If you are a juicing enthusiast, you understand the different types of juicers you can use for juice extraction. Centrifugal juicers are one of the top choices for many people since they are widely available. They are easy to use and have fewer parts which making cleaning easier.
Before you buy a centrifugal juicer, it is great to understand its benefits, disadvantages, and how the machine works to give you fresh juice. We will talk about everything you would like to know about centrifugal juicers to decide if it is the right model for you.
What Is A Centrifugal Juicer
This is a type of juicer that features spinning blades against a mesh filter. The mesh filter separates the juice from fruits and vegetables, and it has separate containers for the juice and the pulp.
Centrifugal juicers provide fast juice extraction when juicing vegetables and fruits, and they don’t produce much noise. The juicers mostly feature two-speed options for juicing hard and soft fruits.
There are many myths about centrifugal juicers and the quality of juice they produce. Because of their fast speed, centrifugal juicers heat the extracted juice, which destroys essential nutrients. However, this is not always the result because they hardly produce heat to destroy the juice enzymes.
How Do Centrifugal Juicers Work
The working mechanism of a centrifugal juicer is simple. You will find a chute at the top, which is an opening where you push your fruits and vegetables into the extractor. Many centrifugal juicers have a pusher to help you push the produce down without risking cutting your fingers.
Inside the juicer, you will find a spinning disc that has sharp nubs below it. The spinning disc shreds your ingredients into small pieces. After cutting the ingredients into smaller pieces, it then spins them at high speed. This results in a centrifugal force that extracts the juice from the crushed fruits and vegetables.
The juice passes through a small screen and then to the juicing jar. The pulp collects around the screen when juicing.
Benefits And Disadvantage Of Centrifugal Juicer
Just like other juicers, centrifugal juicers also have their pros and cons. We will look at the benefits and drawbacks of a centrifugal juicer to better understand.
Benefits
Affordable:
One of the main reasons why centrifugal juicers are widely available is their affordable price compared to other types of juicers. This makes them great for beginners, people who juice for fun or don’t want to acquire a juicer more.
Ease Of Use:
You don’t need to be an expert in using centrifugal juicers. Their operation mechanism is pretty simple, even for people juicing for the first time. Additionally, cleaning the juicers is effortless because they have lesser parts. Moreover, most of them are dishwasher safe.
Some Have Pulp Extractors:
Centrifugal juicers which have optional pulp extractors, save you more time when you are juicing. As you extract juice, there will be more pulp buildup along with the strainer, forcing you to halt the juicing process to remove the pulp. If the machine can extract the pulp for you, you will experience continuous juicing, creating more delicious juice.
Quick Juicing:
If you would like to prepare your juice in less time, then get a centrifugal juicer. First, it has a chute, so you don’t need to chop the ingredients that much. It also operates at high speed, which leads to faster juice extraction.
Reduce Pesticides In Juice:
Centrifugal juicers also reduce the pesticides in your juice but not as great as gear juicers.
Disadvantages
Noisy:
Most people don’t love the noise that results from centrifugal juicer when juicing. The components inside the juicer move at high speed which results in vibration and friction. Therefore, if you are the kind of person who doesn’t love noise, then a centrifugal juicer might not be the best choice for you.
Not Good For Leafy Vegetables And Wheatgrass:
These two ingredients will not work well in a centrifugal juicer since they need a gear-driven juicer to extract the juice. The high speed of centrifugal juicers spout the ingredients, and this results in a frothy result. The juice will also lose nutrients because of oxidation.
Less Yield:
You will not get maximum yield from your ingredients when using a centrifugal juicer. This is because of the blades and the high speed. If you need maximum juice extraction, then a masticating juicer would be better.
Do Centrifugal Juicers Destroy Nutrients
It is true centrifugal juicers produce heat and oxidation, which compromise the quality of the juice you get. However, there is no current evidence in the juicing community to show that centrifugal juicers destroy the essential nutrients in your juice.
According to research, the juice you get from centrifugal juicers has 15% less nutrients. Still, there is no scientific testing to show that oxidation and heat contribute to the quality difference.
