I’ve been learning loads about juicing and researching how much fruit you should eat per day, and started looking for a juicer as a convenient way to get my portions in.
I noticed that some of them are called extractors, and wanted to know why.
I did some research and here’s what I found regarding juicers and extractors.
Simply put, a juicer, and an extractor are the same thing. In the juicer industry, an extractor is one component inside a juicer that spins and extracts the juice from the pulp. However, some people use the term extractor to mean a juicer.
As part of doing my research, I wondered whether getting a juicer is worth it, what some of the benefits of juicing are, and which is the best juice extractor to buy.
So, in this article, I will explain the answers to all of the questions.
Are Juice Extractors Worth It?
Juice extractors aren’t super expensive, but I can just buy juice from the store.
So, I wanted to know if they’re worth it, and should I get one?
Generally, juice extractors are worth it. Juice extractors, also called juicers, make delicious juices and smoothies.
You can make juice stand-quality juices and smoothie ingredients from home.
They also give you the ability to make unique recipes that you create or find online.
I used to love getting freshly squeezed juice from the local juice bar. But, they would cost upwards of $5 for a small-sized one.
And it was a bit of back and forward to get the exact ingredients I wanted.
But, with a juice extractor, you can make an extra-large juice smoothie (750 mL) exactly as you want, for around the same price $5.
Based on the average price of fruit being $0.30. One piece of fruit such as an apple makes around 125 mL.
Therefore, you would need around 9 apples to make 750 mL of fresh juice.
And you can also enjoy them everyday from the comfort of your own home.
There are incredibly delicious recipes you can create. One of my personal favorites is cantaloupe, also known as rock mello, with papaya, apple juice, and banana.
For that recipe on top of the juice extractor, you also need a blender. You can use a standard blender that most people have, but the handheld blenders also work really well.
The general procedure to make a smoothie with bananas, or melon is to make the apple juice separately.
After that, you blend the apple juice with the banana, papaya, and cantaloupe.
But, you can also juice the papaya and cantaloupe first as well.
Fresh juice tastes the best
If you were to put 2 glasses of juice side by side – one that is fresh juice, and one that is store-bought – you would easily be able to tell the difference.
Store-bought juices are typically heat-treated to give them a longer shelf life.
But, in the process, it removes a lot of the nutrients and the flavor.
However, it does still have a very pleasant taste.
Other than fresh juice tasting better, there are also other benefits to juicing…
What Are 5 Benefits of Juicing?
So, fresh juice is higher in nutrients, and tastes better but what are some of the other benefits of juicing?
The benefits of juice are:
- Good for quitting sodas
- It’s faster to drink than eating fruit
- Cheaper than buying it from a juice stand
- No artificial flavors
- More delicious than water
When you drink juice rather than fruit you get virtually all the nutrients. Except for the fiber.
It has been scientifically proven that fruit juice contains the same and in some cases slightly higher nutrients than the fruit itself.
The major difference is that juice contains about 5% of the fiber.
It’s important to consume enough fiber because it maintains your digestive health. Interestingly, you can consume fruit juice instead of water.
So, you can kill two birds with one stone by drinking fruit juice. You can consume your recommended daily water intake, as well as other beneficial nutrients.
But, you would still need to consume additional fruit and vegetables to get enough fiber.
And it’s recommended you consume around 5 cups of fruits and vegetables over the course of a day. It seems like quite a lot. But, it works out not being much.
I found that 2 bananas = 1 cup, and 2 apples = 1 cup.
Which Is the Best Juice Extractor To Buy?
Fresh juices and smoothies made from fresh juice are delicious and fun to make.
So, I wanted to know which juice extractor is the best to buy…
Overall at the time of writing, the Hamilton Beach Juicer is the best to buy in my opinion.
It has one of the highest review counts and the highest average review ratings. But, it is cheaper than other juicers with the same reviews and ratings.
Therefore, it’s better, all things considered.
