UKC

Hello UKC hive mind

Please recommend me a juicer.

I've never really pondered kitchen utensils beyond spatulas, knives and kettles.

I am not after a blender or smoothie maker; I think I'll get more use from a juicer. Feel free to convince me otherwise, but I find smoothies a bit tedious aside from as an occasional treat when out and about. I think I would only use a blender for making houmous, and I drink more juice than I eat houmous. 

I am mainly trying to cut down on buying cartons of "breakfast juice with bits in", and also purple-dyed sugary squash to dilute.

I do also want to be able to put stuff like carrot and beetroot in (one of my favourite carton juices is a multivitamin one that Lidl do, which has carrot and beetroot in), alongside easier stuff like oranges, so I guess it needs to be tough. But I don't want to spend hundreds of £. Thinking/hoping maybe £80 would get an acceptable one?

Juicer seems to he one of those gadgets that people get and then don't use much so I reckon it's worth looking on ebay to see if there are any second hand bargains.  

I've currently got a Breville centrifugal from Curries that's discontinued. Cost £30-something IIRC. It's fast, easy to clean, and it's only downside is it produces quite a lot of foam/froth with the juice.

Best bet is probably to read up on them and hit eBay. I''d prioritise convenience ( big input tube, pulp handling, cleaning, storage) as long as juice gets an acceptable score- otherwise it'll not get used do much.

I'll try to post the model number later...

... it's a Breville JE27.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Breville-JE27-Whole-Fruit-Juicer/dp/B000W355DM

It wasn't our first, but I'd recommend one or one like it.

Our first was a Magimix Le Duo which was a bit of a pain to use and clean.

IF you did fancy the smoothy road we had good results with the Lidl's £15 Nutribullet inspired machine.

Thanks for these replies!

It's always polite to return to threads where people have given advice. 

Elsewhere in a more in depth discussion, other friends have steered me towards getting a decent blender instead, for more versatility. 

Thanks again for advice on here though. 

Cheers

That Lidl 'Nutrition Mixer' does punch above its weight as a blender too. Quick and easy to clean well. Have a look around reviews.

It lists at £29.99 and is often half price...

You have now put the Good Housekeeping website into my search history...

I think we have one of those or similar.  It does the job.  

Can it do beetroot and carrots? Reviews said they struggle with spinach stems...

The Lidl one? Yes. It has two sets of blades (different heads) and can smash root stuff up very effectively. One set of blades is for stuff like ice and coffee beans etc. The other set is sharper and shaped to throw the veg back up into the mix to be whizzed again. 

What tends to give the blenders problems is things that would choke a rotary lawnmower by wrapping round the axle of the blade.... but I didn't have any problems with kale and other tough greens. The worst offenders can simply be chopped into shorter bits before feeding in.

Nothing to add regarding which machine, but... apple and carrot juice, yum!

Gotta keep regular

Thanks, I will keep an eye out. I didn't realise Lidl had started using "Middle of Lidl" as a slogan on their website!

You might not, or might, have seen this...

youtube.com/watch?v=PrfA3tv27Hc&

we've got a Ninja - I was sceptical to begin with, but it gets regular use. It's proper powerful, can blend ice, kale stems, soups without a hiccup. Easy to clean in the dishwasher. They are quite pricey, but you can get replacement parts if any break, so you don't have to bin the whole thing (a problem with cheaper ones we tried).

The smaller ones are in your price range: https://ninjakitchen.co.uk/nutri-ninja-personal-blenders/

Interesting point about the spares, thanks.