Juicing 101: Tips for Juice Newbies.

This week’s post is a bit of a continuation from last week. A part two, perhaps.

At what point should you stop shelling out $6, $8, or upwards of $10 for fresh- or cold-pressed juice and start making your own? It depends.

I thought that I would be saving massive amounts of money if I bought a juicer and started making my own juice. Reality is that juicing is costly whether you’re buying it or making it. I’ve heard several complaints about the price of the juices at Green Carrot Juice Company. Come on, it’s a business! Good produce ain’t cheap. I mean, you can go for all the deals all the time, but you’re probably compromising your health at some point. I can’t trust a $3 six-inch sub, Subway. No thanks.

Sometimes, the adage is true– you get what you pay for. Juicing is expensive, but the benefits out weigh the cost (of good produce and a juicer).

So, if you’re considering buying a juicer, I have a few tips for getting started.

Why Juice at Home?

It’s fresh. And it can be slightly cheaper in the long run. During the summer months, farmer’s markets are a great option to find an abundance of fresh, affordable produce. In winter, juicing at home is on the pricier side. Someone should start a green house and supply me fresh fruit and veggies. Thanks!

I like having a juicer purely for the convenience. Before Green Carrot, the options were pretty slim in Winnipeg.

Lastly, I like having the creative control over what goes into my juice. Juice and smoothie bars don’t generally offer customizable bevys in the Starbucks sense. I like making weird combinations. Just don’t try juicing an avocado or a banana; that’s not a thing. It will also destroy your juicer. Not that I’ve tried, but the Internet told me so.

Tips on Buying a Juicer:

I’ve mentioned this a multiple times: I’m frugal. I perused the Internet a lot before deciding on my current juicer. I’ve owned two juicers in the past four-ish years. A relatively cheap ($90) Kenmore juicer that lasted almost three years and my current Breville Juice Fountain Plus. I spent around $170 with taxes on the ‘ole Breville and I’ve been extremely happy with it. It usually retails for closer to $200 before tax, but I obviously waited for a sale. Shout out to Bay Days!

I’ve also used the world’s shittiest juicer and a friend’s $350+ juicer. However, I don’t remember the brand of these. The important thing is, that as a newb, I would strongly suggest that you don’t spend a billion dollars on a juicer. The difference between a $75 juicer to a $150ish juicer is way better than going from a $150 juicer to a $300+ juicer. Shoot for something at a mid-range price.

According to my research, and partially my experience, super pricey juicers create less foam and (maybe) slightly more juice. I don’t really get the point of having less foam. I like a good fruit and veggie latte!

The last (and most important) tip: look for a juicer with more than one speed. Any single-speed juicer is probably one of the rare $75 breed that can’t juice anything harder than a lemon. Steer clear. Or just buy a cheap citrus juicer.

Quick N’ Dirty Juicing Tips:

1) (Too much) citrus peel tastes gross juiced. Remove it. No need to peel apples, though, just wash ’em.

2) Go gingerly with the ginger. A 1-2″ piece is plenty for a single serving. Also, if you’re going to juice raw garlic, go easy on that, too. A clove will suffice.

3) When juicing leafy greens, or herbs, put them with a soft fruit (or veggie) to maximize your juice extraction. Think kale + oranges, or basil + berries.

4) Don’t force produce into your juicer, especially anything of a hard variety. Beets can kale your vibe, let me tell ya!
Pro tip 4.5: for hard fruit and veggies (apples, beets, carrots, etc) make sure you have your juicer set on “high” or power level two… we’ve already been through this, no using a one-speed juicer!!

5) Clean your juicer, or at least the filter, immediately after use. This may seem annoying, but trust me, dried on fruit and veggie pulp is way more annoying.

 

Get Juiced: whole-food juicing & extraction juicing.

We could all use more fruits and veggies in our lives. And this is why I started juicing three years ago.

The Winnipeg juice scene has exploded with the arrival of Green Carrot Juice Company in Osborne Village. Before this hip juice and healthy snack joint opened up there was a small handful of places to get fresh-pressed juice in the ‘Peg– Organic Planet, Fresh Cafe (now closed), and at smoothie chains such as Jugo Juice. But I usually went between Organic Planet and Fresh Cafe until I was given a juicer. Best gift ever.

A batch of Beet Zinger juice made by yours truly

 

Until Green Carrot there wasn’t a storefront business that sold primarily cold-pressed juice. Well, not at least in my time. Correct me if I’m wrong. And up until pretty recently, I didn’t realize there were two categories of juicing: whole-food and extraction.

I assumed there were only smoothies and (extraction) juice. I was wrong.

Extraction juicing is the type of juicing that I’m familiar with. It involves extracting only the liquids and nutrients from fruits and veggies with a juicer. With this method there is a significant amount of waste– all the fibre and pulp from the fruit and veggies. Apparently you can re-use the pulp to either add to smoothies or make into fruit leather. I haven’t tried either.

Whole-food juicing is what the name implies– using the whole fruit or vegetable and not creating any waste. This variation of traditional extraction juicing was introduced by the people behind the legendary Vitamix blender.

The main premise behind whole-food juicing, besides creating no waste, is that it’s healthier for you than juice made in a traditional juicer. It’s said to be healthier because it has more fibre. Fibre helps to both keep you full longer and balance out the natural sugars in the juice of fruits and vegetables. Another side benefit of whole-food juicing is you can save money, because you use fewer ingredients.

These all seem like great benefits. Whole-food juicing for the win… or not so much.

Fibre is great, but as someone who eats a primarily plant-based diet, I know that too much fibre isn’t a good thing. When I need some extra nutrients in my life, extraction juicing seems like the right option. You can easily digest the nutrients in the juice from an entire head of kale, but consuming a whole head of kale, blended or not blended, is another story.

One of the main reasons I started juicing was to be able to easily absorb nutrients. I have digestive issues, so consuming an abundance of raw fruits and veggies isn’t always an option for me. Like I mentioned, too much of a good thing (fibre) isn’t always so great.

Another claim from whole-food juicing supporters: The natural sugars from the juice of fruits and vegetables can make your blood-sugar levels crash. The fibre in whole-food juice helps to balance out these naturally occurring sugars. This might be relevant if you were consuming juice as a meal.

I don’t believe in juice detoxes or cleanses because your body is designed to detoxify itself. The only real way to get healthy is to eat better and exercise. If you’re interested in this topic, check out this article.

I don’t want to disqualify whole-food juicing. It has it’s benefits. It all depends on what you’re looking to get out of your juice. Either way you go, you’re taking a step in a healthy direction.

PS. I’m sure having a Vitamix would be magical, so much so that maybe a whole-food juice fairy will drop $600 into my palms. Until then, it’ll be smoothies and extraction juicing for this girl.