What Is A Masticating Juicer? Everything You Need To Know!

Your body requires nutrients every day, and it can be tough to achieve this every day. However, through juicing, you can achieve the nutrition requirements easily. You will find different types of juicers, and a masticating juicer is one of the most common.

This is a great machine to have if you need high-quality juice and more yield. Unlike centrifugal juicers, masticating juicers produce nutritious, tasty, and thick juice. It will also save you more money compared to buying fresh juice from the store. I will take you through everything you need to know about masticating juicers before making your purchase.

What Is A Masticating Juicer?

A masticating juicer is also called a cold press juicer or a slow juicer. This machine squeezes the nutrients from your favorite ingredients by pressing and crushing down the fruits and vegetables. It also works well with frozen fruits, wheatgrass, and leafy greens.

Unlike centrifugal juicers, masticating juicers do not have a blade. Instead, they have a rotating auger that works at a slow speed of 80-100 rpm. The rotating auger crushes the fruits and vegetables on a hard surface and then separates the pulp's extracted juice.

A masticating juicer features a wire mesh filter where the extracted juice is strained and then comes out through the extraction tube directly to the glass or juicing jar. The pulp collects in a different place where you remove it for disposing of.

What Is Mastication?

Masticating is the process of chewing food and converting it into a bolus. This is a process that happens in the mouth, and the teeth do the mastication. They chew, crush and convert the food particles.

Masticating juicers also follow the same mechanism when extracting juice. They have an auger that crushes the ingredients you put in the juicer into a liquid.

How Does A Masticating Juicer Work?

To understand the working of a masticating juicer, you need to know the machine's design first. A masticating juicer features a feeding chute at the top. It also has a chamber for crushing the ingredients between the auger and the juicer screen.
Additionally, there is a section to expel the pulp.

The machine works automatically, so when you put your ingredients in the chute, the auger starts to spin hence crushing the ingredients. It will stop spinning once the fruits and vegetables are crushed into a liquid.

A masticating juicer works at a slower pace than centrifugal juicers, and it takes more time to extract juice. You will get maximum juice extraction which makes it efficient for making juice. The machine’s low speed means no heat is generated that can lead to oxidation. Therefore, the juicer doesn’t dimmish the nutrients and enzymes in your juice.

Masticating Juicer Benefits & Disadvantage

There are many benefits that you will get from a masticating juicer. Similarly, these machines also have their drawbacks. Let's check the benefits and the disadvantages of masticating juicers in detail.

Benefits

Low Oxidation:

If you have used a centrifugal juicer, then you know the juice is prone to oxidation because of the heat produced when the bladed operate at high speed. Contrary, masticating juicers crush the fruits and vegetables at a slower speed, reducing the risk of oxidation.

The machines do not produce heat which can kill the essential nutrients in your juicer. As a result, you will get quality and healthy juice from a masticating juicer.

Works With Many Types Of Food:

You are not limited to the types of foods you can juice with a masticating juicer. They work well with all ingredients, including grasses, wheatgrass, and leafy greens. Handling these ingredients can be difficult if you are using a centrifugal juicer. The slow mechanism of masticating juicers makes juicing efficient when dealing with small pieces of vegetable leaves.

Additionally, masticating juicers can handle frozen fruits pretty well than other juicers. This makes them a better option when you are making sorbets.

Easy Cleaning:

Many of the masticating juicers available are easy to clean. They feature removable parts, which makes cleaning the juicer after use easy. Therefore, You will not have trouble cleaning masticating juicers, even for people with busy schedules.

High-Quality Juice:

If you are into quality and quantity, a masticating juicer will give you both. They make fresh juice without oxidation, and you will also get the most from your ingredients. Your juice will be rich in enzymes and minerals essential to your body.

Masticating juicers also produce juice with a longer shelf life than centrifugal juicers. You can save your juice in the fridge for up to 72 hours. You need to drink your juice within 72 hours in centrifugal juicers if you want to enjoy a better taste.

Quiet Operation:

It doesn’t matter if you like making your juice early in the morning or late at night, a masticating juicer will help you juice at any time. They operate quietly so you will not disturb the people around you whenever you are juicing. Their slow speed keeps the noise minimal, unlike in centrifugal juicers.

Versatility:

Another great benefit of a masticating juicer is the versatility. Apart from making delicious juices, you can also do other things like making smoothies, baby food, almond milk, and nut butter, among others.

Power Efficient:

Masticating juicers use less power than centrifugal juicers. This makes them better for people who juice daily.

Durability:

If you want to invest in a quality juicer that will serve you for many years, a masticating juicer is the best option. The juicers last longer than centrifugal juicers, and if you handle them carefully, they will serve you for more than three years.

Disadvantages

Takes Time To Juice:

Masticating juicers might not be the best for you if you want to make your juice fast. You need more prep time, and you also have to precut the ingredients before you put them in the feeding chute to reduce clogging. Most of the machines also feature a narrow chute, so precutting is not inevitable.

Price:

Masticating juicers ate designed to be durable, so their price is high than centrifugal juicers. Many machines start at $300 to not be beginner-friendly or people who juice less frequently. However, they will save you money because they don’t waste the ingredients than centrifugal juicers.

Weight:

Masticating juicers are heavier than centrifugal juicers, and this can make transportation and storage hectic. However, their heavyweight makes them stable when juicing.

How To Use A Masticating Juicer?

