You want to give juicing a shot but you aren’t sure where to start. I’ve been there. I watched Joe Cross with his new diet and his Breville Juicer in his movie: Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. I was all three at the time.
I had allowed myself to give in to being diabetic and it felt helpless. The movie made big promises and I wanted a quick fix. I needed to start a long juice fast. My first stop was my kitchen to see if there was a kitchen device I could get by on instead of buying an entirely new single-function device to make my juices.
I had a great Vitamix blender. While it’s cheaper and easier to look around your kitchen for something you already own and will do in a pinch, but, sometimes a pinch isn’t enough. What did I know about juicing? Not much. I needed facts and comparisons.
1. Extraction vs. Blending
The first thing you need to know is the difference between juicing and blending is what happens to the fruit and veggies you use.
- Juicing with a Breville Juicer: When you use a juicer, it extracts the liquid from fruits and vegetables while separating out the pulp (fiber). What you get is a smooth, liquid juice that contains vitamins, minerals, and nutrients, but very little fiber. Juicers work by either spinning quickly (centrifugal) or crushing and pressing (masticating) to extract juice.
- Blending with a Vitamix: A Vitamix, or any high-powered blender, doesn’t separate the juice from the fiber. Instead, it crushes and mixes the whole fruit or vegetable, resulting in a thick, smoothie-like consistency. You’re consuming everything, including the skin, seeds, and pulp.
If you want to see what a masticating juicer looks like, click here!
2. Nutrients for Your Body
How your body absorbs nutrients can differ based on whether you juice or blend.
- Juicing: Since juice is mostly free of fiber, the nutrients are absorbed very quickly into your bloodstream. This can provide a fast energy boost and is particularly helpful for people like athletes post-workout or people with bad digestion.
- Blending: When you blend with a Vitamix, the fiber stays, which means you’ll feel full longer because fiber aids in digestion. Blending is better for overall gut health and steady energy levels throughout the day.
3. Texture and Versatility
Texture preferences and what you plan to do with your drink may influence your choice.
- Juicing: Juicing results in a smooth, watery consistency that is refreshing and easy to drink. This makes juicing ideal if you want something light, especially as a refreshing pick-me-up or a way to get a concentrated dose of nutrients. However, you can’t use a Breville Juicer to make other recipes, like soups, smoothies, or nut butters.
- Blending: A Vitamix produces a thicker, smoothie-like texture that includes all parts of the produce. It’s great if you like a heartier drink that fills you up. Beyond smoothies, the Vitamix is highly versatile. You can use it to make soups, sauces, nut butters, frozen desserts, and even dough. If you want more options in the kitchen beyond juicing, the Vitamix is a more multifunctional tool.
4. Clean-up and Convenience
Knowing the difference in clean-up time and effort between juicers and blenders is important.
- Juicing: Juicers, especially masticating juicers, can have more parts to clean, which may require some extra effort. Centrifugal juicers are generally quicker but can still involve scrubbing small components. On the plus side, juicers can be faster when it comes to preparing a quick glass of juice.
- Blending: Vitamix machines are typically easier to clean with fewer parts to disassemble. In most cases, you can simply rinse the container or blend some warm soapy water to clean it. Plus, since blending is a one-step process, it can be faster and less work overall.
6. Yield and Waste
The efficiency of your machine matters when you want to maximize the amount of drink you get.
- Juicing: Juicers extract juice but leave behind a considerable amount of pulp, which can feel wasteful unless you use it for soups, sauces, or compost. The yield from juicing is a concentrated liquid that doesn’t contain fiber, so the volume of liquid is smaller compared to what you started with.
- Blending: With a Vitamix, there’s little to no waste because the entire fruit or vegetable is used. What you blend is what you drink, making it a more efficient way to use your produce. The volume of the resulting smoothie will be much higher because it includes the fiber.
7. Cost
Budget is an important factor when deciding between juicing and blending.
- Juicers: Juicers range widely in price, from budget centrifugal models starting at around $50 to high-end masticating juicers that can cost upwards of $800. Juicing can also require more produce to get the same volume of liquid, which might lead to higher grocery bills.
- Vitamix: Vitamix blenders are generally more expensive than other blenders upfront, starting at around $350 and going up to $700 or more for high-end models. However, since blending uses the whole fruit or vegetables, it may save you money on produce in the long run. Vitamix machines also offer much more versatility in the kitchen, which can justify the higher price.
So, you ask, can you really make juices with a mixer? No, and maybe just a bit, yes. Just know that it isn’t easy. You could blend all of the fruit and veggies together and then use a sieve and cheesecloth to get you a somewhat similar liquid from your blender. First, blend it, take the thick product, and run it through a sieve to get the large pulp out, save the liquid, while you place a cheesecloth over a jar and slowly use the cloth to keep the rest of the pulp. After squeezing the remaining fluid, then dispose of all the leftover pulp and pour the juice into your favorite glass.
If you prefer a mesh strainer, then this is the way to go.
Doing it this way is, well, a ton of work the first time. Now, imagine if you will, 3 different juices a day, because that is what you do if you are on a juice detox or fast. Honestly, there wouldn’t be enough hours in the day and the cleanup would be a nightmare.
Think of it like mowing a lawn. You can mow the grass with just a weed whacker and get the job done, or you can get a riding mower and it is so much better.
A juicer has one job but it can do it very well with less effort and that matters a lot to your juice detox success.
But which juicer to buy? At the time I got my first juicing machine, Joe was a big fan of the Breville Juicer and I was a big fan of not dying, so I went off on a shopping trip to find a machine. It just happened that we had to stop by TJ Maxx and they had a nice Breville on the sales table. I was lucky to find that one. Since you can’t count on a sale table I would suggest some online shopping.
It felt expensive for a single-use machine when I picked it, but boy was it worth it. The Breville does one thing but it does it well and very quickly. The juices come out perfectly and with no fuss. I picked one with a wide input chute so I didn’t have to cut the food into tiny pieces and it’s fast. I have videos on my social media pages so you can see the operation of my Breville Juicer. The two downsides to juicers are: they are loud and cleanup isn’t a breeze. But then, most of cooking is like that. There is one hint for juicing clean up is DO IT IMMEDIATELY. Dried pulp is a nightmare.
Did my Breville Juicer work out well? Well, I had it for 10 years and it worked flawlessly. It’s been a workhorse and is still in my kitchen as a backup unit. I even stayed with the Breville Juicer brand when I got my new machine. For my upgrade, I did the entire shopping experience, Target, Walmart, Best Buy and Online.
If you want to skip slogging through online reviews, here’s a link to my favorite low-cost Breville Juicer and my new machine that works perfectly (video shown below).
In my final diagnosis, the Vitamix has its purpose and that job is being a spectacular mixer but a Juicer has its purpose and the Breville Juicer is even better. It’s a bit like comparing a Volkswagen Beetle and a pickup truck for moving 50 bags of garden mulch from Lowes to your garden. Sure, you can get it done either way, but one will really BUG you. Dad jokes rule.
Let me know your thoughts on your favorite juicer. I’m thinking about a slow-speed masticating juicer for my next one. Do you have one you like?
Now, Dad says, “Go enjoy your next juice”.
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