Customer Reviews

Black & Decker JUICE EXTRACTOR F930

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Let me start by stating, unlike the previous reviewer, that I have been an avid juicer for 30 years, so I know juicers and juicing. I have owned a number of juicers, both as accessories for other equipment and dedicated. I currently use a 20+ year old Champion and an excellent Acme (now sold as Waring). Both work very, very well. However, I travel several states in my position as a medical manager and I decided to try juicing on the road. There is no such thing as a 'travel juicer'. Certainly I wouldn't want to try to transport something like my full-time juicers! Therefore, I was looking for a cheap but useful juicer to throw in a piece of luggage for hotel room juicing. Thanks to the web, it is easy to look at various brands and models, and even feedback from buyers. I have bought juicers in the past, including a L'Equip and a Kenwood, that I've ended up giving away because they didn't work for me. I happened to find this inexpensive B/D at Wal-Mart for $29; the alternative was the H-B BigMouth. The H-B was larger. A large part of this was due on inspection to the cutting basket--about half again larger on the H-B. As size was definitely a priority, I purchased this B/D.

Upon opening it, I discovered that it indeed is quite light--an advantage for what I wanted. It's all plastic on inspection except the cutting basket--which also makes no difference to anything. The plastic seems of the same quality as any other juicer plastic, save the nylon used on the Champion. As this is a pulp ejector, there is a spout on one side for the juice and a molded plastic container designed to catch the pulp. I was impressed that the juicer will not operate without the pulp receptacle in place. This is probably for safety, but it can also save a heck of a mess if one forgets! My last L'Equip didn't have this feature and one could inadvertently sling a lot of pulp if the container shifted. The plastic parts required for assembly are the same as others of this type: beside the containers on each side, the clear diverting lid, the plastic plunger, and the white underhalf of the diverting lid. That's it.

There is a two speed motor. No instructions in the manual are given for this, but low is apparently for pulpy fruit, such as grapes and citrus, with the high speed for carrots, radishes, celery and other veggies. I must admit I've never used the low speed; I don't juice fruit in my juicers. When running on high, the noise level is quite average, no louder than the Acme/Omega centrifugals and higher in pitch than my Champion. It is not offensively loud, certainly not what I am accustomed to hearing in one of my grain mills or even a K'Aid mixer on high.

Now to juicing. The biggest possible irritant to the user would be that the feed tube is quite small, shaped like a kidney bean. This is a direct consequence of the very small cutting basket; any larger and the food wouldn't come into contact only with the blades. Carrots of larger diameter on the green end have to be sliced once lengthwise. My favorite radishes, same. Celery, of course, goes through fine, as do leafy greens.

Common sense should dictate that one doesn't cram the food into a machine of this size and price like a machine costing 5-10 times as much. I don't do that even with my great big Acme! I quickly found it doesn't require a lot of babying, just drop the produce in, let it start feeding and give a steady feed on through. Absolutely no problems. A tip for easier cleaning: on these pulp ejectors, save your little grocery bags and put one in the pulp catcher container; when through you can just dump the bag unless you're using it for compost. After a few uses the clear diverting part on the top started staining, as did the white plastic parts that the juice contacts. This means nothing, all juicers stain their plastic. If it bothers you, you just wipe the parts with bleach and they look new again!

Those of us who juice know to alternate firm produce, such as carrots, celery, radishes, with greens and softer produce to help move the juice along. Works perfectly with this little juicer. We all should know that centrifugal juicers of any price will not extract leafy green juices such as spinach, parsley, wheatgrass, as efficiently as single- or twin-gear masticators. The yield with leafy greens on this little juicer appears to be roughly what I expected, alternated with firm produce.

Of course, I can't testify as to the long-term durability of this juicer. It's worked well for dozens of uses for me so far, and has traveled well in my car trunk in a bag. At the price it didn't surprise me that there was no cleaning brush for the cutting basket, but I've always preferred cheap toothbrushes for that. Again, the basket is no easier or harder to clean than any other centrifugal. I haven't dropped any of the parts on the floor but it doesn't look like they would break-plastic is flexible. I have had no leaks at all, no problems with sealing.

