Healthy Juicer - Manual Hand Powered Wheatgrass Juicer - Wheat grass juicer
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Our Price: $44.95 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Healthy Juicer - Manual Hand Powered Wheatgrass Juicer - Wheat grass juicer
Customer Review: Awesome juicer, but not for the lazy and/or stupid.
Summary: 5 Stars
Please don't pay any attention to the negative reviews on here. I've read through them all, and my conclusion is that they are all a little bit...slow. I mean, one lady gave it 1 star because she couldn't figure out how to assemble it! What? People, if you can't figure out how to put this thing together, you have problems. Several other brainiacs gave it 1 star because they can't seem to put the catch cup in the right place. Once guy said he kept hitting it with the crank. I don't understand. There is only 1 possible place to put the catch cup. If you're hitting it with the crank, it's not in the right place. Move the cup. Another 1 star person was angry that it took too long to juice 12oz of carrot juice. Sigh. This is a single auger juicer. It's specifically designed for grass and leafy greens. Why would you buy a wheatgrass juicer to juice carrots? If you want lots of carrot juice, buy a centrifugal style juicer. The spinning shredder disk on those is designed to chew through bunches of carrots in no time.
That being said, you CAN juice carrots with the healthy juicer. I juice them every day. Usually just 1 or two to go along with my collards, kale, parsley, and celery. You have to cut them in thin strips first. Not julienne or anything that tiny, but you don't want a huge chunk of carrot stopping up your auger. Cutting a carrot takes approximately 20 seconds though some of the 1 stars would tell you what a humongous hassle it is.
Several others complain about how it doesn't juice apples or oranges. Well, it can. Just not by themselves. Again, this is an example of using the wrong tool for the job. If you want straight orange juice, get a citrus squeezer. Plain Apple juice? Centrifugal juicer. Although it's not specifically designed to juice oranges and apples, it will still juice them as long as you have something substantial to run through it after the oranges. Like a carrot. Or a couple stalks of celery. Or some collards. I encountered this problem when I first got the juicer and I then blogged about it. http://mentalbiscuits.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/im-juicy/ It IS possible to successfully juice soft fruits like oranges, tomatoes, and cucumber. You just have to remember to juice them first and then run a carrot or something through to help press out all of the pulp.
A list of things I've successfully juiced so far:
celery
carrots
green cabbage
red cabbage
bok choy
parsley
cilantro
collards
kale
mustard greens
turnip greens
watercress
spinach
beets
beet greens
swiss chard
bell peppers
onions
garlic
apples
pears
oranges
grapes
cantaloupe
honeydew
lemons
limes
blueberries
raspberries
strawberries
cucumber
tomatoes
zucchini
sweet potato
Strangely, I've never used my wheatgrass juicer for wheatgrass, so I can't speak to that functionality except to say that you should expect to use a lot of grass to make a couple ounces of juice. That's just the nature of the beast. There's just not that much juice in wheatgrass.
As far as pulp goes, I've NEVER had an issue with wet pulp. My pulp is always super dry compared to the pulp from a centrifugal juicer. If you've got wet pulp, you're doing something wrong. Watch the how-to video on the Lexen website if you're having trouble. Personally, I always use the little white wheatgrass cap regardless of what I'm juicing. Seems to extract more juice that way. I love my juicer. If it ever breaks, I'm buying a new one.
Customer Review: Compact, efficient; hopper's a bit small (updated review)
Summary: 4 Stars
Pros:
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1. Very compact: It takes less counter/table space than a small plate. Most of the electrics (except the L'Equip mini and the Waring JEX 328) are major space hogs.
2. Very efficient: Masticating juicers extract more juice than the centrifugal models. Perhaps more importantly, they do a better job of crushing tough plant cell walls and releasing enzymes - think minced garlic versus chopped garlic. (Whether or how much added health benefits this results in, depends on what you juice. It's hard to get good info on this, but plant enzymes typically help in breakdown and better absorption of nutrients.)
