Types of Juicers - Centrifugal, Masticating and Twin-Gear Juice Extractors

To find the ideal juicer it's good to know about the main types of juicers available on the market.

Overview of Main Electric Juicer Types

Each of the following juice extractor types has its own benefits and some weaknesses. We gathered all the information you need on various types of juicers so that you can make a well-informed buying decision.

Think through your juicing habits to decide what kind of juicer is the best for your needs and budget. For the most health conscious it is good to know that juicers that operate at low speed thus generate the lowest possible heat and (triturating aka twin-gear juicers) protect the nutrient content in the gained juice.

Centrifugal Juicers

Centrifugal juicers are the most common juicing machines available in stores.

In centrifugal juicers there's a round shredder disc with sharp blades that spins at high speed while grinding and grating the fruits and vegetables into tiny pieces.

The centrifugal force generated by the high speed revolution (RPM=revolution per minute, rate of revolution of the juicer's motor) pushes the juice through a fine-screen sieve separating the juice from the pulp. The juice flows out through the spout in the front of the machine into a glass you place there.

Main Benefits of Centrifugal Juicers:

they're cheaper than other juicer types - this perhaps the most important benefit for budget-conscious buyers: centrifugal juicers sell for around $90-220.

• a centrifugal type juice extractor will yield enough juice (cc. 1 liter) for 1- 3 people
  
  
• the juicing job is done very quickly - especially if you have one with a wide (3 ") feeding chute allowing you to add whole veggies and fruits (saves the chopping time)

Main Weaknesses

• cleaning up is a bit tedious as compared to other juicer types
  
  
• a centrifugal juicer is not good for juicing leafy vegetables (wheatgrass, spinach, parsley, kale)

Recommended Centrifugal Juicer Models

• Omega Big Mouth Juicer
  
  
• L'Equip 215XL Wide Mouth Juicer
  
  
• Omega 9000 Juice Extractor
  
  
• Acme 6001 Juicer

See also are hand-picked list of Best Centrifugal Juicers.

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Masticating (Single-Gear) Juicers - Less Heat

A masticating juicer contains a single gear - an auger with blades - that instead of grating it crunches the vegetable and fruit fiber, slowly breaking up the cells. Some juicer experts talk about masticating juicers as a separate category (mainly Champion juicers belong into this group) from single auger and dual stage single auger juice extractors.

The single most important benefit of masticating machines is that the slower juicing process (Low RPM juicer) results in more vitamins, enzymes, minerals and trace minerals contained in the juice. The lower rate of rotation generates less heat and injects less oxygen into the end product protecting the nutrients in the juice and providing you with a more healthier juice drink.

There are two types of masticating juicers:

• single auger juicing machines - low-speed juicer in which the auger crushes and grinds the produce into smaller pieces then presses the juice out. Wheatgrass juicers are the most popular single auger type units but there are other juicing machines available that can juice other vegetables and fruits too. Recommended single auger juicers are the L'Equip 509 Visor or the Samson juicers.
  
  
• dual-stage single auger juicers - the crushing-grinding process is the same as it is in one-stage single auger juicers but the juice extraction is done in 2 steps through a two fine hole screens. Popular 2-stage single auger juicers are the Omega8003/8005 and the SoloStar II juicers.

Price range of electric masticating juicers: cc. $150 - 350. There are some manual masticating style juicers that cost less: e. g. the Easy Health Juicer is a single auger hand-operated unit available mostly in the UK and other European countries. (retail price is around 30 GBP).

The Oscar Manual Juicer ( a hand-operated version of the Samson 6-in-1 made by Oscar Vitalmax) sells for around $165 - $180.

On the other end of the spectrum are the all-stainless steel high-end Super Angel / Angelia Juicer models with cc. US$ 870 - US$970 price tag.

Recommended Masticating Juicers

• The Omega 8003/8005 Single-Gear Juicer and the Omega 8006 Single Gear Juicer (an updated version of the Omega8003/8005 models).
  
  
• Omega Vert Juicer - a single auger, upright machine.
  
  
• Samson Masticating Juicer

Learn about the Benefits of Single Auger Masticating-Type Juicers and browse a list of the Best Masticating Juicers available in the market.

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Twin Gear (Triturating) Juicers -Slow but Provide the Healthiest Juice

Triturating or twin-gear juicers are the are the most expensive juicer types but they're generate juices that are the most beneficial to your health. Operating in a two-step process a twin-gear juicer runs at even lower speed than masticating machines generating less heat than other kinds of juicing machines.

During the first step the twin-gear juicer crushes the vegetables and fruits pulverizing them into a pulp, than it extracts the juice in the second step. These low-heat juicers help to maintain the high nutrient content of the raw foods.

Several single auger or twin gear juice extractors juce wheatgrass well, but if you want to juice large quantities of the green blades regularly it's best to buy a dedicated wheatgrass juicer.

Twin-gear juicers cost more than centrifugal or masticating machines: cc. $400-800.

Other Types of Juicing Machines

Commercial units (raw-food restaurants, juice shops) use high-yield hydraulic presses like the Norwalk Hydraulic Press Juicer to make vegetable and fruits juices. These heavy duty machines cost way more than the other types of juicers described above. More on Commercial Juicers.

Cafes, restaurants and juice bars use high-volume centrifugal fruits juicers or dedicated commercial-grade citrus juicers to be able to serve customers with freshly made orange juice on a daily basis.

Steam juicers deserve to be mentioned too. Steam juicers are stainless pot-like appliances that contain three parts: the bottom container is for boiling water to generate steam. You place the fruits or vegetables in the steamer basket that comes on the top of the water container. The juice will seep out of the fruits, vegetables after about 30 minutes of steaming into the center juice container.

A stainless steel steam juicer usually costs about $80 - 160.

Last but not least manual juicers such as manual citrus presses offer an inexpensive, simple way for juicing.

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