Z-Star Manual Portable Wheatgrass Juicer
by Tribest Corp.
Product Summary
Manufacturer: Tribest Corp.Brand: Tribest Corp.
Model: Z-510
Product features:
- A wheat grass juicer that does not require electricity
- Unique single-auger design uses an extremely gentle and efficient process to extract more juice
- Extracts great-tasting and nutritious juice from fresh fruits, vegetables, and leafy greens
- Lightweight, portable, and versatile, so you can enjoy fresh juice wherever you golightweight, portable, and versatile, so you can enjoy fresh juice wherever you go
- Easy to assemble and clean
Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Z-Star Manual Portable Wheatgrass Juicer
Customer Review: Juices greens wonderfully, falters a bit with juicier fruits/veggies
Summary: 4 Stars
I scoured Amazon for weeks before finally deciding to enter world of juicing with this manual juicer. I did a ton of research, and my decision to buy this was motivated by 1) the mastication involved (low temperature, extracts maximum juice, retains nutrients) 2) the ability to juice greens as well as harder veggies (other juicers have trouble with leaves and herbs, ie fennel - common cause of motor breakdowns in other juicers, I hear) and 3) manual feature.
I've had this for about a week and have thus far have juiced carrots, celery, parsley, cilantro, ginger, tomatoes, spinach, kale, chard, fennel, collard greens, oranges. Each time, I've enjoyed great tasting and fresh juice that FAR beats anything you can buy in grocery stores (even the "fresh" kind from, say, Whole Foods.) Nothing beats producing juice in your own kitchen!
Basic operation and concept :
Place cut veggies in a chute and tamp down with a plastic plunger (included). The produce meets a single barrel/auger which, while turning, crushes and feeds the produce through a stainless steel filter. Juice pours out the bottom while pulp is extruded out the opening on the front end.
Here's my take overall:
Pros:
- love the manual juice aspect: no motors that could potentially break, no elecriticity required, get a good arm workout in the process
- works like a charm for juicing greens (everything from parsley to spinach - this is apparently troublesome for other electric juicers)
- good construction - parts easily fit together, intuitive disassembly and setup, is a snap to attach and take apart
- good amount of juice extracted from veggies ($1.50 worth of kale or chard --> 10 oz juice)
- pulp seems relatively dry (esp from greens)
Cons:
- You need a stable, protruding surface to attach the clamp. Usually not a problem for most people, but I live in a studio apartment about 400 sq foot with a tiny kitchen. My counter does not "jut out" enough to securely clamp the stand - thus, I have it attached to a mobile wheeling cart which used to support a microwave. This is fine, but it is a bit wobbly which makes juicing a bit harder. Make sure you have a good surface for attaching. Also make sure you have a lot of room to maneuver so you can get good traction for turning the arm.
- The juicer didn't work so well for tomatoes - most of the pulp and juice stayed in the auger/filter part and wet all the pulp extruded. Would not recommend this for juicing tomatoes.
- Harder veggies have to be cut into smaller pieces. For example, you couldn't juice a whole carrot or even a whole carrot cut in half. I would recommend all hard produce be cut to the size of baby carrots. Once you do this, no problem at all.
- stainless steel mesh takes a lot of scrubbing to fully clean - the included 'toothbrush' for cleaning is already frayed after just 3 uses!
And there's the whole pulp falling into the plastic container thing, which as another reviewer helpfully pointed out, you can evade by simply using a different container or propping the plastic container on a plate to keep it out of the way of falling pulp. Not a big problem at all.
What about the work involved with the manual handle? Not too bad, in my opinion - it is a little tougher with harder veggies - I'd equate it to the arm effort involved in grating manually, for example. Nothing too crazy if you don't overload it.
All in all, I am very happy with this purchase. I'd certainly recommend this as a starting juicer that's an easy way to get in the world of juicing.
Note: for people who anticipate juicing a lot (and a lot of different veggies besides wheatgrass), this may be a little impractical as it does take time with the manual process to juice - about 20-30 minutes for 10 oz juice including prep, setup, juicing and cleanup time.
Description of Z-Star Manual Portable Wheatgrass Juicer
The new Z-Star Manual Juicer makes it affordable to be able to juice wheatgrass at home, or on the go. Its unique single-auger design uses an extremely gentle and efficient process to extract more high-quality juice from each blade of wheatgrass - without electric power. Not only can it juice wheatgrass, the Z-Star Manual Juicer can also extract great-tasting and nutritious juice from a variety of fresh fruits, vegetables, and leafy greens. The Z-Star Manual Juicer is lightweight, portable, and versatile, so you can enjoy fresh juice wherever you go!Manual Juicers
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