Masticating juicers rely on chopping, grinding and crushing to extract the juice from fruits and vegetables. Even within this group of juicers, there are in fact different sub-groups. There are horizontal single gear masticating appliances, horizontal twin gear masticating juicers and vertical single gear masticating units. The three masticating juicer reviews I have written are:
Omega J8006: horizontal single gear
Omega VRT350HD: vertical single gear
Green Star GS-1000: horizontal twin gear
You might also enjoy this piece I wrote comparing the Omega VRT350HD and the Omega J8006 if you are not sure which would suit you best.
Below is a picture of the parts of a single gear (auger) juicer.
Features of note include:
- Narrow entry chute (1″ – 1.5″)
- Hard plastic auger (GE Ultem is the best)
- Long warranty period (at least 5 years – the Omega J8006 comes with a 15 year warranty)
This style of juicer operates at much lower speeds than centrifugal juicers. They treat the produce they juice, more gently. This results in less air being forced into the liquid that is extracted and oxidation, which is to be expected, occurs more slowly. In other words, a masticating juicer can be said to produce a healthier drink than centrifugal juicer. An explanation of the process in Scientific American states:
chemical compounds in the fruit are oxidized when the skin of the fruit–and hence the walls and membranes of the cells within the fruit–is ruptured, allowing oxygen in. These compounds react with oxygen, usually incorporating it into their molecular structure. Many of the resulting oxidized organic compounds have a brown color. Citric acid is very easily oxidized and can be used to scavenge oxygen to keep the fruit from turning brown. This is why, for instance, sliced apples will remain white for a much longer time if they are first dipped in lemon juice.
In my experience, the juice that comes out of this style of machine is thicker than from the centrifugal units. This does depend on the types of things that I juice though. For example, running oranges through my Omega J8006, it comes out not pulpy, but thick. So there are certainly times where the best juicer for the job might be a different style machine.
The beauty of investing in a masticating juicer though is that they have lots of different uses. The Omega J8003 – J8006 range of units are able to extract the juice from wheatgrass, grind coffee, make sauces/salsas, extrude pasta, create nut butters and make frozen desserts and baby food. Their versatility is certainly a plus point for me.
Some other models in this range include the Omega 8004 Juicer And Nutrition Centre, Champion 2000+, Kuvings GMPD3530U Multi-Purpose Masticating Juicer, Green Power Kempo GPT-E1304 (twin-gear), Hurom HU-100 Slow Juicer (vertical). Spend some time looking at Youtube video juicer reviews as these “live demonstrations” help to give you a great idea of how the different machines function.