I have been using juicers on almost a daily basis (yes, I bring a juicer when we travel) for about the last 10 years now. I have reviewed juicers many times and for at least the last 9 years I have maintained steadfast that there is NOTHING that beats the Greenstar Elite for many reasons (all of which I have outlined below). So I feel a little bit like I’ve been unfaithful during my last two juice cleanses. NOT because I don’t love Greenstar. I do. It makes the purest juice (yes even better than the Norwalk Press according to research results on enzyme activity), and does NOT require any filtering. For quality it cannot be beat. Period. However, there’s a new juicer on the block (well, I’ve had mine about a year now) and it’s the Kuvings Wide Mouth slow juicer.
I’ve used it for my last two cleanses. I was never a fan of the older slow juices like the Hurom or the Omega Vert. They were NIGHTMARES to clean, things like celery got stuck, and they were all thick, pulpy and more like a smoothie than a juice — totally defeating the purpose. If I want pulp, I’ll make a smoothie thanks. And before I go any further I have to say, you MUST use a strainer with the Kuvings too. You don’t get the pure, smooth juice that you get from Greenstar. So why do I use it?
1. Easy. No cutting up produce to tiny sizes to fit into the chute as I have to do with my Greenstar.
2. Tired arm. I get tired of shoving and pushing certain produce with the wooden mallet into the Greenstar shoot. Of course, this is precisely WHY the juice from the Greenstar is perfect and pulp free. But still, with a business to run, employees to work with, homeschooled children and a husband, it’s just a bit much sometimes. Often my husband will offer to make juices to me, and he too prefers the Kuvings. See more on why in #3.
3. Cleaning. Cleaning isn’t on my list of duties/responsibilities in our home. We have assistance with cleaning which is great. But what I don’t have is assistance waiting on hand to clean my juicer each time after the 5 or 6 times I use it during the day. Cleaning in between juices is just something I find important to not have rotting fruit strands sitting around in the juicer all day waiting to drop into my next juice. So my husband usually cleans the juicer for me in between juices. He prefers that I use the Kuvings because it is MUCH MUCH MUCH, did I say MUCH? … easier to clean than the Greenstar. Greenstar has a little screen that must be scrubbed with a tiny brush to really get clean. Again, this is a prime reason why the juice is pulp free and beautifully clear from the Greenstar, but why it is more of a task to clean. Kuvings has only a few large pieces that clean easily with just some running water.
Those are the top three reasons why I’ve used my Kuvings a lot lately. But Greenstar is still #1 overall in my book. But be sure to read below to find the juicer that is right for you in your budget, what you are looking for, and what juicer you will use the most. Ultimately, that’s what is most important.
There is a dizzying array of juicers on the market today, and although I am sure there are a couple of obscure brands I haven’t tried, I have tried all of the more well known ones and many of the unknowns as well. So here is my review which may be helpful if you are in the market for a new juicer!
NORWALK PRESS: Considered by many including the Gerson Institute to be the Rolls Royce of all juicers. It is a masticating juicer with a 2000 pound press. First the fruits and vegetables get masticated, and then the pulp goes straight into a cotton bag and is pressed to express the juice. You can press two bags at one time. Priced at $2500 it is an investment in health for sure.
As an owner of both a Norwalk Press and a Greenstar, I can say that my Greenstar gets used often, and it’s been now over a year since I last used my Norwalk Press. In independent tests on oxidation of juices, the Greenstar actually outperformed the Norwalk Press.The pressing mechanism that exerts pressure to fully blast the produce into juiceable pieces is quite intense, thus the reason why the oxidation is more than it is in the Greenstar. Go figure.
No doubt it is a fantastic juicer but I find it to be cumbersome and not easy to clean. And, with a 9 tray dehydrator, Vitamix, cappuccino machine (used for my cacao elixirs), food processor, nut grinder, and melanger, and in the summer a shave ice machine, all on my counters, the Norwalk takes up a lot of coveted real estate in the kitchen. So overall I can’t in earnest recommend spending almost $3000 when Greenstar is overall easier to clean, easier to use, and yields low oxidation juices.
THE TWIN GEAR SUPERSTAR: Greenstar. In my older reviews, I used to include the Super Angel as a comparable juicer with double the price tag. But I have now removed Super Angel from my recommendations altogether due to company problems. The original company went out of business and is not honoring warranties for people who have the older models prior to 2014. This is a huge concern on a machine that costs $1200.
A new company took over and remodeled the Super Angel for the 2014-2015 to have a new electric board. Many juicing retailers have since completely stopped selling this juicer because of faulty electrical boards, silicon rings that break easily, and refusal of the company to correct the problem or make good on the promises to purchasers. You can click HERE for more info on that, or HERE (scroll down to “Why Don’t You Promote the Super Angel Juicer?”).
But even without all of the company concerns about Angel that I have, Greenstar is the only juicer that uses magnetic and bioceramic technology to extract more minerals. No other juicer, including Super Angel, does. Why would I not want to make use of this cutting edge technology?
The Greenstar magnetic/bioceramic technology creates a focused magnetic field that rearranges clusters of water so that it can latch on to more the valuable vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients and extract it into your juice. The bioceramic material inside the twin gears utilizes kinetic energy of the turning gears to emit far-infrared – the wavelength at which water and all organic material naturally oscillates. This has a stabilizing effect on your juice by delaying oxidation and allows your extracted juice to remain fresher longer.
Independent labs have done extensive testing on the juice yielded from the Green Star and consistently found that the Greenstar juice is of superior nutritional content and enzyme activity.
But where the twin-gear juicers ARE similar is that they work with almost any fruit, vegetable, greens, and wheatgrass. They operate at slower rpm’s and preserve the maximum amount of nutrients in the juices, preventing them from being oxidized by atmospheric oxygen.
