Is your juicer is a whizz or a swizz?
From £25 to £1,100, suddenly they are the must-have gadget. But . . .
DETOX season is well and truly upon us, with sales of juice makers rocketing 275 per cent in the past week alone. The trendiest of all is the £100 Nutribullet, which was one of John Lewis’s top-sellers at Christmas — the Duchess of Cambridge is reportedly a huge fan. But it’s far from the only juice maker on offer. HARRIET ARKELL tested some of the best. So, which one should you buy?
TREND SETTER
NUTRIBULLET, £99.95, Selfridges, John Lewis, Amazon EvEryonE’s heard about the nutribullet (this is the one Kate is rumoured to have chosen), and it’s a nice-looking piece of kit. It has a strong extractor blade which completely breaks down the fruit and veg, so no need for chopping anything, and it’s extremely efficient. It comes with a variety of lids and cups you can use if you want to take your drink out with you.
Easy to clean? Absolutely. only two parts get dirty — the cup and the lid with the rotator blade, and both go in the dishwasher.
8/10
SIMPLY EFFICIENT
PHILIPS VIVA HR1855, £54.99, Currys this squat-looking juice maker is pleasing to use the minute you unwrap it — t here’s hardly any assembly to do, and it has squidgy rubber feet which keep it r eally stable on your worktop.
you just have to drop your fruit and veg into the chute, which was wide enough so I didn’t have to chop anything. not too noisy and extremely efficient — I had a vast jug of bright orange, zingy juice in seconds. Easy to clean? yes! There were j ust f our detachable pieces, including the blade, which I washed really easily in the sink – though they could have gone in the dishwasher.
9/10
DESIGNER LOOKS
DUALIT DUAL-MAX TM JUICER, £99.99, John Lewis From the makers of the i conic toaster, this is pretty large but it looks great. But the chute you drop the fruit into was quite small compared to others I tried — I had to pull the oranges apart to fit them i n, which was annoying, and chop the mediumsized apples into four pieces.
The dual-speed motor seemed to find the ripe (peeled) pineapple chunks I added quite tricky to manage — it slowed right down and made a funny noise and I wondered if it was going to conk out. But it produced nice juice. Easy to clean? It’s not hard but there are an awful lot of parts to wash. most of it can go in the dishwasher though.
6/10
SLEEK SPACE-SAVER
NOVIS VITA JUICER, £299.99, Debenhams, Lakeland and other retailers. ThIs extremely smart machine comes from switzerland and is j ust as efficient as its heritage implies. Consisting mainly of a cylinder, it comes in eight colours and takes up barely more space on your worktop than a kettle.
It comes with a citrus press which means that unlike nearly every other juicer, you don’t have to peel oranges or grapefruit (you just slice them in half instead) and its wide funnel means no chopping
It boasts three patents on its design, and claims to retain 20 per cent more nutrients than conventional juicers. The only downside (apart from the price) is that it’s pretty heavy to lift. Easy to clean? surprisingly so. All elements of it that come into contact with juice or pulp can go in the dishwasher.
9/10
GWYNNIE’S FAVOURITE
ANGEL JUICER ANGELIA 8500S, £1,105,
Juiceland.co.uk IF you’re still recovering from overspending at Christmas, be thankful you didn’t take Gwyneth Paltrow’s present advice — she recommended a gold- plated one of these for £3,100.
The one I tried was made of surgical grade steel, so it costs a mere £1,105. Dubbed the rolls-royce of juicers, it’s one of a new generation of twin gear, horizontal machines that masticate the fruit and veg slowly, producing absolutely delicious juice that is apparently far higher in nutrients.
using this machine does take a little longer, around three to five minutes, or more if you’re using green veg, and you have to chop up everything first, so it’s not for anyone in a hurry. But the juice is sublime. Easy to clean? yes, it was pretty simple to take apart, and the gears can go in the dishwasher.
9/10
FABULOUSLY RETRO
RETRO COLD PRESS JUICER £299.99, Juicemaster.com
ThIs sleek retro design looks fabulous, and it claims to produce juice with more nutrients intact because it j uices slowly, so the fruit and veg retain more goodness (see the Angel Juicer) as it’ s no t af f e c t e d by oxidation.
There’s a large chute, so no need to chop fruit or veg, and it chugged (quietly) with ease through the apples and ginger I tried, crushing every last drop and churning out pulp that was almost bone dry. If ever a juicer is going to be sexy, this is it. A highly desirable machine. Easy to clean? yes, but the manual says not to put the parts in the dishwasher as they’ll wear out faster.
10/10
BUDGET OPTION
COOKWORKS KP400 JUICER, £24.99, Argos JuICE makers below the £50 mark are few and far between, so this is a steal. Looking at the manual, it only has a 400W motor (most of those I tested were around the 800900W mark), so I expected inferior results but not at all — it was great!
The funnel’s a little narrow so you have to pull an orange into three pieces and push them down individually, or chop an apple into several pieces, but apart from that, it was absolutely brilliant. Quiet, made lovely juice with no trouble, and extremely easy to operate.
Easy to clean? Easy to take apart but quite a few parts to clean, and the manual said not to use a dishwasher, which is a shame.
8/10
HESTON’S BIT OF KIT
SAGE BY HESTON BLUMENTHAL THE NUTRI JUICER PRO, SILVER, £299.95, John Lewis I’m no r m A L Ly suspicious of gadgets with celebrity endorsements, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. It’s massive, looks very serious r ather than glamorous like the nutribullet, and sounds like a plane taking off. But what results!
I threw in three medium whole apples, a whole (peeled) orange, a (peeled) chunk of fresh ginger and a (whole, unpeeled) carrot, and within about 15 seconds had a jug full of the most delicious fresh-tasting juice. And a satisfactory lot of sludge in the pulp container. It is enormous, however, so not suitable for those with small kitchens. Easy to clean? Well I did have to wash up seven parts afterwards (though they could have gone in the dishwasher). But the juice it made was so good, it was worth it.
8/10
AMERICAN RIVAL
VITAMIX PROFESSIONAL SERIES 750, £650, John Lewis ThE publicity surrounding vitamix machines is phenomenal, and it seems as if every time I go into John Lewis there’s a gaggle of eager women watching a vitamix demon- stration. so I was keen to try this wonder gadget for myself. simple to operate, you can put in y our c hosen i ngredients and leave the machine to it — it’ll switch itself off when done.
I threw in big ice cubes, pineapple, handfuls of spinach, blueberries, oranges, and a piece of ginger and within about 20 seconds was l eft with a vast jug of seriously good, silkily smooth juice.
not too noisy, despite the ice cubes, and its strength was impressive. Easy to clean? yes, very. Just the jug and its lid. you’re advised not to put them in the dishwasher, but there’s not a lot to do by hand.
9/10
BEST FOR BEGINNERS
JASON VALE FUSION JUICER, £99.98,
Juicemaster.com or Amazon EnDorsED by Jason vale, or the Juice master to his fans, this is a nice little machine, and a good one to go for if you’re new to making juice and don’t want to spend the earth.
It has a fairly wide chute, so I didn’t have to chop up the small apple, carrots or cl e mentines I dropped i n, and it doesn’t take up too much space on the worktop.
not the most attractive piece of kit, but it made short work of the fruit and fresh ginger I tried in it, and the motor was pretty quiet, too.
Easy to clean? not bad. There were a few pieces but they came apart easily and could have gone in the dishwasher.
8/10