The more reviews a juicer has the more accurate the review rating is.
I also figured that if a juice extractor has sold more then it must be for a reason.
And that as long as the average review is quite high then it’s because of a good reason!
I looked at the number of reviews to see how many units have sold.
As well as, what the average review rating is. Here’s a table that shows the side by side so you can see what I mean:
Juice Extractor | Number of reviews | Average review rating | Price |
Mueller Austria Juicer Ultra Power | 30,820 | 4.3 out of 5 | $75 |
Hamilton Beach Juicer Machine | 18,756 | 4.5 out of 5 | $60 |
Juicer Machines Jocuu Slow Juicer | 3,016 | 4.5 out of 5 | $116 |
The juicers I chose have the most reviews, and I’ve listed them in the order above according to the number of reviews they have.
Due to the law of averages – a known phenomenon in statistics – anything over around 1000 is very accurate.
So, any juicer that has a good average review rating, and over 1000 reviews is a reliable option.
But, most juicers are around the $50 to $100 range, therefore, I chose the ones that are the most popular.
As you see the Hamilton Beach Juicer has the most reviews but is cheaper in price.
And well within the $50 to $100 range.
Therefore, overall I rate the Hamilton Beach Juicer as the best juice.
Click here to buy it on Amazon.
Why are bananas not juiced?
You might have noticed that you never see banana juice sold, even though apple and orange juice are really easy to find. But, why is that?
The structure of bananas doesn’t allow the juice to be extracted.
Bananas contain on average about 15% less water than fruit such as apples and bananas.
Apples are about 86% water, whereas bananas contain about 75% water.
But, the structure of the banana flesh doesn’t allow the liquid to get extracted from the pulp.
The juicer will still allow bananas to go through it, but the whole banana will come out of the juicer as mush.
It has the exact same consistency as baby food.
In fact, you can make all-natural banana ice cream but putting frozen bananas in a juicer.
It’s especially good for people that can’t or doesn’t consume dairy because it tastes virtually the same as dairy but without the cream, milk, and sugar.
But, read the manual of your juicer as some juicers might not be able to handle frozen fruit.
How bananas are used in juices/smoothies
If you want to add banana to juice or smoothie then you need to blend the banana with the juice for around 30 seconds to a minute until the banana is cut into extremely tiny pieces.
When blended with juice such as apple juice the consistency ends up being that of a smoothie.
A general rule of thumb is to use about 3 bananas for every liter (3.4 oz) of smoothie you want to make.
Which Is Better a Juicer or Extractor?
Another common question people have when thinking about getting a juicer is which is better: a juice or an extractor.
Here’s the answer:
Neither a juicer nor an extractor is superior. An extractor is the name of a component in a juicer.
But, the term extractor can be used to mean a juicer.
Therefore, a juicer and a juice extractor are the same things in everyday speech.
A juicer is a broad term.
And you may have used a manual citrus juicer.
They are very common and have a saucer with an area that you grind citrus fruits onto.
Such as orange or lemons.
There are also nutcracker-shaped juicers that you can use for citrus.
Here’s a video showing how one works:
How To Juice A Lemon Properly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAlelDEfkUw
Therefore, they are both technically a juicer.
A juice extractor though is also quite vague technically, a citrus juice like the one above extracts the juice.
But, a juice extractor typically means the part of an electric juicer that spins. As the fruit pulp goes through the first part of the juice it is shredded.
When it gets shredded a good amount of juice comes out and flows out. But, the pulp also drops into a spinning extractor.
As it spins the juice gets ‘sucked out’ by the spinning motion. Similar to how a dog removes water from its coat by shaking itself.
I’m Chris Watson & the Founder of EatForLonger.com. I’m a food and wellbeing enthusiast researching and sharing foodstuffs and simple food-based concepts, such as fasting and clean eating.
I hope it inspires you to make tiny changes to what you eat and when you eat while optimizing your healthspan and all-around well-being.
Read more About Me here.