These juicers squeeze every last drop out of anything juiceable and produce 2-3 times more juice (and nutrients) than centrifugal or single gear masticating juicers. The breaking down of these fibrous cells allows the nutrients to enter our bloodstream quickly and allows our body to assimilate them easily. In the centrifugal juicer for example, the fibrous cells do not break down quite as efficiently as this, resulting in high-moisture pulp.
Juice made in these juicers is very stable and can last in the refrigerator for up to 72 hours. They also produce greatest juice yield, so over time you will use significantly less produce than with most other juicers, other than the Norwalk. You will get a great glass of juice from the twin-gear juicers.
These machines are also super versatile and can also be used to make nut milks, frozen fruit sorbet, baby food and nut butters.
I find my Greenstar “fairly” easy to clean but not as easy as my Kuvings as I mentioned above. There is a wire mesh filter, two stainless steel gears, and the spout where the juice comes out.
PRICE: Greenstar Elite around $600 Super Angel around $1200. As I said, with Angel you are not getting the bioceramic technology, you are potentially going to run into serious warranty issues if you ever need replacement parts, and while you are getting external stainless steel for aesthetics, you are getting a plastic juice collector versus the glass you get with Greenstar. Greenstar gives you a 12 year warranty and like Vitamix, they make good on it EVERY SINGLE TIME.
WHO SHOULD CONSIDER THIS? Anyone for whom juicing is and will remain a KEY part of their nutrition plan and who wants to get the absolute highest quality juice and highest yield from their fruits and vegetables, anyone with cancer or other serious diseased condition for which juicing is going to be an integral part of your healing therapy. DO NOT COMPROMISE on juice quality when healing diseases. Look on Craig’s list for a deal rather than buy a new, less quality juicer.
SINGLE AUGER MASTICATING JUICERS: Kuvings, Tribest Slowstar, Champion, Omega, Hurom Slow Juicer. These juicers can handle most fruits and vegetables. They operate at a slower speed which helps the fruit and veggies retain as many nutrients as possible during the juicing process. Masticating single gear juicers contain a single gear – an auger with blades – that crunches the vegetable and fruit fiber, slowly breaking up the cells. There are various models of these juicers, and people have their favorites. Champion is NOT effective at juicing leafy greens but makes great banana ice cream. But really, so does a Vitamix. You buy a juicer to get JUICE. 
That is a huge consideration to check into, because juicing greens is most important when adopting a juicy lifestyle. With the Omega Vert celery can be a problem and often gets stuck and you have to pull the celery strings out. Huge inconvenience.
In this category, Kuvings Wide Mouth Slow Juicer is tops for the reasons outlined above. Second to that is the Tribest Slowstar. Next it’s a toss up between the Omega 8 series and the Hurom Slow Juicer. But Tribest, Omega Vert and Hurom are all in the $400 price range, and so why not go for the Kuvings if you are going to spend $400? But you can get the lower priced Omega 8006 model for about $300 and the 8004 for around $200 if you aren’t going to spend for the Kuvings. Comparing Hurom to Omega, Hurom yields slightly more juice in a slightly quicker time, but requires DOUBLE the time to clean! The Omega is easier and quicker to clean.
WHO SHOULD CONSIDER THIS? Anyone who wants a very high quality juicer, but wants ease of use and cleaning and is willing to use a strainer. Also, perfect for all who find Greenstar out of their budget.
CENTRIFUGAL JUICERS: Jack LaLane, Breville, Juiceman, Bella and many other brands you find in Macy’s, Costco, etc… These high speed juicers juice most kinds of fruits and non-leafy vegetables. These juicers operate at a very high speed and will give you a glass of juice in seconds. The huge advantage of these juicers besides being very budget friendly is that assembly and cleanup is easy. Also, you can use larger pieces of vegetables with less cutting and prep time than with one of the higher end models that have smaller chutes. The downside is that you will have to buy A LOT MORE produce to get the same yield of juice than with one of the higher end juicers. And most important, in terms of quality there is significant oxidation because these juicers use extremely high speeds and as a result, the produce gets heated. The best in this category is the Breville PRO Juicer. And my recommendation if you use this juicer is to drink your juice immediately, and never store it.
PRICE: From $100 to $200.
WHO SHOULD CONSIDER THIS? If budget price is the most important thing for you at this time, this is a good choice. Also if you are the kind of person who knows you will not use something unless prep time and cleanup are super simple and fast, this is a good choice for you. It doesn’t get easier than these machines. Although you will use more produce and extract less juice with a centrifugal juicer, I firmly believe that any juicer that you will use and consume the juice from is a good option.
On a final note, a Nutri-Bullet is NOT A JUICER! I kept hearing people say this and I didn’t understand why until I looked into their marketing lingo. They lead people to believe it is a juicer. It is not. It’s not even a desirable blender as far as I am concerned because it over-processes the produce and takes way to long to emulsify destroying enzymes unlike a Vitamix or Blendtec. But this isn’t a blender review.
A juicer is a machine that purposely REMOVES fiber. If there is no exit chute where fiber is discarded, you are talking about a blender that emulsifies, not juices, produce. Juices are the single healthiest thing you can feed your body. They provide you instant cellular nutrition without your body having to process extremely high amounts of fiber. The best rule is to drink your veggies and eat your fruit. I love the taste and ease of smoothies as much as the next person, but never do I delude myself into thinking they have anywhere near the health-promoting capabilities of pure fresh pressed juices.
Ultimately, the best juicer to buy is the one you can afford, and THE ONE YOU WILL USE! Getting juiced vegetables into your lifestyle is the best step you can take for your health. So go out there and get the best one FOR YOU! Happy Juicing.