Most of the juice's enzymes can be destroyed when the temperature is more than 140 degrees F. if you take the temperature measurements of the blades in centrifugal juicers, you will notice that it rarely exceeds 80 degrees F.
The only thing that you should be concerned about is oxidation which practically happens in all juicers. However, slower juicers produce juices that oxidize slower.
What Are The Best Vegetables For Centrifugal Juicer?
Centrifugal juicers work well with roots, hard veggies, and fruits. However, they might not be the best option for leafy grains and wheatgrass. The blades of the juicer spin at high speed, ending up skipping some vegetables like spinach. This will make the leaves go to the pulp container.
How To Clean Centrifugal Juicer?
Cleaning a centrifugal juicer is easier because the machines do not have many components. After every use, you should clean your machine to get high-quality juice and better performance for many years.
The first thing you should do is to gather your cleaning items. These include a soft brush, water, dish soap, toothbrush, soft clothes, and spatula.
When you have everything ready, unplug the juicer from the power socket for safety purposes. Next, remove the detachable parts of the machine from the juicer. You can follow the instructions in your manual on how you can do that.
Read: What Is A Steam Juicer And How to Use A Steam Juicer
Use the spatula to remove the pulp and throw it away if you don’t intend to use it for other recipes. Do it thoroughly because the pulp can stick on the inner part of the container. Clean the container with warm water and soap.
Clean the other components of the juicer and rinse well. If there are sticky spots, you can remove them with a toothbrush or a cleaning brush if your machine came with one.
For the juicer parts that are not detachable, wipe them with a soft cloth or a wet sponge. Let all the components dry and then reassemble them.
Centrifugal Juicer Recipes
There are different types of recipes you can prepare with your centrifugal juicer. My top favorite recipes include the following.
- Cucumber Apple Juice
I cucumber
1 green apple
1 lime
1-inch ginger root
A cup of kale or spinach
- Carrot and Berry juice
1 carrot
1 lemon
1 orange
½ cup strawberries
½ cup blueberries
½ cup raspberries
- Green Juice
1 pear
2 celery stalks
1 lemon
1-inch ginger
A cup of kale or spinach
- Liver Cleanser Juice
½ lemon
1 large beet
4 large navel oranges
Frequently Asked Questions - FAQs
Q: What does centrifugal juicer mean?
A: This is a juicer with a high-speed rotating blade that slices the ingredients into smaller pieces. It has a mesh screen that separates the pulp from the juice, and they all go into different containers.
Q: Is centrifugal juicer bad?
A: Many myths exist that centrifugal juicers destroy nutrients in the juice because of oxidation and heat. The high speed causes heating which leads to less nutritious juices than masticating juicers.
Q: What is better centrifugal or masticating?
A: Both juicers are better depending on your preference. For instance, if you want to get speed and convenience at a lower price, a centrifugal juicer is the right option. However, if you want an expensive juicer to juicing different ingredients while giving you quality juice, a masticating juicer is the right choice.
Q: How long does centrifugal juice last?
A: The juice you make with a centrifugal juicer will last for about 24 hours. A masticating juicer will give you juice with a lifespan of 48 hours, while a twin gear juicer produces juice that can last up to 5 days.
Conclusion
Understanding everything about a centrifugal juicer is crucial before you make your purchase. You don’t want to buy a product and later regret it simply because you were misinformed at the time of purchase. A centrifugal juicer is a great addition to your kitchen if you want fast juicing, easy cleaning, and an affordable machine.
I have explained how the juicer works, its advantages, disadvantages, and other essential details you should know about a centrifugal juicer. I hope all these resources will help you decide if you need a centrifugal juicer or not. Happy juicing!
Hello, This is Annie Walker, a 36-year-old blogger, founder, and editor of Cookware Guider from NY, USA. I am a cookware fanatic and passionate cooker. I love to cook with different types of cooking appliances (example: all types of cookware, rice cookers, slow cookers, etc) almost every day in my kitchen. I love to share my experience with my readers in my blog. Also, I enjoy helping people to solve their problems through my website. You can follow me on Twitter & Pinterest. To know details about my blog please check the about us page.