Multi-Purpose or Dedicated Juicer

Do you compromise efficiency by choosing a multipurpose juicer over a dedicated juicer?  There are so many kinds of juicers to choose from, one thing you might want to consider is what you expect it to do.  If you want it to do everything you might be sacrificing the efficiency of the machine.  Why do I say this?  Because it is hard to build a machine that will do everything and do it well.

I have some nieces and nephews who grew up in a Spanish speaking country.  Those individuals are bilingual.  Do they excel in both the Spanish and English languages?  No.  They speak them well, but they are not outstanding in either language.  We used to have a car that would run on regular gasoline or natural gas.  Did we get the best mileage on both fuels?  No, we did not.  We got a pretty good gas milage and a pretty good natural gas mileage, but not the best.  It is hard to take one engine and all the little parts that go on them to make a car run, and adjust them to work the best with two different fuels.  You have a compromise in gas mileage to get the convenience of the dual fuel.  The same is true with kitchen machines like juicers and blenders as well.

You will never get the best performance in a juicer that will do fruits, vegetables, grasses and greens, as well as make peanut butter, pasta, baby food and grind herbs.  That doesn't mean that those machines are bad.  It does mean that if you want to just juice wheat grass juice you will get better performance by getting a dedicated wheat grass juicer.


 If you want to juice oranges, or other citrus, you will get a better product and more of it with a better flavor, by getting a citrus juicer.  I honestly am not sure what I would use to juice only soft fruits if I wanted clear juice with no pulp.  It is hard to get the mush strained out so you get a very dry pulp.  I like the fiber from the fruits because that helps digestion, so I always blend my soft fruits into smoothies.  For hard fruits the choice is easy.  A centrifugal juicer works very well.  If I had a choice, I would not use a masticating juicer for soft fruits, or maybe even apples if that was all I was juicing.  The masticating juicer works well if you juice a variety of fruits and vegetables to make a juice.  The way to do it is to rotate the kind of food you are putting in so the firm and hard fruits push the soft pulp on through.  Some companies even offer a juicer-blender combination, or a mixer blender combination.  You use the same motor to power both operations or either operation.  They will most likely not be as good at doing what you want them to do as a dedicated machine, but it may save you space and money if you can deal with some inefficiency.

The advantage of buying a multi-purpose juicer machine is money and space, but be prepared to not get quite the quality in flavor or efficiency that the dedicated juicer will give you.  Know what you want to do with it before you buy.  A juicer is an investment in good health, and you don't want to get one that causes you stress.  Stress can and will kill.  If you have time constraints, do not buy a masticating juicer that works slow and takes more time to prepare the food.  Think about getting a juicer with a wide feed tube that juices fast. They might be a little harder to clean, but in the long run, you will save more time.  You also might want to consider the noise level of the machine.

Think about your personality and your needs and your assets.  Write down what you really need and want.  Consider the pros and cons.  Read all the information you can on the different models available and imagine yourself doing what you have to do to use the machine.  See how it will work for you.  Go to youtube.com and watch the videos people have put there about using the machines.  This will also give you an idea of the noise level of the machines.  When you are ready, then go shopping.