3. Cheap (Check out their Ebay listing - it's $10 cheaper over there.) If you don't want to drop upwards of $250 on an electric masticating juicer, or aren't sure whether you'll stick to it, this one's worth a try.
4. Easy to clean
Cons:
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1. The hopper's a bit small, which means you'll be reloading frequently. This seems to be the trouble with masticating juicers in general (including the electrics), but the Z-star manual juicer (also available on amazon, though at twice the cost) has a somewhat bigger hopper.
UPDATE: see effort section below.
2. As I haven't used this long enough, I can't say how durable it is, though it seems very tough and well-made. (The auger tip and the surface it crushes against are both stainless steel, and all the rest is polycarbonate.)
Juicing effort:
Turning the handle: Effortless for leafy veggies, very little effort for carrots and firm veggies, provided you cut them into smaller pieces first. Don't expect to be able to throw a whole carrot or radish in. The reviewer that claims that you need to be a weightlifter to turn this thing was funny, but wildly off the mark.
UPDATE: Curiously enough, on trying red cabbage, the juicer groans, esp. with largish pieces. I noticed that the juicing effort is quite sensitive to the size of the pieces - with smallish pieces, not only is less turning effort required, but the produce doesn't need pushing either. This lets you feed and crank the handle at the same time, making the process faster.
All in all, though, this idiosyncracy counts as a negative point, and I'm lowering my rating to 4 stars.
UPDATE 2: When juicing cabbage, drizzle a little bit of olive oil over the chopped cabbage - this completely eliminates the groaning (which happens due to friction between the rubbery leaves and the juicer body).
Cleaning: better than the electrics in this department because of fewer parts and simpler design. Cleanup is a major part of juicing effort, so I count this as a pro.
Cutting: For firm veggies, you'll have to cut them into smaller parts (no perfect julienne required; just a quick, sloppy chop would do.) Even so, this adds a little bit to the effort, so if you primarily want to juice firm veggies, you should look at an electric.
Setup: Very easy (again, from the simpler design).
Customer Review: Lots of problems
Summary: 2 Stars
Please don't buy this if you think you are going to be juicing carrots and apples and other hard vegetables. Because it is manual, it would take anyone forever to get a 12 oz. glass of carrot juice. I can get a glass of carrot juice in less than 1 minute with my centrifugal juicer which is a Juiceman pro. But, a centrifugal juicer can't do what this little juicer can do, juice grass and leafy greens.
I have mixed feelings about this little juicer. First the pros. This juicer does a fine job of juicing wheatgrass. The pulp is dry and it is not hard to crank. Cleanup is fairly easy. It is portable. It is cheap. You get a slick dvd and extra parts. In an emergency this juicer would be an ideal survivor tool.
Now the cons. The so called indestructible plastic auger cracked after the first two weeks of juicing wheatgrass. I have to send it back for a replacement. Sometimes the crank hits the clamp or the edge of the counter. That means I have to readjust the clamp to make sure it is on correctly. Not a big problem but something you have to be careful about. If the lip on your kitchen counter does not protrude out far enough, the clamp might not attach properly. We actually have to open the dishwasher in order to have enough clearance for the clamp to attach under the kitchen counter. I ended up juicing in my backyard attaching the unit to the side table of my grill because of the clamp, the clearances and the drippy mess.
Next, the designers decided it would be best to reverse the threads of the end cap. That means in order to tighten it, you turn it counter clockwise. This is the opposite of every standard thread on the planet. It's confusing. In order to take off the end cap after juicing, you have to use the wrench supplied and use a moderate amount of force. I don't like it.
Also, the hopper body is hard to slide off the locking base. Sometimes I really have to push it. Next, the juice cup is very close to the handle crank. You have to be careful not to knock over the juice cup as you are cranking. Not a huge deal but again, something you have to put up with. Lastly, when you slide off the hopper, there are some drips. Because you must attach the locking base close to the edge of a counter, that means some drips on the kitchen floor. It can get messy.