This juicer has satisfied completely the function for which I purchased it. Would it hold up for years of daily juicing more than once a day? Who knows--probably not as long as a $200-400 machine--but would that be a fair assessment anyway?

I know this is a rather long review. Juicing can be misrepresented on those infomercials; it's certainly not hard at all, but there are tricks and techniques the newbie isn't shown. It irritates me that, particularly with less expensive juicers, the reviewers appear to be new or first time users who are excessively judgmental. It's rather like buying a $50 digital camera, then downrating it because it doesn't shoot like a $1000 model. I'd simply suggest that others reading juicer reviews ask themselves or the reviewer how much experience they have.

Since I had never juiced before I made sure to read all the reviews for various juicers and came away with the impression that the Black & Decker Fruit and Vegetable Juice Extractor was the best choice for the price. The first juicer this company sent me didn't work but they quickly sent me a replacement. All I had to do was cut off the cord and send it in with a note. I was very happy with the customer service I experienced and would buy other products from Black & Decker for just that reason.

As far as juicing goes there are some pros and cons. The food chute is fairly small so you have to cut everything up to fit down the chute. Carrots have to be sliced in half and cucumbers need to be sliced even more. Tomatoes and lemons need to be cut into wedges. The only things I found to be a problem was when I was juicing parsley and little bits of parsley would fall into the juice container. The juice container needs to be set tightly against the juicer otherwise juice leaks all over the counter. The machine also won't run if the removable pulp container isn't firmly in place.

Cleaning this juicer is pretty easy. You need a brush to clean the stainless steel cutter and then you can just disassemble everything and place it all in the dishwasher. Once I took the machine apart I could see that the pulp had backed up into the clear cover. This didn't seem to hamper operations. I did have to empty the pulp container a few times. More juicy items like tomatoes seem to splatter a bit so it is essential that you use the fruit and vegetable feeder to push down the items you are juicing. This covers the food chute and makes the experience less messy.

Do you have the time to juice? This question never entered my mind because I thought juicing was a fairly quick process. Not so! To make the following recipe (including clean up) took me half an hour. This recipe makes four servings and tastes very earthy:

3 small heads romaine lettuce
2 cloves garlic
¾ bunch parsley
4 celery stalks
1 cucumber sliced lengthwise a few times
6 radishes, cut in thirds
2 vine ripened tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 lemon without peel
4 carrots, unpeeled cut in half lengthwise

This recipe makes 4 servings as well:

4 carrots, unpeeled
2 apples, unpeeled
2 oranges, peeled

This recipe was a bit more messy to make and the juicer leaked
a bit. I didn't notice this while juicing, it was noticed later
when I was cleaning up the unit.

My favorite juice so far (1 tall glass or 2 servings):

1/2 lemon, peeled
2 oranges, peeled
1 apple, unpeeled
1 packet Stevia (natural sweetner)

This worked very well and only took 10 minutes to make.

If you have 15 minutes try this gourmet juice
(juice it in this order)-
I made this up and it goes faster if you prep all the
vegetables first and have them ready on a plate. That way
you're not turning the juicer on and off which seems
to waste time:

2 cloves garlic
5 basil leaves
handful parsley
2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
15 chives
2 celery ribs
1 carrot, sliced in half lengthwise
2 radishes, cut in half
1/2 cucumber, peeled and cut in half lengthwise
Stir in - a little hot sauce like Tiger Sauce
to spice things up a bit

Here is a recipe that takes 10 minutes:

2 pears, unpeeled
1 (16 ounce) container raspberries
1 apple, unpeeled
1/2 a lemon, peeled

My husband loved this next recipe so much he
drank it twice in one day:

2 oranges, peeled and sliced
8 strawberries, cut in half
1 apple, unpeeled and cut into wedges
1/4 lemon, peeled and cut into slices

Every day I make a new juice, here is
a delicious one with pineapple:

1 pineapple, cut off peel and cut to fit juicer
1 apple, unpeeled and cut into wedges
8 strawberries, cut in half

This juice extractor should come with a recipe book but it doesn't. That was a little disappointing but it is easy to find cookbooks with juice recipes. Just look for raw foods cookbooks or buy a book specifically for juicing. Here are a few of the more popular books:

The Juicing Bible

Ultimate Juicing: Delicious Recipes for Over 125 of the Best Fruit & Vegetable Juice Combinations- if you buy any book buy this first, it has an amazing recipe for mango and pineapple juice called "First Mango on the Moon." See my review for this book to find out more.