After buying your masticating juicer, it is good to understand how to use the machine well. This will make juicing easy, and you will avoid problems. Using a masticating juicer is easy if you follow the steps below.

• Assemble your machine and put containers at the end of the two shafts to collect the pulp and the juice.
• Turn the machine on.
• When the auger begins to move, the ingredients in the chute push it down with a pusher. The auger will start to grind the fruits and the vegetables. 
• Wait for the juicing container to fill with the extracted juice and enjoy your drink.
• After juicing, turn it off and remove the squeezing chamber, filter, tray, auger, and the nut piece to clean them. Rinse them well and let them dry, then put the components back.

What Are The Best Vegetables For Masticating Juicer?

Unlike centrifugal juicers, masticating juicers allow you to work with different fruits and vegetables when preparing fresh juice. The following are some of the best vegetables for masticating juicers.

• Wheatgrass
• Celery
• Tomatoes
• Broccoli
• Beets
• Carrots
• Kale
• Parsley
• Spinach
• Swiss Chad
• Cucumber

Masticating Juicer Recipes

You can make a wide range of recipes with a masticating juicer. I will give you my top 3 favorite masticating juicer recipes.

1. Blueberry And Pear Juice:

Ingredients:

• A cup of blueberries
• ½ cup grapes
• 1 large pear

Instructions:

• Wash the pear and remove the seeds and the stem and then slice it to small sizes. 
• Take the grapes from the stem and wash them. Wash the blueberries too.
• Add the blueberries, grapes, and pear to your juicer.
• Put ice if you need and enjoy your fresh juice.

2. Beet And Apple Juice:

Ingredients:

• 3 ½ apples
• 1/3 lemon
• 1/8 cup beets

Instructions:

• Wash the ingredients and remove the seed from the apple then cut into the right sizes.
• Peel the lemon and slice it.
• Put half the apple, beets, and lemon in your juicer.
• Add the rest of the apple.
• Put some ice if you need it and enjoy your drink.

3. Blueberry, Cucumber, And Grape Juice:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of grapes
• 1/3 cup blueberries
• 1/8 cup chopped cucumber

Instructions:

• Take the grapes from the stem and wash them.
• Cut cucumber ends and remove the prickles and cut into the right sizes.
• Put the cucumber, blueberries, and grapes in your juicer.
• Put some ice if desired and take your delicious drink.

How To Clean Masticating Juicer?

You need to clean your juicer immediately after juicing. If you clean it later, the pulp will dry on the screen, and it will be impossible to remove later. I have some tips that will help you keep clean your masticating juicer.

Step 1 - Unplug the Machine: Before you start to clean your juicer, you must unplug it from the power outlet. Remove the parts of the machine to make them ready for cleaning.

Step 2 - Remove Pulp: The juicer's interior part has a filter and basket you need to clean because this is where the pulp is screened. Ensure the small parts do not contain any pulp or stick in the juicer's interior parts.

Step 3 - Rinse the Parts: After cleaning them thoroughly, rinse the parts with running water. This will eliminate debris from the ingredients. Check to ensure you don’t leave any threads on the edges of the plastic part.

Step 4 - Reassemble the Parts: After drying the parts of the juicer, assemble them until the next juicing time.

Frequently Asked Questions - FAQs

Q: Why is a masticating juicer better?
A: Masticating juicers are better because they provide nutritious juices than centrifugal juicers. Single auger and twin gear masticating juicers break down the fibers in the fruits and vegetables, releasing more nutritious juice.

Q: Is a masticating juicer the same as a cold press?
A: Masticating juicers are also called cold press or slow speed machines. They work at a slower speed than centrifugal juicers to crush and squeeze the ingredients to produce juice. This gives a high juice yield, no heat, and they operate quieter than centrifugal juicers.

Q: How do I know if my juicer is masticating or centrifugal?
A: A centrifugal juicer uses centrifugal force where the blade spins very fast. On the other hand, masticating juicers use slow turning force to extract the juice against a screen.

Q: How long do masticating juicers take?
A: Masticating juicers take between 5 to 7 minutes to prepare the juice. They extract highly nutritious juice that can last up to 3 days. If you are using a twin gear juicer, the juice can last up to 5 days.

Q: How do I choose a good masticating juicer?
A: When choosing a good masticating juicer, you need to pay attention to a juicer that can give you a high yield. Masticating juicers are also great if you want to juice leafy greens, and they produce dry pulp. Therefore, you will get less waste, and this makes them cost-effective.

Q: Are masticating juicers any good?
A: Masticating juicers are great if you want to enjoy high-quality juice with a better taste. They work well with various ingredients and good for health-conscious people. Masticating juicers are durable, and they are slightly expensive compared to centrifugal juicers.

Q: What can you put in a masticating juicer?
A: You can put a wide range of ingredients in a masticating juicer. Some of the items you can put include apples, grapes, melons, kiwi, pears, pineapple, berries, and citrus.

Conclusion

Masticating juicers are great kitchen appliances that will help you maintain a healthy lifestyle. You can give your body essential nutrients and enzymes by taking delicious juice made using masticating juicers. Many people love these juicers because of their quality juice, versatility, and efficient juicing.

At this point, I hope you understand everything about masticating juicers. We have covered how they work, clean them, the benefits, cons, and other essential tips. I hope all this will help you make the right choice when buying a masticating juicer.