I bought an Omega 8005 electric juicer three weeks after buying this healthy juicer. The omega is terrific and has none of the problems I have with the healthy juicer.
//(One year later.......)//
After growing and juicing wheatgrass for over a year now, I can't imagine using a manual juicer. If you know you are going to be juicing grass as a way of life, I would save my money and buy an electric juicer such as the Omega.
Customer Review: it's just a great little juicer
Summary: 5 Stars
I just bought one of these and have to say that my expectations were pretty low. This is the second manual juicer I have bought and the first one was useless.
A few things I really like about this juicer:
1. It's manual, which alot of people seem to be saying is a "con" of the juicer, but I think it's awsome. You use no electricity, you can take it anywhere, and you even get a little arm excersize while using it. SO to those whimps who are complaining about the hand crank I say to you go out and spend your $250 on an electric one and quit bashing this great little unit! I mean seriously, it's not like the company advertized that the juicer would crank ITSELF.
2. The juicer came with several extra parts. I was pleased to see that the juicer came with extra of the items most likely to wear out or break, such as bushings etc. I am an auto mechanic, so I don't guess I am really qualified to say that it was "easy" to put together, but I had not trouble at all. There are instructions, as well as a dvd that DEMONSTRATES exactly how to put the thing together (not that I needed to use either of those). Pause it...slow motion...whatever you have to do to get this thing put together because I assure you it will be worth it.
3. Juice yield. I have to say that I just recently bought a hydraulic press juicer, which is supposed to have the highest yield of any juicer type, and when compared to this little unit I can guarantee I will be using my "healthyjuicer" more than I will that juice press. The amount of juice that this little thing extracts is amazing to me...my mom has one of the green power TWIN GEAR juicers, which are supposed to be the best all around electric juicer you can buy and I think that this little manual one has dryer pulp than what comes out of her $350+ juicer! I was also afraid that it would ONLY be good for wheatgrass and lettuce and stuff, but the first thing I did when I got it was run some carrots through there and it did great! Most other juicers are either good at leafy vegetables and not so good at harder vegetables or vice versa...this one seems to excel at both!
I just can't say enough about this little juicer...the price, the weight, the ease of use and ease of cleaning are enough to offset ANY drawback that anyone has listed in these reviews. My motive for writing this review: I want LOTS of people to go out and buy these things so that the company continues to make them so that down the road when mine finally DOES wear out I will be able to get another one.
Customer Review: Very Dissatisfied with This Product
Summary: 3 Stars
First, I am being extremely generous with three stars, however I have to take personal responsibility for how I couldn't even put the juicer together at all to begin with - so this is my fault.
Now, the juicer is shipped with all of the loose parts right in the box. There is not any protective wrapping at all. I took out the parts and tried for half an hour to put this thing together and it just was not happening. So I got so fed up, that I just put the entire unused parts right back in the original box.
Then I had to get an RMA number directly from the company - which they did send promptly via e-mail for the return - which HAS TO BE WITHIN 5 DAYS. I paid UPS to ship all original parts (it also has to be in the original box) back to the company.
Then I receive an e-mail that says: "Barbara,
Your return was received. However the juice cup is broken due to packaging. Everything else looks ok, and nice job cleaning it!
Unfortunately, we will have to charge a $5.00 replacement part fee which we incur to get a replacement part for the juicer.
We have credited your card $39.95.
Was there another product we could help you find?"
So I wrote back explaining that it was never used to begin with, (everything I said above about the original packaging, open parts with no protective packaging, etc.)
I'm a really big believer in that you really do get what you pay for - especially in kitchen items.
The actual juice cup is so small, you would have to chop all of the vegetables into very small pieces so they can fit without a problem, and then hand churn it all (if you're one of the fortunate ones that can put it together.)
There's no way you can just throw in a stalk of celery or a whole carrot with this product.
I would suggest a product made by Braun instead. I've been using specific items by Braun for 20 years now, still working perfectly. It might cost more to buy a better product, however, I think it's well worth it.
I also suggest buying one in person, preferably already assembled, so there's not this headache.