooves out.

A couple of notes… The numbers associated with Green Star juicers, the 3000, 2000 or 1000, pertain to the different sets of accessories the juice extractors come with. The Green Star juicer machines are the entire same one except for their Green Star Elite juicer, which is a separate machine.

The Green Power Kempo juicer or the Green Power juicers are a different company. At least they appear to be.  I find it a bit confusing but this article tells the twin gear juicer history pretty well.  Most people like these juicers too. However, I am more inclined to recommend the Green Star juicers by Tribest because parts are easy to get and the model appears more prevalent here in the states. I imagine it is an easier juice machine to get fixed too if you need to do that but I doubt you will. I just trust the company more to stick around and be there if I need help. That is strictly my gut feeling based on Tribest’s internet presence too. It also means that if you decide to sell your green star juicer, the resale value is liable to be better.

And a final note… The Green Star juicers are upgraded from the Green Life juicer. In other words, the Green Star is the Green Life upgraded and renamed. So if you see a Green Life juicer for sale, it is older but if you can get it cheap enough, still a good buy.
The Green Star 3000 juicer is the one I own and I never use all the attachments.

To more thoroughly explore the benefits of juicing, I’ve decided to keep a running blog of the fresh raw juices I make each day. I’ll be experimenting with juicer recipes I find in books. However, I most often just combine whatever I have that is in the refrigerator.

I’m going to try to video some as well as just take photos of the juicing process. In this way, I’ll be able to give running demonstrations of the different juicers I have and note any revelations I discover about them. I hope that this as well as my juicer reviews will help people decide on the best juicer to buy.

Today I’m making a carrot, apple, kale, beet, and ginger juice with my Omega 8003 juicer. Still my favorite for best juicer to buy. I feel for the money the Omega juice extractor is hard to beat. It is easy to use. There are not many parts to it. It is the fastest juicer to clean. The juicer is quiet. In addition, it is the best juicer for leafy like kale and wheatgrass you will find for under $250.

Today in my juicing recipe, I will juice:

• 1 apple
• 4 carrots
• 1 piece of ginger about the size of the first digit of your thumb.
• 1/6 of a medium sized beet
• 3 large leaves of kale

I first wash all the vegetables and apple in the sink and lightly scrubbed them. I prefer to cut the ends off the carrots but if they have the green tops, I would leave those on. The apple is cut up so it will fit down the juicer feeder chute. I also remove the seeds. Sometimes I do this sometimes I do not. The seeds have a minute trace of toxin in them so I do not juice them every day. The beet is cut up and I will only use a small portion of it for this juicer recipe. Raw beets take some getting used to. They taste a little dirty on their own but the apple and carrot will sweeten it up. I also cut a small piece of ginger up. The benefits of juicing ginger is it said to be good for digestion. I like it. Ginger gives the juice a kick. The kale is washed and for this juice, I use three large leaves.

I start with the carrots. These are not large carrots but more of a medium size. The Omega 8003 juice extractor chews these up but you do have to push firmly. The auger on the Omega is not sharp at its edges. Cutting the carrots up into smaller pieces works better but I was in a hurry today.

The single auger works well and the carrots are thoroughly juiced up.

I fed the beets and ginger into the juicer next and they were readily gobbled up. This juicer is excellent at juicing hard or dense vegetables. I believe this machine to be the best masticating juicer available but you will have to make that choice for you. It chews and mashes produce up but the juice is extracted in a more gentle way than other competing masticating juicers.

The kale needs to be cut up into smaller pieces to work well with this juicer. You will have problems fitting it in the chute if you don’t cut it up some. You will see in one of my other videos that I make the mistake of not cutting up the kale. Even the Green Star 3000 juicer works better when kale is cut into smaller pieces. That juicer will often pull leafy greens right through it unless the leaves are too big. However, once you feed the kale into the Omega juicer chute it does an excellent job or processing the kale leaf.

When I was done, I had about a cup and a third of juice. The beet tends to make it a brown but it still tasted good because the apple and carrots sweeten it.

While I was making this juice, I also chewed on another carrot I had. That way I got a little fiber and it started the enzyme creating process in my mouth. To receive the benefits of juicing it is best swish the juice around in your mouth for 30 seconds or eat something with the juice. Some juices can be a little harsh on an empty stomach for some people.

This isn’t a full on demo or review but it does give an example of how the Green Star Juice Extractor GS1000 makes what is called, “real orange juice.”  Real orange juice is supposed to have the pith left on when you make it.  The pith has more vitamin C and bioflavonoids.  There is also fiber in the pith.  I decided to start to juice oranges often because I have an orange tree and I get kidney stones.  Some people feel that you can cut down your chances of kidney stones by drinking fresh orange juice.  Some say that lemons are better.  There is so much conflicting information I don’t know who to believe.  So I’m experimenting on myself.  And I’m using this Green Star GS1000 Juicer to make the orange juice because it does it very well.

