Juicing? Anyone does it regularly? How messy is it?

[madteaparty]

My son has become addicted to fresh juices while we were overseas but I tell him it’s a messy process and I don’t want to take it on 😉 on the other hand, I don’t want to discourage healthy habits. 
if you regularly do this, can you recommend your machine? 

[Corraleno]

I used to have this Breville 800 JEXL Juice Fountain Elite Centrifugal Juicer. It worked great, made tons of juice for a family of four, and the kids loved it. But it was such a PITA to clean that I gave up. So. Many. Pieces. to soak and wash. Smoothies are a million times easier, as well as being healthier and less wasteful because you consume the fiber instead of throwing it away. I tried making muffins with the pulp and using it in other ways, but if you make a lot of juice it's really hard to use up that much pulp. We had chickens at the time, so they ended up with most of it, but I don't have chickens any more and there's just no way I can justify throwing out such a huge chunk of expensive organic produce when we could just be eating it as whole foods (or drinking it as smoothies).

[madteaparty]

7 minutes ago, Corraleno said:

I used to have this Breville 800 JEXL Juice Fountain Elite Centrifugal Juicer. It worked great, made tons of juice for a family of four, and the kids loved it. But it was such a PITA to clean that I gave up. So. Many. Pieces. to soak and wash. Smoothies are a million times easier, as well as being healthier and less wasteful because you consume the fiber instead of throwing it away. I tried making muffins with the pulp and using it in other ways, but if you make a lot of juice it's really hard to use up that much pulp. We had chickens at the time, so they ended up with most of it, but I don't have chickens any more and there's just no way I can justify throwing out such a huge chunk of expensive organic produce when we could just be eating it as whole foods (or drinking it as smoothies).

Yes smoothies every day and my house and it would kill me to throw the pulp out. I do have chickens however. Hmmmm

[ktgrok]

Honestly, drinking a ton of juice isn't a super healthy habit. 

If you eat an orange, it's about 9 grams of sugar, an there is fiber to slow the sugar absorption. 

An 8 oz glass of orange juice is 18 grams of sugar, no fiber. And often people will drink more than that. 

Developing a habit of drinking sweet drinks, rather than drinking water and eating fruit, is not a great idea in my experience. 

[lmrich]

I use my Vitamin and a nut milk bag to make fresh juice. I watched some Youtube videos to learn the process - easy cleaning!

And make sure you are adding a lot of greens to make it healthier. 

[AngelaGT]

I juice often.  I juice because I have absorption/digestive issues and the juice is absorbed more easily into the intestines.  I have a top quality Omega juicer that leaves very dry pulp.  I primarily juice only vegetables-all kinds including lots of greens.  I may add a few drops of liquid stevia.  It is not typically tasty, but tolerable and extremely beneficial for my health to be able to more completely receive the nutrition from the vegetables.  It is time consuming, but well worth it for me.  I do think the type of juicer you purchase and your reasons for juicing make the difference.

[madteaparty]

43 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

Honestly, drinking a ton of juice isn't a super healthy habit. 

If you eat an orange, it's about 9 grams of sugar, an there is fiber to slow the sugar absorption. 

An 8 oz glass of orange juice is 18 grams of sugar, no fiber. And often people will drink more than that. 

Developing a habit of drinking sweet drinks, rather than drinking water and eating fruit, is not a great idea in my experience. 

Thanks.  Not my question though. 

[madteaparty]

37 minutes ago, lmrich said:

I use my Vitamin and a nut milk bag to make fresh juice. I watched some Youtube videos to learn the process - easy cleaning!

And make sure you are adding a lot of greens to make it healthier. 

He only drinks these crazy-green drinks 🙂 

[Soror]

I juiced regularly for a couple of years. I had an Omega juicer like @AngelaGT. It was not all that hard to clean up as long as you did it right after juicing. I primarily juiced vegetables too. In the end it wasn't worth it to me to continue- it is a lot of money to juice very much, clean up although not a ton is still there. 

Eta: There are obviously far worse things a kid could drink. If he wanted to do it I'd get him in the habit of immediately disassembling and washing off the equipment directly after using it.

