Vegetable/fruit juicers

[Cynic]

I'm needing appliance advice. I'm thinking of making my own homemade juices (V-8 style), but I'm not familiar with the appliance.

Does anyone do this for themselves? How bad is the loss of fiber? I already suppliment with metamucil, but I was hoping juicing veggies wouldn't lose too much fiber content.

[Mark57]

Drink a Red Bull just before bedtime, then you can stay up and catch the Jack LeLane power juicer infomercial.

[LisaS]

i have had one of those "juiceman" juicers for years. it separates the juice from the pulp. according to the booklet, some people "add back" the pulp out of the pulp-catcher. I've never done that. So it is pretty much a separate deal.

if you go with the power-blender type (like vitamix) there is no separation so all the content is in the resulting juice. my MIL had one but never juiced with it so I can't speak to that part of it from personal experience.

[Cynic]

Those vitamixers are freaking expensive! They start at $450, go up to $650.

The juicemans are more reasonable at $100.

[Cynic]

Originally Posted by LisaS

i have had one of those "juiceman" juicers for years. it separates the juice from the pulp. according to the booklet, some people "add back" the pulp out of the pulp-catcher. I've never done that. So it is pretty much a separate deal.

Ok, I started to think of something. I bought a juicer that seperates the pulp from the juice...

But, what if you save the pulp and dry it out. Then you'd have your own home-made Greens/+ knockoff.

I'm thinking I could spread it out on a cookie sheet or such, put it in a low-heat oven, dry it out, then roller pin it or crush it up in some way.

Then I got something I can sprinkle over salads or some such.

[Cynic]

My first attempt at making a vegetable juice is this one called V-6:

RECIPE FOR COOKING MITCH'S V-6 VEGETABLE JUICE

1 cup cilantro
1/3 cucumber
2 medium tomatoes
1/3 bell pepper
2 medium stalks celery
6 medium carrots

I used a red bell pepper and baby carrots, but for the most part not bad at all. I added some tabasco to make it spicy, perhaps too spicy.

It does produce a lot of pulp, so perhaps the greens+ replacement is valid. It may be doable through a dehydrator or perhaps on a cookie sheet in a low temp oven.

[galya]

Maybe freezing the pulp is a better way of preserving it

[Cynic]

I tried this uncooked V8 knockoff a few days ago:

V8 Juice Recipe
Just about everyone I know likes V8 juice.

But, unfortunately, the stuff that comes in the bottles and cans is full of salt and has had most of the life cooked right out of it.

Well, I get around these problems by making my own healthy V8 juice, and you can too.

Read on for two good recipes, one raw and one cooked.

Let's start with my favorite V8 recipe, a raw concoction that's healthy and tasty...

Raw V8 Juice

6 medium-sized carrots
1 small beet (wash well)
3 large tomatoes
1 bag baby spinach
1/4 head fresh cabbage
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
3 stalks celery
1/4 sweet onion
1/2 clove garlic or less if you don't care for garlic
Kale leaves (a little goes a long way so be careful)
Chili pepper to taste
Salt to taste

Run all the vegetables through your juicer, add salt to taste, and then sit back and enjoy the healthiest V-8 juice around. Tabasco sauce to taste can be substituted for the chili pepper.

For a second recipe, this one cooked, let's turn to...

The garlic and onion really boosted the taste, but it makes a lot of juice! A third of this would be a day's serving. Following the recipe as is caused an overflow and my juicer is not a mini. I didn't have any kale, so I left it out.

I may look into freezing, but ultimately, I want to freeze dry or dehydrate because normal freezing and thawing will turn it into mush. However, mushing it, then drying it may very well be the means of powderizing it. Thanks for the angle Galya.

Next recipe is a apple, pear, strawberry combo.

[hougy1]

What kind of juicer did you get? I am wanting to get one and am looking for some feedback from owners. Also, did you find out anything about loss in nutrients from juicing?

[Cynic]

I got a breville juice fountain. It's not a cheap machine, but it's less than a vita-mixer. It's an inertial juicer, more commonly called a centrifuge juicer. You feed the veggie/fruit down the chute to some barbs in the bottom that chew it up and spins the pulp at high speeds to extract the liquid. And the barbs are sharp! I've cut myself just poking gently.

Nothing scientific on what is lost, but I suspect, if you consume the juice and pulp, I really doubt you're losing much of anything.

[ZachL]

I personally use a blendtec home blender - I highly recommend them. You've probably seen them before, here:
YouTube - Will It Blend? - iPod

[Cynic]

Originally Posted by ZachL

I personally use a blendtec home blender - I highly recommend them. You've probably seen them before, here:
YouTube - Will It Blend? - iPod

More costly than my Juice Fountain Elite, less than a vitamixer.

You do have the advantage of having a blender that can puree into juice, but the trick to making sure what you're blending stays down around the blades.

And yes, I've seen those commercials on YT.

[ZachL]

The guy is a family friend and I got the blender as a gift from him for my birthday...its actually an amazing blender. Even strawberry seeds disappear QUICKLY. It has a number of preprogrammed settings for different types of mixing and comes with a good (and large) recipe book which describes how to make MANY things, not just smoothies. Also, it doesn't hurt that its motor is powerful enough to propel a go-kart!

P.S. Starbucks (and my local coffee shop) use Blendtec blenders. Not trying to sound like an ad, just recommending an excellent product!

[Cynic]

Did another, a fruit juice this time:

1cp strawberries, hulled.
1 small granny smith apple.
3 pears.

Tasted a lot like Hawiian Punch.

[xanderd]

I have a centrifugal juicer in the £100 ($200) range and its really good. Bear in mind that in effect the pulp you are seperating IS the fibre so the juice will be lower in fibre.

if you want the pulp as well as the juice...why not just eat the fruit

I just shove anything in I can get. My favourite is apple carrot orange and ginger.

[Cynic]

Originally Posted by xanderd

I have a centrifugal juicer in the £100 ($200) range and its really good. Bear in mind that in effect the pulp you are seperating IS the fibre so the juice will be lower in fibre.

if you want the pulp as well as the juice...why not just eat the fruit

I just shove anything in I can get. My favourite is apple carrot orange and ginger.

I like the fruit, this was just something to try.

However, I am keeping the pulp of my vegetables. I'm going to try to dehydrate it to use as a topper or as a Greens+ knockoff.

[graycyn]

Years ago, I bought a Juiceman juicer. It went back after only a few uses. The reason was because it was too expensive for me to buy enough produce to make a glass of juice. I just looked at all that fiber and decided it was a waste. As mentioned, I'd just as soon eat the fruit/veggie. Also, I found it a pain in the butt to clean each time.

So then I bought a Vita-mixer Maxi-4000. Scratch and dent model. The old steel container kind.

20 years later, I'm still using it and nearly every day. If the cost bums you, pick up a used one on eBay, you'll cut the cost in half. And the older steel container models are great and cool looking!

Plus, with the Vita-Mixer you've got an appliance that can do more than just juice... I do smoothies, grind flax seeds, have made fresh apple sauce, nut butters and have ground my own wheat berries into flour.

Oh, and super easy and fast to clean.