PGP001-WHSL Longevity Electric Juicer

Unlike many people who write juicer reviews, I am not a long-time juicer. In fact, despite being a graduate of one of the premier culinary schools in America and having worked as a professional chef, I have never juiced anything in my life. A friend who is very much into healthy eating persuaded me to try some of his various juice combinations and after a taste or two I knew I had to have one. Then followed lots of research to find the best choice for my pocketbook and my lifestyle. As a sometime kitchen professional, I have a fondness for "commercial" equipment and so I ended up lusting over a Norwalk. But $2500 for a juicer the size of Wrigley Field with a hydraulic press...too much.I debated long and hard over centrifugal versus auger or gear driven machines. Now, I should stop here for a disclaimer. I do not drink juice to detoxify my liver or to prevent/treat cancer, heart disease, gallstones, or flat feet. I drink it because I like the taste and because it gets raw fruit and vegetables into my body in a way that has to be healthy. Please, I do not need any Gerson folks or other enthusiasts to comment telling me that I should...you-fill-in. Don't take that as a put-down. I respect the choices people make for their health and, in fact, many juicing enthusiasts are doubtless much healthier than I.The implication of this is that I don't seek out organic produce unless I can get it cheap, nor do I worry about how much of the good stuff is going to be lost to oxidation if there is foam in the juice. That just isn't who I am.Because I no longer have a scullery worker to wash up behind my efforts, I wanted something that was easy to clean. Because I enjoy the product a lot more than the process, I wanted a machine that didn't require me to do a lot of food prep. Because I'm not wasteful by nature, I wanted a device that extracted as much juice as possible.I was drawn to the Breville Juice Fountain Elite. It is hefty stainless steel and you can dump whole apples or beets into it without cutting or chopping. Fast. Easy. But only a one-year warranty, a well-documented tendency to throw food all over the kitchen and considerable commentary about its limited ability to extract maximum juice.I looked at juicers from Omega, Green Star, Kuvings, Champion, Hurom...the list goes on and on. While they got good reviews, there were also comments about durability, size, speed, and so on.Something to like and something to dislike about every single model I looked at...including the one I bought.I chose a lesser-known juicer, the Jay Kordich PowerGrind Pro. The description of the innards is a bit vague, even on Jay's website so let me tell you exactly how it works. In essence, it is a centrifugal juicer. It shreds the fruit and vegetables and spins them against a fine, cone-shaped stainless steel filter, literally slinging out the juice. The difference is that surrounding the shredder disk is a grinding ring maybe 5/16" wide which mates with a similar ring mounted on the top housing. The motor runs at a substantially slower speed than most centrifugals but much, much faster than an auger/gear machine. The produce is shredded and then ground between the two rings, which are positioned just a fraction of a millimeter apart. The result is very dry pulp. After juicing a bag of apples, a couple of pears, ginger, celery, and carrots, I found that I could pick up a handful of the pulp and squeeze really hard yielding only a few drops of unextracted juice. It makes more noise than an auger/gear juicer but a lot less than the Breville, which sounds like a 747 spooling up the engines for takeoff. Cleanup takes me about 3-5 minutes and seems neither more nor less messy than the others I looked at.OK, here are the pros as I see them:--Excellent build quality though not a stainless housing like the Breville. The screen and shredder are separate pieces, much sturdier than the Breville. Everything fits together snugly.--Very dry pulp--Tolerable noise level--Easy cleanup in that there are no cracks and crannies to trap wee bits of celery fiber--Lifetime warranty on the motor and three year warranty on everything else. Not as good as most of the gear/auger machines but better than the one year that Breville offers.--In contrast to one negative reviewer, I have never bogged it down or stalled it out. You quickly learn the press-release way of working the plunger that is clearly demonstrated on the accompanying DVD. It isn't rocket science; just don't jam stuff in as fast as you possibly can. I got the hang of it after maybe a carrot and a half.