Edited July 24, 2021 by Soror

[ktgrok]

13 minutes ago, madteaparty said:

Thanks.  Not my question though. 

Sorry I was responding to the part of your post where you didn't want to discourage a healthy habit - just so you wouldn't feel guilty since it isn't always considered healthy. An "out" as it were, lol. 

[ktgrok]

20 minutes ago, AngelaGT said:

I juice often.  I juice because I have absorption/digestive issues and the juice is absorbed more easily into the intestines.  I have a top quality Omega juicer that leaves very dry pulp.  I primarily juice only vegetables-all kinds including lots of greens.  I may add a few drops of liquid stevia.  It is not typically tasty, but tolerable and extremely beneficial for my health to be able to more completely receive the nutrition from the vegetables.  It is time consuming, but well worth it for me.  I do think the type of juicer you purchase and your reasons for juicing make the difference.

Yeah, you absolutely can make lower sugar, healthier juices...but I'm not thinking most people do that. 

I mean, I look at how many people drink the bottled "green" juices that are mostly apple juice concentrate, and have 55 grams of sugar! They drink it to be healthy but their liver is not thrilled at 55 grams of fructose, even if there is some green stuff added in for color, lol. 

What you are describing is very different!

 

[Mona]

Is it green juice or green smoothies?

I use a “slow-juicer”. It’s not slow, but it juices in a way that won’t heat the fruits And vegetables with friction thus killing the nutrients; something like a Hurom or the like or a similar machine made int he USA; Omega VRT. My slow juicer is easy to clean and fast clean up is conducive to use. 

If you were super serious about juicing for healing and price was no object then you would go for a cold press machine. 

If you want a green smoothie and to keep all the fiber then I prefer Blendtec over Vitamix.

I don’t juice wheat grass, so if he is looking to drink wheat grass juice then you need to consider a different machine. 

When I first started juicing many years ago, I watched a lot of review videos by Jon the Juicer from DiscountJuicers.com

He also talks about gardening to supply your own organic ingredients on his channel/website.

 

Edited July 24, 2021 by Mona

[madteaparty]

43 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

Yeah, you absolutely can make lower sugar, healthier juices...but I'm not thinking most people do that. 

I mean, I look at how many people drink the bottled "green" juices that are mostly apple juice concentrate, and have 55 grams of sugar! They drink it to be healthy but their liver is not thrilled at 55 grams of fructose, even if there is some green stuff added in for color, lol. 

What you are describing is very different!

 

Again, this thread is about juicing machines not apple juice concentrate. Certainly there’s plenty of other venues to dispose nutritional advice. 

[madteaparty]

48 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

Sorry I was responding to the part of your post where you didn't want to discourage a healthy habit - just so you wouldn't feel guilty since it isn't always considered healthy. An "out" as it were, lol. 

Didn’t ask if what he does is healthy. I know it is. 

[madteaparty]

1 hour ago, lmrich said:

I use my Vitamin and a nut milk bag to make fresh juice. I watched some Youtube videos to learn the process - easy cleaning!

And make sure you are adding a lot of greens to make it healthier. 

 

57 minutes ago, Soror said:

I juiced regularly for a couple of years. I had an Omega juicer like @AngelaGT. It was not all that hard to clean up as long as you did it right after juicing. I primarily juiced vegetables too. In the end it wasn't worth it to me to continue- it is a lot of money to juice very much, clean up although not a ton is still there. 

Eta: There are obviously far worse things a kid could drink. If he wanted to do it I'd get him in the habit of immediately disassembling and washing off the equipment directly after using it.

It’s going to be me making it lol. I see already how much work it is here and these people have the heavy duty machines...

