I wanted to provide an update on owning and utilizing a juicer due to certain feedback emails I have received from readers. Feedback is pleasant and welcomed but the My First Juicer article provoked quite a bit of noise with extremely little signal in my email inbox. The clamour focused on the subject of operating a juicer. I’m going to have to confute and rebut many of the issues raised. Be prepared, this blog entry is not going to be pretty. It will seem too several readers I am trivializing legitimate complaints and concerns with a dismissive and sceptical eye but I believe that people are manufacturing a lot of awfully superficially shallow grumbling.
Difficult To Clean
The most oft repeated objections I’ve heard from readers and people I’ve spoken with is how difficult it is to clean the juicer. I’ve yet to hear from one solitary person who actually cleans their juicer immediately after use. The concept of “cleaning the juicer” is to leave the appliance sat on the kitchen cabinet or languishing in the kitchen sink for several hours to several days and then rinsing the sundry parts under running water from the faucet. This is done with the worthlessly vain hope that the water will by some means magically eliminate the built-up of fruit pulp and varied bacteria in just a scant few seconds.
I don’t desire to deride anyone’s justifiable and legitimate complaints concerning the cleaning of juicers. I am persuaded there are scores of juicers on the market that are deviously tricky to clean but I deem for many of the people complaining as regards to how challenging it is to clean a juicer, they would find it arduous to clean it whatsoever if all that was required of them was to push a button and it miraculously does the job itself.
People employ the “it’s too hard” plea to avoid what they ought to be doing. People employ the “it’s too hard” plea to avoid improving their lives. Nevertheless these same people who use the “it’s too hard” excuse, and it is an excuse, are willing and eager to drive a round trip of 20 miles to purchase an unwholesome and unhealthy froufrou iced coffee drink.
People drive this distance to obtain a drink which does their body no good at all. Their vehicle expels carcinogens in to the environment and squander an exorbitant amount of money on something gratuitously unnecessary all to obtain a drink that slowly poisons them.
I personally think it is perversely hilarious that people won’t spend ten minutes making an extraordinarily healthy juice drink that will do far more good in the long run. People won’t spend ten minutes of their day making a drink that costs less than a cup of fancy ice blended coffee with whipped cream on top from the local Starbucks.
Other than throwing the entire appliance in to the dishwasher – at least the parts that are actually dishwasher safe – I’ve discovered the easiest way to clean the Jack Lalanne Juicer. Clean it with a bottle brush. Bottle brushing makes the clean up superbly swift. It’s a task that occupies minutes at most, even if I neglected to clean the juicer at once, immediately after employing it to make juice.
Bottle brushing takes minutes even if the juicer sat out on the kitchen cabinet for hours because my ADD brain got distracted by a shiny new activity. Two days ago I completely forgot to clean the juicer and I left it with massive amounts of pulp caked on the inside for about 14 hours. I had the whole juicer cleaned off and ready again in less than 8 minutes[1] with just plain hot water and a bottle brush.
The best bottle brush product for cleaning the juicer that I’ve found is the cleaning brush collection sold for de-gunkifying the build up of slimey goo on the pet water fountains. I’m currently using the Drinkwell Pet Fountain Cleaning Kit which costs around ten bucks and can be found at places like PetCo, PetSmart and Target or pretty much anywhere you can buy the pet water fountains. You can also purchase the brush collection directly from Amazon.com too and I won’t even put in a sponsored link so it doesn’t look like I’m shilling. 
Drinkwell Pet Fountain Cleaning Kit
If you want to buy the brush collection from Amazon.com and feel like giving me something, try a donation instead. I’m not much in to the sponsored links all that much right now. I’d prefer to recommend a product to you because it’s genuinely good and I really like it without incrimination to having an ulterior motive, such as income generation.
If you feel like the recommendation was worth it to you and you want to contribute something to this website, hit the donate button on the sidebar. Hitting that button and entering all of your details is higher friction so I even put roadblocks in the way to prevent you from donating. Which is a good thing, because now your natural laziness will kick in and you’ll procrastinate on donating, muttering something about “I’ll do it once I finish the article” and then you’ll wander off to some other website like Fark or Digg and forget all about that good intention. That’s okay, the good intention was good enough for me and I’ll see you in Hell.
The pet fountain bottle brushes are all different sizes and shapes so they can easily get in the little nooks and crannies of the juicer in a couple of minutes. I can clean off the juicer, removing pulp and residue, inside of three minutes under a running tap.
My recommendation is you don’t confuse the bottle brushes you use on the pet water fountain with the bottle brushes you use on the juicer. It makes the juice taste a little… catty.
I’m not sure about other juicers but the Jack Lalanne Juicer that I own is dishwasher safe so how hard can that be to clean? That really is “just push a button” to get the juicer all sparkly and bacteria free. Check the owner’s manual that came with your juicer, I’m sure there will be a section in there on whether the juicer parts are dishwasher safe, and if not, there’s always the bottle brush and hot water.
