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!