Also, there is some information and studies that the orange pith if you swallow a certain amount, can cause bezoars.  Bezoars are balls of undigested matter and can cause some serious problems.  I have a PDF on my site about.  I don’t know if juicing oranges with the pith discharges enough of the pith to not be a problem.  I don’t know if you really just get bezoars from eating and not chewing the pith.  Some people say the pith is a soluble fiber and others say it is insoluble.  There is so much conflicting information.  Use your own common sense is your best answer.

I bought a JE95xl Breville juicer earlier this year and shot some video of it.  Still haven’t gotten down to editing the video and rewriting the review.  I have to say I really like this machine even though it is a centrifugal.  The juice quality and juice yield might be less but for carrot juice it saves a lot of time.  I’ve been using it to quickly buzz through carrots, apples and ginger.  It is very fast and loud.  Kind of fun because of that.  One really nice simple feature is the splash-proof juice container that comes with it.  the spout loads into the container that has a lid.  It works great.  When I used just a glass and had the spout empty into that, juice drops spattered my kitchen counter.


Overall, I’m very impressed with the workmanship and materials used in this juicer.  The blades and filter basket are solid.  The sound of the juicing machine is solid.  It will probably last a very long time.  I can’t believe anyone after trying one of these Breville juicers out would even consider a Jack Lalanne power juicer of Juiceman juicer.  Those just don’t even compare to this and this machine is just a couple bucks more.

Full video and review coming soon!

The je95xl Breville is a good inexpensive centrifugal juicer.

The Breville je95xl juicer is sturdy and well made.

The filter basket is well made and not filmsy like the Jack Lalanne power juicer's basket is.

The spout empties into a juice container with a splash proof lid.

I bought a magic bullet juicer a couple weeks ago because people kept asking me about it and I was curious.  I’m in the process of doing a full review but I slapped this quick video together  Magic Bullet Juicer

This device is actually a little blender and not a true juicer.  I truly thought it was going to suck but I’m actually really liking it.  So far I’ve only made smoothies and ground some coffee with it.  I plan to cut up some carrots and try to juice those but I’m not expecting that to be too successful.

Some people prefer blending fruits and vegetables instead of juicing them.  They feel the fiber you get blending the produce is too valuable to waste.  I get that and sometimes I do blend instead of juice.  But the nutrition you get from juicing gets absorbed much faster into your body because there is not fiber to slow down the digestion.  Most of the time that is what I want.  I’ll eat a couple bites of fruit or vegetables to start the enzymes flowing into my stomach and to get some of the fiber.  Then I’ll drink the juice and that seems to work great for me.

This little blender juicer might be fine for getting a quick little glass of blended juice.  But I’ll have to review it further to find out if it works well for that.  It definitely does a fine job of making smoothies and grinding coffee.  Check out my quick video review to see Magic Bullet in action.

I started quest for the best juice extractor and website initially because I knew I needed to take better care of my health.  I needed a way to get more fruit and vegetables into my diet since I knew I wasn’t eating enough of them.  Unfortunately, as it turns out, I waited a bit too long to do this.

In a 5 month period I had several healthy scares or instances of unpleasantness.

I started losing weight quickly and my abdomen hurt when I ate.  In November of 2008 I first had my appendix removed.  It was done laparoscopically for which they filled my abdomen up with gas which is why it is so bloated. I don’t normally look like this.  In addition, they saved off all my stomach hair which was weird.

About December 2008 I started to feel crappy again and I was having the same kind of pain I had before the appendix was removed.  And the pain was in the same area. Plus the weight loss was still happening.   After about a month and a half of testing I finally had a colonoscopy done.  A tumor about the size of a ping-pong ball was found in my colon at the hepatic flexure.  Three days later on February 15, 2009 I found myself in the emergency room where I had a third of my colon removed.  The surgery is called a right hemicolectomy.  It seems that not only did I have the tumor but I also had intussusception happening.  This is where the colon actually was growing over itself or sleeving itself.  At this point I had dropped from 172 lbs to about 145 lbs.

Within another month I started to feel that something was wrong again.  After a couple of days where I felt like I had a fever and my lower back hurt, one evening I ended up dropping to the floor in pain.  I passed out for a couple hours but when I awoke I felt odd.  Every time I went to the bathroom things just didn’t feel right.  I started a whole new array of testing.  It took about a month and I finally passed a kidney stone that was about ¼ inch long.

During the testing for the what turned out to be the kidney stone it was discovered I had a hernia.  So the first week of June 2009 I went in for a hernia surgery.  This actually turned out to be the most painful for some reason.  The surgery didn’t hurt so much.  The recovery was rough though.  It was harder to move around due to the location of the wound from the hernia than the previous operations were.  And I made a bad mistake by not prepping properly before surgery.  I should have eaten nothing but vegetables and fibrous foods at least 3 days before surgery.  Reason being that everything needs to be able to pass through you easily after surgery.  I believe the anesthesia tends to clog you up and because you can’t push due to the location of the hernia wound, going to the bathroom is brutal.  Enough said.

So it has been an interesting year.  I guess I should have started using my Omega 8003 juicer sooner.

