If you're used to getting a refreshing glass of juice out of your high-powered blender, here's what might surprise you: What kind of juicer you use can dramatically change the taste and nutritional profile of your drink.
The best time to start thinking about which type of juicer is right for you is before you make the purchase. The process starts with determining what sort of juice it is that dominates in your diet.
A supplement of fruits or vegetables, fruit or vegetable juice alone or even liquid meal replacement? All you really need to know is that your decision will determine what kind of equipment you need.
To help orient yourself, here's a quick breakdown of the three basic types of juicers and their uses:
Citrus press: This inexpensive appliance extracts liquid from citrus with minimal heat, leaving behind the essential nutrients.
Citrus press safety tips:
1. Position your citrus in the center of the bowl of a stand mixer or blender. Depending on its size, cut up limes, oranges and lemons can be used alone or along with other fruits as part of a mélange. Smaller fruits such as kiwi, grapefruit and star fruit work well packed tightly into a single cut in half.
2. Once the fruit is cut and placed in the bowl, using a wooden spoon or spatula stir with care to release oil. Take care not to break up the flesh of any citrus fruit; this is called "pitting."
3. Run the machine on high speed or high power until all of the juice clears from the citrus or until you have enough juice for your recipe.
If you're not sure of your readiness to purchase a citrus press, you can start by making citrus syrup. This can be just as effective as a juice and will allow you to experiment with your favorite fruits and flavors.
Pressure cooker: For high-pressure cooking results, which means squeezing out the most juice possible from your produce, look for an electric pressure cooker or high-end electric pressure cooker. The latter is costlier but variables such as time, pressure and heat can be controlled.
Pressure cooker safety tips:
1. Choose a pre-programmed setting on your machine which allows you to control the temperature or pressure you need to extract juice from your produce and have a timer alert you when it's done so that you do not run the risk of overcooking and thus concentrating your juice too much.
2. If you are using a high-powered blender, typically called a centrifugal juicer, it is important to use the right size container that fits your machine's opening.
3. Place and cut up all of the fruit into a single piece before putting it in the blender. This ensures that your fruit stays intact so that you can extract more juice without losing any of its natural flavor or vitamins.
4. Avoid overworking your produce. Both the pressure cooker and the blender will work at high speeds so remembering to use a wooden spoon or spatula to stir your fruits can ensure that you don't get too much juice out of them, thus reducing the amount of vitamins present.
5. If you are using a pressure cooker, it is important to choose one that has appropriate safety features built into its design so that in case of problems it will automatically cut off power or temperature to prevent damage or injury.
6. Remember, pressure cookers and blenders tend to run at extremely high speeds so take care when using them.
7. The pressure cooker should specify the temperature that it is capable of reaching as well as the amount of time it takes to reach this maximum. If you are using a pressure cooker without a timer or a thermostat, you will need to rely on your visual recognition or a meat thermometer to ensure that your juices are heated or cooked at the appropriate temperatures and for an appropriate time.
8. As a general rule, add your ingredients to the pressure cooker in layers so that you will know how long you need to cook each ingredient. When you begin with the; vegetables and then move on to the fruit and then the liquid, this will allow you to adjust the cooking time for each ingredient as necessary.
9. If you are using a high-speed blender, ensure that there is no extra space between the blender parts and the pot, which could allow steam build up and reduce the quality of your juice.
10. If you are not familiar with how to operate a high-powered blender, read directions carefully so that you don't end up blending too long or blending it too many times.
Nutritious juices with little effort: Healthy juices are a great way to incorporate fruits and vegetables into your diet. With minimal prep time and no need for special equipment, making juices is an easy choice for any lifestyle.
The best all-around appliance for making juices is a high-speed blender. These powerful devices can juice the most difficult fruits and vegetables with ease. If you'd like to pack in the healthiest possible nutrition in your juices, consider using a centrifugal juicer. This machine extracts all of the natural pulp that might otherwise be discarded.
Centrifugal juicer safety tips:
1. It is important to remove any large seeds from your produce before juicing. Large seeds such as grapes and strawberries can cause damage to the machine if they get jammed in the blade or strainer.
2. Remove any peels or tough bark from citrus fruits before cutting them up to extract their juice. This will also help to improve your yield as these tough parts are not easy for the machine to pulverize into a liquid form.
3. For the best quality of juice, use a high-speed blender and a centrifugal juicer in combination. The high-speed blender can give you your texture while the centrifugal juicer can provide you with the vitamins and minerals along with the liquid.
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