Juicing is a great way to get your daily servings of fruits and vegetables, particularly when you’re on the go, but popular juicers can run upwards of $500. Luckily, the best budget juicers can offer you the same health benefits of their more expensive counterparts — at a fraction of the cost.
Three of the most common types of motorized juicers are centrifugal, masticating, and citrus juicers, and they all function in slightly different ways.
- Centrifugal juicers are similar to blenders in that they have a blade that spins and shreds the fruit and veggies. But unlike a blender, the juicer filters this through a strainer to remove much of the pulp the pulp from the juice. Centrifugal juicers are designed to churn quickly and are great at breaking down tough fruits and vegetables.
- Masticating juicers, also known as slow juicers or cold-press juicers, don’t chop up the ingredients; instead, they crush them. An advantage of this process is that masticating juicers typically don’t heat up as much as centrifugal juicers, and some people believe that this lower temperature means it maintains more of the nutritional value of the ingredients. These juicers also usually produce less pulp because they keep much of the fruit intact. But masticating juicers can take longer and tend to be more expensive than other types of juicers.
- Citrus juicers are designed to be used only with fruits like oranges, limes, and lemons. They’re essentially electric versions of the manual juicer tool you’re likely familiar with.
No matter which kind you have in mind, juicers don’t have to cost an entire paycheck. So snag one of these budget juicers and enjoy (in juice form) the delicious flavors of everything from celery and carrots to apples and oranges. And if you’re short on space, you may want to check out these compact juicers instead.
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The Best Budget Centrifugal Juicer
With the Hamilton Beach Big Mouth juice extractor, you get a solid juicer for a great price.
It features an 800-watt motor, stainless steel cutter, and 3-inch-wide feed chute that can accommodate whole fruits and vegetables, cutting down on unnecessary prep time. The pulp bin is conveniently large and the juicer's BPA-free, removable plastic parts are dishwasher safe.
It doesn't come with a cup for the juice, but you can funnel the juice into any container you'd like. It also comes with a brush to clean the strainer basket, as well as a three-year warranty.
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The Best Budget Slow Juicer
The Aicok slow masticating juicer is quieter than many other juicers, primarily because its auger, the drill-like part that crushes the veggies, spins at a low RPM — which protects the ingredients from excessive heat buildup and oxidation that could affect the nutrition value. The auger also has a reverse function to squeeze the most juice possible out of vegetables and fruits. It comes with a juice jug for collecting the juice, but you can probably use any container that fits.
This juicer's removable parts are BPA free and dishwasher safe. It also comes with a three-year warranty.
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The Best Citrus Juicer
Use the Cuisinart CCJ-500 Pulp Control citrus juicer to take the hard work out of making a freshly squeezed glass of orange juice or lemonade. The cone can accommodate citrus fruits ranging from small limes to large grapefruits, and the juicer's auto-reverse and final-spin features make it super effective at juicing. It also has three different pulp settings, so you can have as much — or as little — pulp as you prefer, and it deposits the juice directly into your cup. That said, it doesn't come with its own vessel for collecting juice, so you'll have to provide your own.
The brushed stainless steel body is easy to wipe clean and you can toss all the BPA-free removable parts in the dishwasher. This juicer also comes with a limited three-year warranty.