[GoVanGogh]

I bought a Breville about ten years ago and love it. 
I don’t think it is messy or too much of a pain to clean. I tend to juice enough for 2 days at a time, just because I do it in an assembly line manner and this works better for me. 
The pulp is very dry. I used to compost the pulp, but am not composting right now. I have never tried to cook with the pulp, though my juicer came with a recipe booklet that included recipes using the pulp. 
I have had stomach/digestion issues all my life, plus chronic inflammation and multiple autoimmune issues. Two years ago I was diagnosed with young onset Parkinson’s. I know I feel so much better when I juice on a regular basis. I do think that is partly because I start to crave green juice and drink that vs craving and eating, say, ice cream. LOL I really don’t care regarding the sugar or fiber issue. When I juice, i want to eat healthier throughout the day and I get plenty of fiber from other areas of my diet and reduce sugar consumption overall. 
 

edited to add: I do rinse my machine immediately after using, so nothing dries on. I think that helps with cleanup. 

Edited July 24, 2021 by GoVanGogh

[ktgrok]

I had one for a bit, when I was pregnant and midwife wanted me to try juicing certain veggies/fruits to reduce swelling....clean up IF I did it immediately, before drinking the juice, was fairly easy. Running water got most of it, and it came with a brush to clean the little holes. Not messy, as in a mess in the kitchen, it was pretty contained. Dump pulp in trash, rinse juice and pulp container in sink, use running water and a brush to clean the thing with all the little holes. set it all in dish rack or on a towel to dry. 

And again, sorry....was just trying to make you feel better if you didn't want to do it. If you do, it really isn't messy. a bit of work to cut the veggies/fruits to the proper size, and then the time it takes to juice it all. More time issue than mess issue, in my limited experience. (I was doing only certain foods, not sure if that made a difference - I think it was watermelon with the rind, celery, and cucumber...not positive but I think that was the mix I had to do)

[Clarita]

I have a Breville. I originally thought it was a pain to wash, but we now line the garbage bucket with a compostable liner and clean the grinder inside immediately after use with a nylon brush and it's pretty easy to clean. 

[*****]

I also have an Omega and I find it easy to clean if I do it right after using. I have to get in the right frame of mind to use it though, as yes, it takes time to wash your produce, cut, put together and take apart. But I know some who use it daily, it is just part of their routine.

I have a hard time with the waste, as I am not one to waste much.  Sometimes I freeze carrot pulp and add it to recipes. I add to muffins, soups, etc. so it isn't completely wasted. Shoot, if you are doing a stir fry, just add it to that...Wish I had chickens, but otherwise it goes into the compost bin and keeps my worms happy! 

[Pen]

not lately but lots at certain times - We have a “Juice Lady” — I don’t think they are made any more, but similar ones would be. (This looks similar:  Mueller Austria Juicer Ultra Power, Easy Clean Extractor Press Centrifugal Juicing Machine, Wide 3" Feed Chute for Whole Fruit Vegetable, Anti-drip, High Quality, Large, Silver https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D3C6NVL/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_3W96W41JJYP96VQKRBBF  and other Meuller items have worked well for me.) 

 

I use a stiff natural bristle brush to clean the screen. Done right away it’s not very hard to clean, but if the residue is allowed to dry on, then it is hard.    Cleaning Right away is key IME!

We used some pulp for muffins, gave some to animals, had a worm bin... 
 

Not quite as good as fresh, but the juice can freeze and still be quite good if you want to make more juice at once and clean machine much less often.  
 

Collaborative juicing with child(ten) doing part of process like they wash, you cut, they push veggie pieces down the juicer shoot, you clean the machine is fun
 

If you can get your ds to help grow a garden (even if just patio pots), greens etc straight from garden juice much better than store bought IME. (Taste better and are more juicy) Plus some mint and lemon can make things like kale and collards taste good. If by any chance you have pineapple access, kale/pineapple/mint was one of our favorites. A little organic Beet will sweeten juices up and maybe add to nitric oxide but can make color unattractive - if kids are young thinking up cool names can help if color is off putting 

[madteaparty]

Thanks so much everyone. We do have a huge garden.

[Pen]

1 hour ago, madteaparty said:

Thanks so much everyone. We do have a huge garden.

if the Juice Lady is still made (Salton co iirc) , ours has lasted over 20 years, sometimes with little use, but other times heavy use and child rough use. Workhorse and pretty easy to clean so long as you don’t let the pulp dry .  
 

Also, I lined the pulp receptacle bin with a bag so that part didn’t get dirty at all and the pulp could be taken to worms, fridge stored for later muffins etc