Showing posts with label Juicer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Juicer. Show all posts

21 January 2013

Product Test: Coway Juicepresso, Cold Press Juicer (19 Dec 2012)



Cold blooded nutritional juicing

“Juicepresso squeezes slowly rather than grinds quickly, so on top of not producing friction and heat, it minimises noise and is whisper quiet. It also consumes less electricity and is up to 10x more energy-efficient than traditional juicers.”

Thanks to Vivien Mah from Andatech for providing a Coway Juicepresso to test. I was hoping to have seen it demonstrated at the MasterChefLIVE 2012 but I missed out so this was a good opportunity to see how it performed. It takes up less bench space than the Philips HR1871 Juicer and is much quieter being a cold press juicer. I've never used a cold press juicer before and found a pretty good website that compares a few of them based on their features. The parts are quite simple to put together and take apart for washing. Performance wise the juicing of apple, orange, grapefruit, pineapple and kale went well but tomato left pulp and carrot left bits. Possibly a second juicing would have refined these to a more pure juice. All fruit and vegetables needed to be cut and prepared to fit in the chute to be juiced which is more time consuming than using a juicer than can take whole fruits. Flavour wise the apple, orange, grapefruit and pineapple were very enjoyable to drink with lots of distinctive flavour while the kale probably should have been mixed with another fruit like apple to make it more palatable but it did a very good job at juicing it. Washing up was relatively easy and some brushing of the filter mesh was required to clean it thoroughly. The machine comes with a simple recipe book for juice ideas and overall it's a simple juicer to use.




SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: Flavoursome juice, Simple to use, Fairly easy to clean
CONS: Fruit and vegetables need to be cut up before juicing, Tomato and carrot didn't juice as effectively as hoped, Apparently doesn't juice avocado, banana and mango particularly well
MUST TRY: Juicing tomato and carrot through a second time
VERDICT: Quite a powerful yet compact juicer that's easy to clean and simple to use. Pricing and features compared to other cold press juicers will determine its attractiveness to purchase
Requires small bench space
Simple step by step recipes — very basic instructions
Day 1 testing: apple, orange, grapefruit, tomato
Day 2 testing: carrot, pineapple, orange, kale
Apple juicing — good result and flavour
Orange juicing — good result and flavour

Grapfruit juicing — good result and flavour
Tomato juicing — too much pulp made it through to juice. A second juicing is recommended.
Carrot juicing — too many bits coming through with the juice. Perhaps a second juicing would refine to just juice?


Pineapple juicing — good result and flavour
Kale juicing — good result but would suggest mixing in apple juice to make flavour more palatable

Washing water through after kale juice
Components for washup. Easy to disconnect and carry without mess
Parts quite easy to take apart and clean fairly easily
The mesh filter requires a bit of extra cleaning with brush supplied which isn't too difficult

Parts that required washing — fairly simple and easily to put back together

29 December 2012

Product Test: Philips HR1871 Juicer (30 March 2012)




Juice to your health

Thanks to Andrew Baber from Fleishman-Hillard for giving me the opportunity to product test the Philips HR1871 Juicer. After watching a few videos by the ambassador Jason Vale I was familiar with what it could achieve. Its construction is sturdy and parts are easy to put together and take apart. The power of the juicer had no problems juicing whole carrots and apples that could fit in the large chute. The real test for me was how well it washed up. It's promoted as a quick clean and achievable within a minute but in real world testing I found this not quite achievable and closer to two minutes. The reason being I'm trying to empty the pulp into a small bin so it takes time to be careful and clean. If you have a small sink this doesn't allow you to do as quick a hand wash than having a large sink because you need to be more careful not to splash water all over the place like a dolphin. Having little bench space to put parts out to dry can also be a time and space challenge. The biggest cleaning challenge is the metal filter sieve. Videos will say you can simply rinse easily under water but I never found this effective enough to actually get all the fruit and vegetable pulp out of the holes. I needed to use a cleaning sponge to give it a fairly decent scrub to do a proper job.

Here's a great demonstration video of the juicer in action by Appliances Online. The only downside of the video is that it actually doesn't show it being cleaned after use. A review by Choice gives it 4 out of 5 stars. If you like juicing fruit and vegetables for a healthy drink then this juicer will definitely perform well. Whether you keep using it after time will come down to how much you like washing it up. Even if you can achieve the one minute wash up it's still washing up to be done. I'd love a juicer that can self clean itself after use but perhaps I'm dreaming.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: Easy to use, Powerful, Simple design to take apart and put back together, No need to peel or cut most fruit and vegetables except oranges, Nutrient rich drinks, Tastes good, Healthy end product
CONS: You still need to clean it after use, Spout prone to drips after juicing, Takes up a fair amount of bench space, Makes a fair amount of noise when juicing
MUST TRY: Using it as often as possible for healthy drinks
VERDICT: It's a powerful and easy to use juicer but will still require washing up after use. 
Most fruit and vegetables can be juiced whole, although oranges need to be peeled 

Large chute can handle a lot at one time


Whole apples can be juiced if they fit in the chute


The metal filter is the most time consuming part to clean but relatively easy with a bit of scrubbing with a sponge or brush. I couldn't achieve a proper clean by simply running under water.

Pulp is fairly dry and easy to clean out. Much easier discarding in a large bin than a small one.

At times some bits would get stuck in the central cutter which can be a little tricky to clean out. A toothpick would do the job.

Serving up juice in a wine glass makes it more special


05 February 2012

Joe Cross 'Reboot Tour' visits Supa Centa Moore Park, Sydney (4 Feb 2012)



Regaining your natural health

For those who watched the film Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead on tv this week will have already heard about inspirational quest of Joe Cross to loose weight and get healthy by drinking only fresh juice for 60 days while travelling across the United States. In contrast to Supersize Me which actually made me think about wanting some McDonald's french fries after watching it believe it or not, Joe's movie made me want to get a freshly squeezed juice. After liking his Facebook group I noticed he was on a tour around Australia visiting Woolworths stores to promote his new juices plus also Harvey Norman in the Supa Centa Moore Park which was handy and very good timing for me. Breville seemed to be his juicer of choice but with only a quick 30 minutes available I missed out on seeing the juicing demonstration and most of what he had to say although noticed he was a very confident public speaker. I did get a chance to try his Reboot Juice #1 which I was hoping for anyway. The flavours were pretty balanced and likable for me and initially I noticed the cucumber taste. It definitely tasted like a healthy drink and I'll have to see if I can get it during the week when I'm at work. Would be great to be able to make it at work and share the healthy love around the office.

Reboot Recipe Juice #1
6 Kale leaves
1 Cucumber
4 Celery stalks
2 Green apples
1/2 Lemon
1 Piece of ginger


SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: Very healthy and made from all natural ingredients, Full of vitamins and minerals, Simple ingredients, Easy process to make if you have a juicer
CONS: You have to buy a juicer if you want to make it yourself and then clean it too
MUST TRY: Getting more fresh juices during the week and checking out the Reboot juices in Woolworths

Juicing demonstration

Fresh fruit and vegetables


Reboot Recipe Juice #1




Interested crowd amongst the appliances

Breville juicers being used

Breville product placement

Reality bites

Nespresso machines taking advantage of the crowd action


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