Juicing
 

Does anybody here "juice" (no....not steroids!:rolleyes:)?

I've been seriously contemplating getting a juicer but the more I research them the more confused I get.

There are so many models and some of them are quite expensive.

Juice is juice.....how can there be so many variations of the same thing?:rolleyes:

Does anyone here have any recommendations for a good juicer that won't put me in the (farther) poor house?

The problem I have with juicing is that the useful fiber is removed.

For people who don't want to cook beets, carrots, etc juicing is quicker and easier. But for people who have blood sugar issues, those carbs will flood into the bloodstream much more quickly than eating the whole veggie.

So juicing may be okay for additional nutrition, but still people need to eat whole veggies for the maximum benefits they provide.

when I juice I "emulisify" or take the WHOLE food and place it in the juicer, and it juices all of it. from the skin to the seeds. Montel williams sells one, and vitamix is a great one (thats the one I have) and there are others on the market. If you throw in a handful of tomatoes, some salt, milk and let it rip you can have hot soup in a few minutes. Same for peas/chickenbroth/ham you can have split pea in no time hot and ready. Mine will crush ice, or pulverize the whole food, so I am not worried about what great fiber I am throwing away. Too many juicers out there simply take the liquid out of your food, and leave the nutrients behind in the strainer.

tons of good ones to pick from. take your time. shop, and read ALL of the reviews. I find them to be quite helpful. Then when you pick out the one you want, shop around for the best price.

I too have thought about juicing but found the juicers are expensive. I saw a show on Netflix called the Gerson Theory. They juice . . . A LOT. But you have to use a special juicer to get all the fibers and nutrients. Many people have gone to Mexico to get these treatments for cancer and apparently have done real well. However, I'm not too sure about the coffee enemas they do.:eek: It supposedly cleanses the liver.

Anyhow, after seeing the show and me having digestive issues lately, I thought of juicing myself instead of buying vegetable juices. I do like V-8 Fusion's Acai berry juice. :p Yum!

Let me know what you find and what you decide.:p

I can give my review on the Jack LaLanne Power Juicer Elite.

Oh this review on Amazon pretty much matches my opinion.
[pros - big feeder; easy to assemble; powerful motor

cons - easily stains; not so easy to clean

summary - the big feeder allows less cutting of fruits and veggies and more juicing. Though the machine is fairly easy to disassemble for cleaning, it still take a lot of effort compared to the trusted blender. The inside plastic of this machine, easily stains, so better clean it as quickly as possible after juicing, I wouldn't recommend using the dish washer because the stains need a bit of scrubbing to take off. As fun and as healthy as this machine can be, using this as an everyday thing for freshly made juice is not as encouraging as it may seem on TV due to the number of parts to clean right after use. ]
http://www.amazon.com/Jack-LaLanne-P.../dp/B000JLHLQ6

it was 150.00 and after I got it I was going to return it - it was just too big overall for my kitchen and since I was only making juice for myself having to wash all the parts each time was a big pain.
When I called about returning they offered me a 50.00 refund if I keep it so I did.
But it is just sitting in a box now, too large and bulky for for one person servings, and the point of juicing is to have it fresh and not stored in a container in the fridge. It separates after it sits and doesn't look appetizing anyway.

I really liked the carrot apple juice - but the carrots stained the plastic inside so bad and you have to scrape or wipe out the upper part of the pulp container as it has square corners and stuff gets plastered & stuck in those edges.

It would be good if making a big batches of juice for large groups all at one time, but that's about all. Or if you have a huge kitchen and lots of empty counter space, cause if it gets put away it won't get used, it's heavy too.

If mainly for one person servings, I'd look into something smaller & easy clean.

Jo, are you just being mean by posting your current temp for all of us on the sweltering East Coast to see?! :D

Moi, mean ?? never...:):cool:

We will finally , hopefully, be getting 2 days into the 80s this weekend.
But today we had some major downpours, rain water was sitting 1/2 deep each time on our patio and the driveway was running like a mini river..we do have a fairly steep driveway - but it's been years since it looked like that.

I looked on ebay and there were lots of used machines. Unless I know the person it's coming from I don't want to buy something like this used.

There was a HealthMaster for $100 but it was used. Said only used once but still.......I'm funny about stuff like this that has been opened and used elsewhere unless I know the person.

I really cannot afford to spend even that much so I know a new one is out of the question. Plus, it's just me here that would be using it so it's hard to justify getting a brand new one that might not get used every day.

I see them demonstrated on TV and that's what makes me want one but I know it's never as easy as it's portrayed to be. :rolleyes:

Thanks for all the suggestions and reviews! :)

Like Dej, we bought a Vitamix at Costco. It was expensive and worth every penny. I use it every day and it is easy to make a good drink. All fruit/veggies get pulverized.

I get fresh spinach to blend. Using pineapple eliminates the green flavor so I get a fresh vegetable but it tastes like a sweet fruity drink.

To clean, I simply put in warm water and dishwashing soap, turn on and it washes itself.

Like Dej said, it also makes soup in five minutes but I use the microwave to heat it just a bit more. This is one item where you get your money's worth.

HOWEVER @Dej, apple seeds contain a small amount of cyanide! so you may want to cut those out.:)

Several years ago my parents bought a Vitamix. They loved it and made all sorts of stuff with it including peanut butter. It is definitely a great investment and worth the extra $$. I copied some of the recipes from the book and use them often when the hug acts up and I can't eat much. (Pain makes me lose my appetite).

They are way too expensive for me so I just use my blender. :D