Well, not really.  Sunkist juicers are just citrus juicers.  Actually, they’re “commercial” citrus juicers to handle heavy duty juicing operations.  Regardless, I’m baffled as to how they think they can get away with charging so much for it.  It doesn’t even juice the oranges for you – you still have to cut them in half, and press them to juice them.  You also have to wash it every time after use (but I suppose that’s the case with every juicer.)

So it is limited to juicing citrus fruits only, but at least it looks like it does the job very well.  Sunkist juicers are made of high-grade materials, such as corrosion proof plastic and the casing of the juicer steel.  The metal strainer oscillates as you use it, which extracts more juice from the pulp.  And finally, sunkist juicers weigh a whopping 31 pounds!  This can be both a good thing and a bad thing.  If you have counter space and plan to make juice all the time, then you will never have to worry about mishandling it.  But, if your plan was to use the sunkist juicer for casual use and to store it away, I would think this product is not for you.

I’m still confused over how expensive it is.  The juicer is use is the Black and Decker CitrusMate citrus juicer, which costs around $25.  As I said in my review, it does its job well.  Even if it sucked and broke after a few uses, I could buy and go through about 24 citrus juicers before I would spend as much as I would on a sunkist juicer.

Anyway, I must state this isn’t a review.  This is merely my observation of sunkist juicers.  This may seem unfair, but I am not certainly going to drop $600 to try it out.  For those of you that own a sunkist juicer, I would love to hear from all of you to get a more fact-based perspective.

Blenders can handle some juicer recipes.  One advantage blending has over juicing is that it uses the whole fruit or vegetable, while juicing will discard the pulp.  This way you also get all the fiber in your juicer recipes and there is no chance of discarding wet pulp after you’re done juicing.

Another great thing about blenders is how affordable they are.  Nowadays, you could get a small, single serve blender for as little as $20.  That sure is less than the $100 for a centrifugal juicer, or $250 for an auger juicer.

It is also easy to make smoothie recipes with a blender.  Throw in fruit, ice, yogurt, and whatever else you want, turn it on, and you have your smoothie.  Centrifugal juicers cannot do that.  An auger juicer can, although it is more cumbersome to do so than with a blender.

The problem is that by blending produce without really extracting the juice from the pulp, you are just mashing it up for a thick pulpy drink.  It will be difficult to make the juicer recipes that use tougher produce.  For example, watermelons (including with the rinds) are not really a problem because of their high juice content – though you may need to add some additional liquid.  On the other hand, pineapples can be troublesome, much more so if you want the rinds in your juicer recipes as well.  Greens such as broccoli and spinach are really difficult, and will require you to add a lot of liquid, such as water, to actually blend them.  Worst of all, blending is a more violent action on the produce which traps more air and promotes oxidation, further reducing nutritional content.

I have two blenders – a Back to Basics Blender Express and a Kitchenaid 5-speed blender.  The Back to Basics Blender Express goes for $18 on Amazon.com and is such a great blender.  The container has a handle so it acts as a mug, making it the perfect single serve blender.

The Kitchenaid 5-speed blender is…alright.  It is powerful, but it is a big unit with a big jar that is made for heavy usage.  Its heavy glass jar makes it a pain to clean.  The blade is relatively small compared to the base, and the jar is not optimally shaped for blending.  It was built for very large blending tasks, so it is practically useless for small jobs.  I hate to admit it, but I get a lot more use out of my simple Back to Basics blender.

Chances are you already have a blender.  If you’re open to the possibility of juicing, you can see how blending works for you.  However, no blender can ever substitute a juicer in making your juicer recipes.

My very first juicer was the Black & Decker CitrusMate citrus juicer.  The first thing is that it only costs about $25.  It is an electric model and is very easy to handle.  The juice container sits on top of the base, and a rod rotates in the middle when pressure is applied down.  When the lid is placed on top, the rod is connected to the reamer that is used to juice the citrus fruit.  As you push down on the reamer, it rotates and will juice the fruit.  It even alternates between clockwise and counter-clockwise to really get all the juice out of your fruit.  The lid conveniently has a strainer that doesn’t allow the pulp to fall through into the juice container.  It has 3 settings that let you control how much pulp goes through – no pulp, a little pulp, most of the pulp.  Finally, there are two different sized reamers, allowing you to juice big and small citrus fruits.

The CitrusMate is actually a great product if you are only interested in citrus juice.  If all you want is to be able to make orange juice in the morning, or fresh lemon juice to make lemonade, this is the juicer for you.  It will juice oranges, grapefruits, tangerines, lemons, limes, and so on.  It is quick and easy to use, and does a great job of getting most of the juice.  Compared to what you would pay for a good citrus press (about $150), you are definitely getting plenty of bang for your buck with the CitrusMate.

The first downside is obvious – it only juices citrus fruits.  You will HAVE to upgrade to juice any kind of vegetable.  Another disadvantage is cleaning.  For such simple tasks, washing the lid and container each time is a pain.  Finally, this citrus juicer will not be able to juice the rinds, which contain a lot of nutrients that you don’t want to miss out on.

