There are a plethora of juicing appliances on sale today. Two of the most popular varieties are centrifugal and masticating juicers. While they both produce juice, the way that they work is completely different. They are both effective in their own way at making fruit and vegetable juices but which one would be best for you? This really depends upon what factors you see as most important. Today, I’m going to be explaining the differences in functionality between these two types of juicing appliances. If you are interested, you can then look at more detailed juicer reviews to find out more about specific brands and models which are currently on the market.
Centrifugal Juicers
The beauty of these machines is their speed. Put simply, they are the fastest juicers sold today. It is not uncommon for centrifugal machines to spin at speeds in excess of 10,000 RPM. This is great for making juices quickly. Although there is a drawback which we shall look at in a minute.
Fruit and vegetables are fed down through a feed hole in the top of the juicer. Typically with these machines this hole is pretty big, again, this is another plus point. It means we can feed in lots of produce quickly. The end result being that we get our juice in double time.
The produce that is fed down into the juicer arrives at the central spinning basket which is rotating at very high speed. When the fruit and vegetables touch this section, they are torn into tiny pieces of pulp by the sharp blades on the basket. These tiny bits of pulp are thrown to the side of the basket, which has tiny holes. The liquid escapes through the holes while the pulp is ejected into the pulp catching basket.
Due to the speed of these machines as well as the large feed chute, we can make a juice in less than a minute. Of course, the clean up time is extra.
The one drawback with centrifugal juicers is that they treat the produce quite harshly. The speed and cutting action is enough to tear open cell walls and as the juice is being made an unintended side effect is that the rate of oxidation is speeded up due to the high speeds of the appliance.
Masticating Juicers
The beauty of masticating juicers is that they are kinder to the produce. These machines operate at speeds of around 100 RPM, this is 100 times slower than centrifugal juicers. Also, instead of a spinning, cutting and tearing action, masticating juicers employ a crushing and grinding action. This squeezes the liquid from the fruits and vegetables that we juice.
Not only do these juicers operate more slowly, they also have narrower feeding holes. So they definitely take a bit longer to use. So one of the main factors you have to think about is how much time you have available for juicing.
The lower speeds of these machines means that they are kinder to the nutrients contained within the juices. We can see this for ourselves if we compare a juice from each kind of juicer. If you let the juice sit for 5 minutes, you’ll notice a much greater separation into layers of the juice made by the centrifugal juicer.
To me, this indicates that masticating juicers are a better choice. In my experience, the juices taste better as well.