Juices Are Boring
Another of the familiar complaints is really one of education. I was in this boat too, and I’m only just now navigating through some unfamiliar waters to find out the answers.
The big question is “What do I juice?”
When I first thought about getting a juicer I imagined that I’d be pretty much making orange juice, pomegranate juice and maybe grapefruit juice. And I was in for a shock when I found out what people are willing to put in their juicer.
Two books later and I’m styling with this juicer. I’m drinking fruits and vegetables in combinations I never even contemplated before. My juice fu was very weak at the beginning but it has improved by leaps and bounds in the few short weeks I’ve had the juicer. So go get yourself a couple of books and start browsing for recipes. It’s not that hard people!
The Juicing Book: A Complete Guide to the Juicing of Fruits and Vegetables for Maximum Health
Ultimate Juicing: Delicious Recipes for Over 125 of the Best Fruit & Vegetables Juice Combinations
Okay, one thing you are going to realise if you get involved with the raw food movement or health food nuts (pun) is that there is a lot of hyperbole and very base marketing[2] involved. If you can get past the “maximum” and “ultimate” and “great” and “fastest” then you’ll be okay, just don’t buy in to it. The books above I personally recommend, not because they are the best, not because I’m being paid to recommend them, not because anybody sold me on them, not because I was sent them for free, but because I personally own them and have tried some, but not all, of the recipes out of the books. So far I have been pleased with the recipes I’ve tried.
You can also find an abundance of recipes and juicing information on the web and all I’m going to do for that is direct you to google.com and give you a key word combination “juicing recipe” that will give you more recipes than you can shake a celery stick at.
Preparation Takes Too Long
The least oft repeated complaint I hear is about peeling and cutting up the fruits and vegetables.
Okay I agree, this complaint has a valid point for certain values of fruit. And certain values of vegetable too.
I think the complaint is heard less often because people are complaining and worrying about cleaning the juicer before they even start to really experiment so never actually get to complain about peeling and cutting because the task never gets that far.
I admit, you do have to peel some foods – pomegranates I’ve found are the worst so far – and you do have to slice up some fruits and vegetables because they just don’t work “as is” in the juicer or blender, but we’re again talking minutes here. A really good sharp knife, a chopping board, a trash bag to dump the skins, seeds or cut off waste in and you’re pretty much set.
I juice at least once per day and between peeling, slicing, juicing and cleaning the juicer afterwards I do that in less time than it takes me to actually drink the juice unless I’m trying to pound the juice back.
The point I’m making is that if you want to improve your mind and body, if you want to be a better person, if you want to grow beyond who you are right now, then it will require expending at least a little effort.
Get out of that rut and stop making excuses for your lack of motivation.
If peeling fruits and vegetables is too much work for you – and remember that not all fruits and vegetables require peeling – then sticking to a gym regime or building wealth or working for yourself is going to be way beyond your capabilities, work ethos and self-discipline quotient.
One of the things I’m realising, and other people have pointed out, is that the Jack Lalanne Juicer that I own, whilst very good, isn’t very versatile. There are just some things you cannot juice in this particular style of juicer, wheatgrass for example – which, personally, will not cause me to worry because I think wheatgrass tastes disgusting – but it is a valid point. It looks like in the not so distant future I am going to have to pick up a second juicer for the kitchen to be able to juice certain other types of food product.
Fresh Food Is Expensive
We have all become conditioned to cheap packaged processed food. On average the cost of food has actually not kept pace with inflation as new factory farming and industrial processing methods have been employed to produce more and more food for us to consume. By some estimates it is claimed that food costs less than 10% of what it did 10 years ago.
This societal conditioning to expect cheap food is only possible if you live on highly processed, pre-packaged food products and really cheap fast food from places like McDonald’s.
I’ve been tracking my food expenses since I started juicing regularly and now that I am purchasing far more fresh fruit and vegetables has decreased my monthly food bill by about 8%. This small decrease I attribute to the fact I purchased a lot of pre-packaged meals from supermarkets such as Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and Bristol Farms prior to juicing regularly.
Juicers Are Expensive
I’ve heard complaints about juicers costing far too much for what they are. You can pick up second-hand juicers at garage sales and yard sales very easily. I’ve seen them myself. Juicers are one of those kitchen products that a lot of people buy, use once or twice, and then they dispose of the item.
Twenty bucks can get you a top of the line juicer that has been used a handful of times. Before buying my first juicer I would see second-hand juicers all the time at yard sales in my neighbourhood.
What am I saying? I still see second-hand juicers out there at yard sales.
Out there, taunting me with their cheap prices, begging to be taken home like a puppy.
“Look what followed me home! Can I keep him?”
The other option open to you is to purchase a cheaper juicer. If you haven’t juiced anything yet and you aren’t sure if juicing is going to be something that you will integrate in to your life and do on a regular basis, go pick up a cheap juicer for yourself. You don’t need to be spending $300 on a top of the line VitaMix or professional juicer if you haven’t juiced before.