Overall, the CitrusMate citrus juicer does its job, and it does it well.  As a first juicer, you cannot go wrong.

If you want to take juicing seriously, then an auger juicer is the way to go, as they are extremely versatile.  They can juice vegetables, fruits, and even wheatgrass to make limitless juicer recipes. They also have other functions, including the capability to make nut butters, grind coffee beans, homogenize foods, and some can even make homemade pasta!

An auger juicer works with a rotating auger that will literally crush and press the juice out of your produce, which extracts an incredible amount of juice.  It rotates at a very low RPM, which generates little heat.  Because there is less heat, there is less oxidation, which means that less nutrients and enzymes are killed off in the juicing process.  Another benefit of a low RPM is how little noise it makes.  Compared to other juicers, such as a centrifugal juicer, an auger juicer creates much heartier and more nutritious juicer recipes.

An auger juicer is the best juicer for “green” foods, such as wheatgrass and leafy greens, whose juice is hard to extract.  Wheatgrass is a popular juicing food known for its high chlorophyll content.  Leafy greens include lettuce, broccoli and spinach.  Foods that cannot be juiced are soft produce, such as bananas and avocados, which will cause it to clog and leave an annoying mess to clean, since they contain relatively little juice.  However, these types of produce are generally not used in juicer recipes.

If you choose to purchase an auger juicer, then expect to spend some money.  Then can range anywhere from $200 and up.  However, it is easy to justify the price with the many uses and the many juicer recipes you can create, though the biggest advantage it has over a centrifugal juicer is the health benefits.  It can press a lot of juice out of fruits and vegetables, while preserving more of the enzymes and nutrients.  The auger juicer that I use is the Omega 8005.  It is an excellent machine and I have never been unhappy with it since the day I got it.

If you want something primarily for juicing vegetables, wheatgrass, or just about anything in the kitchen, and if you don’t mind spending more for a juicer that will really get the most out of your juicer recipes, you should definitely invest in an auger juicer.

Omega 8003 Juicer Review – Part 1 – Watch today’s top amazing videos here

The way an electric citrus juicer works nowadays is with a cone that is attached to a reamer that spins when pressure is applied down. It will spin continuously in one direction until you stop pushing down. When you apply pressure again, it will spin in the opposite direction. This ensures that you will get as much juice out of the fruit as possible. Also, your arms won’t get tired trying to squeeze every last drop of juice since it’s electrically powered.

Unfortunately, it is limited to only citrus fruits, so you would have to get a different juicer if you want to use juicer recipes that require apples or carrots. Also, you won’t be able to juice the rind, which is packed with plenty of nutrients.

The citrus juicer I use is a Black and Decker CitrusMate. It is very easy to use and makes very little mess. It also has a feature that allows you to adjust the strainer to allow more (or less) pulp in your juice. An electric model will cost more (about $25), but it does a very efficient job and if you enjoy citrus juice or use it a lot for other juicer recipes such as lemonade, or for alcoholic beverages, it is worth it. If you decide against it, you should invest in a small hand operated citrus juicer at the very least for simple jobs.

Of course, there are extremely high end citrus juicers as well.  Some can cost as much as $600, like sunkist juicers!  In my opinion, this is WAY too much money (I’m guessing you feel the same way too.)  For most casual uses, you can get good citrus juicers for much much cheaper.

If you are interested in juicing a larger variety of fruits and vegetables (and you definitely should be), you will need to upgrade to either a centrifugal juicer or auger juicer.

Centrifugal juicers work by shredding the produce inside a cylinder that is spinning very fast.  As it shreds, the high speed the cylinder rotates at forces (with centrifugal force) the pulp along the sides of the cylinder.  The sides act as a strainer, and separate the juice from the pulp.  It does a great job of juicing most fruits and vegetables, from apples to carrots.  However, it is not very effective at juicing wheatgrass and leafy green vegetables such as spinach or parsley, so be wary of what ingredients some juicer recipes call for.

Because it moves very fast (about 3600 RPM), it will be quite noisy.  Also, you will have to stop juicing after about every one quart of juice to discard the pulp yourself.  Yet another downside is that heat generated from the fast moving parts can kill off some important enzymes and nutrients.  However, exactly how much of enzymes and nutrients destroyed in the process are greatly debated.

There are two types of these juicers – centrifugal and centrifugal ejection.  They both operate the same way, with the only difference being that the ejection juicer will…eject…the pulp automatically into a bin which makes discarding it easier.  In order to be able to automatically remove the pulp itself, a centrifugal ejection juicer has to spin even faster, as high as 14000 RPM.  This makes it by far the noisiest.

A good quality model will cost around $100. There are also high-end ones that cost over $200, but I would recommend against them.  If you are willing to spend that much, then you should look into purchasing an auger juicer.  In the end, a centrifugal juicer is well worth the price and is a great addition to your kitchen to get started with some easy juicer recipes!