If you want to get more fruits and vegetables into your diet, juicing is an easy option. Sales of juicers have increased over the years, so Consumer Reports took a look at which juicers are worth trying and which you should forget about.
Consumer Reports tested more than a dozen juicers you can use at home. In addition to performance, the testers looked at how easy the machines were to use and to clean.
The testers recommend looking for a juicer with a wide-mouth feeding tube, so that there's less chopping and prepping.
"In general, our tests found that the very inexpensive juicers, 50 dollars or less, tended to be lacking. They really fell to the bottom of our ratings," said Dan Diclerico of Consumer Reports.
Most don't extract as much juice as pricier machines. But cost doesn’t always equal practicality. For example, the $500 Kitchen Aid, rated excellent for juicing but had so many parts making cleaning difficult.
A better, less expensive option is the Breville for $400. It features professional touches like stainless steel, a wide-mouth feed tube and a container for juice. It's also very easy to clean.
For far less, Consumer Reports also recommends the $90 Juiceman. It delivers a pulpier juice than the Breville and has many of the same conveniencessuch as a wide mouth and a juice container. However, it lacks the complete stainless steel look of the Breville.
Another option is a blender. Testers say the very best is the Vitamix Professional Series 750 for $650. However, the $200 Dash Chef Series Digital also did a good job blending up icy drinks and smoothies.