--For those to whom it matters, I see very little foam in the juice. When I juice beets, the juice is dark red and does not appear to be filled with the microbubbles that another reviewer noted.--The chute for adding produce allows you either to drop it straight down onto the shredder or to insert it at a 45-degree angle. This latter feature prevents the toss-it-back-in-your-face characteristic of the Breville.--It absolutely does not spurt or splash juice from the spout. If you line the pulp container with a baggie, as recommended, no pulp escapes from the top. A plastic 1-gallon food storage bag works perfectly.--There isn't much pulp in the juice. I've found no chunks or bits of skin. If you want it perfectly smooth you could filter it through a strainer or a nut bag.--It handles greens with aplomb. I have not tried wheatgrass but everything else I've fed it has been juiced very satisfactorily.--The machine and accessories are well packed in a sturdy carton with cushioning foam.--It is less expensive than most of the auger/gear machinesAnd the cons:--The housing is made of plastic. Good quality, substantial plastic that is doubtless perfectly adequate and durable. I just don't like plastic kitchen appliances.--The motor is noisier than an auger/gear machine. That's an issue for some like my friend who is up and juicing at 0430 while the rest of the house is still fast asleep. I scarcely notice it.--A wrench is needed (and provided) to remove the shredder disk and filter cone. A minor nuisance, I suppose, but I wish it weren't required.--You have to prep (cut up) the fruit and heavy vegetables like cabbage before juicing. Carrots, celery, cucumbers can all go in whole, just remember to put the carrots in stem end first.Things I don't know yet:--reliability and durability. It is built like a tank, albeit a plastic tank(!) but how it holds up remains to be seen. I am mostly a once-a-day juicer so I expect it to last a good long time.--Haven't tried making nut milk. That's a project for next weekend. If there is anything unusually good or bad about it, I'll post an update.--Quality of customer service. Haven't needed any.--It is more expensive than the BrevilleWhat's in the box:--The juicer, fully assembled--Lexan pulp catcher--Lexan juice pitcher--Wrench for removing the shredder disk--Two DVDS, one of instructions, the other of recipes--A printed instruction manual--The usual warranty literatureI've found this to be an entirely satisfactory machine. Although, as noted up front, I have no experience with competing brands, I recommend this one without hesitation.

I've spent obscene amounts of money trying to find the right juicer. But I can tell you this juicer is the one to get and I'll tell you why. In fact, I'll give you a couple of reasons.What good is a juicer if you don't use it? I don't care if it's cheap or expensive, if you don't use the juicer you might as well save your money. This juicer is so easy to use it's ridiculous. Veggies (or whatever) in the top, press down, juice comes out the bottom. But when you're done - then what - here comes clean-up! If your juicer is difficult to clean, you're not going to use it - so we're right back to square one.This juicer has five (count 'em) five simple pieces to clean and they can be cleaned just by holding them under running water. (We truly are blessed in the good ole US of A to have the amount and quality of water we have, but that's for a whole other topic.)The basket, inside the top, through which the juice is spun is the only thing that will need a little brushing with any type of kitchen brush. Takes me less than a minute to clean it.I get up at 6:00AM and by 6:20AM I have assembled the juicer, cleaned the veggies or fruit I plan to juice for lunch, juiced them into my thermos, disassembled and cleaned the juicer and thrown away the pulp into my compost bin. How much easier could it be than that?OK, so I know some of you think that centrifuge juicers (as this one is) doesn't make the best quality juice, especially when compared to that $2,500 model. Well, let me tell you something, IF YOU DON'T USE THE JUICER WHO CARES WHAT QUALITY THE JUICE IS? (Anyone want to buy my only used three times $2,500 juicer??)Jay Kordich, the GENIUS who developed this juicer, tells you right up front, "Don't make any more juice than you will drink." Juice - drink - juice - drink! It's so freaking easy to use this thing it's no hassle to make juice for any meal, just before sitting down to eat. And, trust me, there is NOTHING as GREAT as freshly made juice.Well, that's about it. I've bought two of these things, gave one to my son and encouraged my other son to buy one as well. This is a well made product and, by the way, the tech support from LFLB is FANTASTIC!Good luck!