I spent less than a hundred dollars on my Jack Lalanne Juicer at Sears and there were plenty of other juicers I could have picked from in the $40 to $70 range too. I just happened to pick the Jack Lalanne Juicer based on my girlfriend’s opinion of it.
If you do decide to drop $300 on a top of the line juicer and only use it once or twice and then dispose of it, please let me know where and when you’re having the yard sale. I need a new puppy. Er… Juicer.
Juicers Are Too Big
Complaints about the juicer taking up too much space in the kitchen were very apparent. I cannot determine if this is a legitimate complaint from someone with an incredibly small kitchen or that the complainer has way too much counter clutter in their kitchen.
If you have a kitchen appliance such as a toaster, food mixer, food processor, cappuccino machine, coffee maker, juicer or other gadget they will all take up kitchen counter space. But looking at how often each of these appliances will be used will dictate where they should be kept. Kitchen cupboards, storage carts or shelving, or storage closets near the kitchen is where most small kitchen appliances should be kept.
Most of my kitchen appliances are stored away and only brought out for the specific time they are used. You wouldn’t think of giving pride of place in the centre of your living room to your vacuum cleaner so why do that in your kitchen with rarely used appliances. I use my juicer at least once a day, sometimes more, and I use my cappuccino machine twice a day at least, so those items get near permanent counter space in my very small galley style kitchen.
The toaster, the toaster oven, the food processor, the food mixer, the blender, these are items kept on a storage cart or in a nearby storage closet for when they are needed. If you were to review what’s on your kitchen counters I am confident you could find more than ample space for a juicer – or two – if you are going to make juicing a major part of your dietary habits.
One person complained to me that preparing the fruit and vegetables takes up too much space in their kitchen. Okay, you really do have an incredibly small kitchen or too much counter clutter. If it’s a small kitchen, sucks to be you. If you have too much counter clutter, that’s an article for another time.
You Got Stamen Stains All Over My Juice(r)
A lot of readers also have the Jack Lalanne Juicer and whilst many of them are completely satisfied with the juicer a few have complained about carrot juice and pulp staining the juicer. I’m not sure how this is happening. I’ve juiced a lot of carrots through my juicer over the past couple of weeks and there is no carrot or other vegetable stains of any kind on the juicer yet. The only thing I can think of is that people are letting the juicer sit around for the better part of a day with the carrot pulp sat inside the juicer bonding to the plastic somehow.
Juicing Takes Too Long
I’ve heard complaints that juicing takes too much time. From personal experience I think that juicing takes no more time than cooking. Again, long term, repeated conditioning to cheap, instant, give it to me now heavily processed, pre-packaged food products produced in an industrial processing facility has made us all expect to get our food instantly.
The drive through is a few minutes.
Microwaving a Hungry Man dinner is a few minutes.
Toasting some Pop Tarts takes a few minutes.
So few people in America prepare and cook real meals at home anymore that the concept of spending thirty or forty minutes in the kitchen making a meal from scratch using only fresh ingredients without any pre-packaged food products or sauces is a completely alien concept.
Why even have a kitchen in your home if it isn’t going to be used?
Juicing Is Loud
The “juicer is too loud” complaint is the funniest one yet. This really is the epitome of the precious snow flake syndrome to be sure. The motor hum on my juicer is whisper quiet and when actually juicing up food, the blades are barely louder than the fan on the microwave and certainly quieter than the extractor fans on the extractor hood over the stove.
I am sure there are some noisy juicers out there that use burr grinders encased in a metal frame to mash up the food but I cannot imagine we are talking about a jet engine taking off. When I’m juicing I can still plainly hear the pitiful mewling of one of my cats trapped inside the kitchen cabinet where I keep the juicer when it’s not being used.
If You Can’t Stand The Heat…
I know I am being very dismissive when it comes to addressing these complaints, some of them, a very scant few of them, are valid, but mostly I feel the complaints are being made just because. Complaining for the sake of complaining. These complaints are just excuses being dredged up to not do even the barest minimum required to improve.
My recommendation is that if you are contemplating purchasing a juicer or already own a juicer that sits idle that you give using it a serious effort on a daily basis for at least a month. One whole 30 day trial.
Let’s say all you do is juice up oranges and a little pineapple each day in a single 12oz or 16oz juice drink. By my estimates if you already own a juicer the fresh fruit won’t cost you more than $60 for the entire month. The juice is so filling that my girlfriend and I now skip breakfast and just waits for a late afternoon lunch. The juice is breakfast.
Spending extra money on fresh fruit will actually remove other food items from your daily diet so the total cost is actually lower. The actual cost will depend on what kind of foods you normally eat that you replaced with fresh juice.
A pure orange juice in a 16oz glass is the equivalent of consuming two or three very large Navel oranges in one sitting. When was the last time you consumed that many oranges in a single sitting?
So your one month trial didn’t work out? Don’t forget to drop me a note when you’re having that yard sale.
[1] I timed myself because I really wanted to know how long it would take to clean that much caked gunk off.
[2] That’s marketing that involves extravagant claims and superlative words to push the product that probably doesn’t live up to the hype, it’s like using power words on a resume.