I was just looking at the Oscar Vital Max 900 and noticed that it seems to be almost the exact machine as the Omega 8003 and 8005 juicers.  (Which by the way are now the Omega 8004 and 8006 juicers.)  The motor bodies look the same.  The feeder assemblies look the same.  Even the majority of the accessories that come with the two models appear to be the same.

I know that the Omega VRT330 and the Hurom Slow Juicer are made in the same factory and are practically the same machine with just different brand names and different housings.   (If you haven’t seen one of these vertical juicers yet, you need to check them out.  They are very cool.  See my previous post for a photo.)  The Oscar Vital Max 900 and the Omega 8003/8004/8005/8006 juicers might also be made under similar conditions.  I haven’t been able to find out.

Either way, any of these juicers will work well for you.  My personal favorite the Omega 8003 juicer has now been upgraded to model number 8004.  The only real difference is a handle design change.  An auger that is 8 times stronger has been added and a 5 year extended warranty.  The warranty now runs a total of 15 years on the motor.  I’m not sure that the 8003 needed any of these adjustments.  I preferred the old handle more than the new one.  But in most cases things evolve for a reason.

In thinking about this further, I would probably still purchase an Omega over an Oscar for one main reason.  I can easily identify the Omega Company online.  I know where it is and know where I can get parts or help with a warranty.  The Oscar juicers seem to have some vagueness to who makes them.  At one point Samson was involved and took over the name.  However, when I go online and look up Oscar juicers or Oscar Vital Max 900 I get different sites that just seem to be selling them.  And the juicers look like they have different labels on them.  I’m not sure what to make of it but I personally would go with the Omega because of this unknown.

The Oscar Vital Max 900 seems to have fewer attachments. There are only two in this photo. All the other parts look identical to the Omega 8003 juicer. No brush or pulp strainer in this photo. Not sure if you get those or not with this model.

The Omega 8003 juicer comes with a pulp screen and the other four attachments for making pasta and other things.  I never use any of these attachments.  I’m strictly into the machine for the juicing.

There is an intriguing newer development in the single auger juicer. The vertical single auger juicer seems to be all the rage. Instead of the typical horizontal design the auger is set in a vertical position. The pulp is extracted and ejected right next to where the juice is released. It looks like a pretty cool design.

I’ve seen two brands on the market so far but there might be others. The Omega VRT330 juicer and the Hurom Slow Juicer both appear to have similar specifications. Both turn at about 80rpm and weigh about 20 pounds. But the Omega is a few bucks more than the Hurom. They both run about $100 more than the regular horizontal style juicers.

The biggest appeal to me with these juicers is the smaller area they take up on the counter. I do wonder if the pulp ejection tube is far enough away from the juice delivery tube. They seem awfully close.

Like all single auger juicers these new vertical juicers can juice wheatgrass and other leafy green vegetable very well. I’ve found some claims that they juice fruit much better than other auger juicers but I tend to doubt this. I’m sure they are about the same.

Anyway, I haven’t tried one out yet. It will probably be a while before I get a chance to. If I had to pick which one I’d get right now without knowing anything more about these juicers, I’d take the Omega. I am very impressed with Omega as a company. But I have to say Hurom does look pretty good and they have some excellent comparison videos to show off their machine. Yeah, that’s a hard call right now. I think either would be good. That’s my first take.

This is part 2 of my Omega 8003 juicer review on video.  In this video you witness the Omega 8003 juicing more vegetables of different densities.  You can see how well it juices leafy greens like spinach and parsley which most juicers don’t do well at all.  The slow moving auger of this juicer is perfect for this kind of stuff.  It crushes the produce gently and slowly into the juicing cone.  The video shows this process up close.  I just love this machine.  It is not a fast juicing machine and you do spend a little more time with prep but it is worth it because the juice yield is higher.  And the juice quality is better because the vegetables and fruit aren’t shredded to bits but instead are slowly crushed.  Many feel this process is better for extracting the juice from the vegetable walls and I tend to agree with that.

If you compare this juice extractor with the others I’ve done videos on, I think you’ll see why it is the best choice.

I’ve got a Jack Lalanne juicer, a Breville Juice Fountain Plus JE95xl juicer and a Green Star gs1000 juicer videos

I finally finished my video review of the Omega 8003 juicer.  This is Part 1.  This is by far the best juicer I’ve come across so far.  It is able to juice everything well and especially leafy green vegetables like kale, spinach, parsley and beet greens.  I’m impressed with the workmanship, the 10 year warranty and how easy this juicer is to use.  As you can see in Part 2 (coming soon) of my juicer video reviews it is the fastest to clean as well.  Also I doubt there is a quieter juicer on the market. 

This is a juicer that will last forever and is priced just right for a serious machine.  It is a $100 more than a Jack Lalanne juicer and a lot better quality than those which don’t last and aren’t very well made.  The same price as a Champion juicer which would be a bad purchase to make in my opinion because the machine doesn’t work that well. (See my video reviews of that.  You’ll be shocked.  I was.)   And it is $200 less than a Green Star gs 1000 twin gear juicer and easier to clean.  (See my video on the Green Star juicer in a couple weeks.)