Fruit and Vegetable Juicers: 2 Main Types

Having a tough time deciding on what kind of fruit and vegetable juicer to purchase or looking to upgrade your current model? 

Since there is such a wide array of juicers available on the market today it pays to consider several variables like the type of produce to be juiced (fruits, vegetables, wheat grass, nut milk, etc.) frequency of juicing, ease of cleaning, and of course price before making your choice.

To keep things simple, lets define the 2 major types of juicers you most likely would considering for home use:  

Centrifugal juicers: these are the most common types of juicing machines you probably see on T.V. and in stores. You push the fruit/veggies though a shoot onto a round steel grater being rotated at high speed to grind the produce into pulp.  Then by using centrifugal force of the spinning, the juice is squeezed through a mesh strainer separating juice from pulp. Various models have different and unique ways of spitting out the leftover pulp fibers.

Centrifugal juicers process most fruits (apples, pears, citrus fruits, pineapple) and vegetables like (carrots, cucumber, celery, beets) but they are not as efficient for juicing leafy greens, berries, wheat grass or any kinds of nuts.

Centrifugal juicers are typically less expensive.  So if you are just a casual juicer, juicing more standard fruits and veggies as primary ingredients this type might be good fit for you.

Auger Juicers (AKA masticating style juicers):  Masticating types of juicers come in single-auger and twin auger configurations ( picture a large fat corkscrew). Masticating means to chew, to grind or knead.  An auger is rotated at much lower speed than a centrifugal juicer gently crushing and grinding the produce to expel the juice.  This typically ends up extracting a larger quantity of juice more efficiently than centrifugal types.

This process produces less heat and less air gets into the finished juice producing less oxidation of vitamins and enzymes.  Some claim that their juice can last longer in the refrigerator as well if you are producing larger quantities.

Auger type juicers are good for juicing fruits, vegetables, leafy greens and many models work well with wheat grass and herbs as well.  Some even can make nut milks and can juice typically harder to juice items like ginger, berries, etc.

One huge advantage most people love is that they are typically easier to clean. Centrifugal models typically run more expensive so you need to weigh the increased cost versus the increase juice output savings if you juice often. 

Now that you know the basic differences between the 2 main types of juicers, we recommend you decide which type fits your personal needs, then further explore within that type for the right model for you and your budget.