Juice Fasting and Detoxification: Use the Healing Power of Fresh Juice to Feel Young and Look Great : The Fastest Way to Restore Your Health

The Joy Of Juicing Book - Creative Cooking With Your Juicer By Gary Null, Ph.D. & Shelly Null

The Juice Lady's Juicing for High Level Wellness and Vibrant Good Looks

The Juice Lady's Guide to Juicing for Health: Unleashing the Healing Power of Whole Fruits and Vegetables

Juicing for Health

Juiceman's Power of Juicing

So as long as you have plenty of time to juice this juicer will impress you. It is small enough that it doesn't take too much room on the kitchen counter and it assembles and disassembles fairly quickly. I was very pleased with how this juicer worked and can recommend it to you as long as you don't mind spending the time to cut fruits and vegetables into smaller pieces. Once you start juicing you may find it is addictive. In just a few days I was trying out my own recipes and it is really quite a lot of fun to invent new recipes.

~The Rebecca Review

P.S. I've noticed the juices don't keep very well even in
the refrigerator. They tend to seperate out and discolor. So
it is best just to make as much as you can drink immediately.

I picked this juicer up after a bad experience with the Breville Compact Juice Fountain. I have been very impressed with the Black and Decker, and feel that it is an excellent value for the money. It does a decent job, works fairly quickly, and cleanup is relatively easy. All parts (except the base) are dishwasher safe. Compared with the Breville, it is not as powerful, and your fruits or veggies need to be cut into smaller pieces to fit into the food chute. It also seems like it may not be quite as efficient in terms of the amount of juice you get. However, I have never once had a problem with food getting stuck in the filter like I did with the Breville. (Food got stuck in the filter seams after one use, and I could not get it out no matter what I tried!) The filter on the Black and Decker has a much better design, and cleans up very quickly with a brush. The Black and Decker is not a top of the line juicer, so if that is what you are expecting, you will likely be disappointed. But it is a great juicer for $29, and does a good job!

I bought this thing for $20 at Job Lots. Best little juicer I have seen or used. It might be loud and the shoot might be small but his thing gets the job done and pretty efficient for a little juicer. The one I have works great, I have had it for about 14 months and have used it quite a bit. Removes as much juice as the Hamilton Beach wide mouth and the Jack Lalanne by far, that's about all I can compare to. If this thing only had a bigger shoot I would have given it a 5 out of 5.

If you juice a few times a month then why spend a boat load of cash, this thing is the perfect juicer for you. If you juice daily or more than three times a week, then go with something a bit bigger with a bigger spout. If your new to juicing and just want to try one out, this is your best bet. I think Amazon is selling it for $31 still not a bad deal. If you decide juicing is not for you or realize it is more expensive then you thought, then you won't have a $250 reminder sitting on your counter stairing at you. If you love juicing then use it for a few months and upgrade if you want, pass this off to a family member or friend. Remember juicing is like going on a diet, it is easy to fall of the wagon, so don't buy big right off the bat, unless if you can afford it, then go nuts.

I've been looking for a juicer for a while. I'm new to juicing so I didn't want to make a large dollar investment cause honestly, I didn't know if I was going to like juicing and stick with it. This one got pretty good reviews and the budget was right so I went ahead and purchased it. It works pretty well. The pulp is not as dry as I thought it would be but the juice is delicious. 4 apples and two carrots made about two cups of juice for me. The trick is to push the fruit in slowly to get more juice out of it. So far i've made a number of different concotions with apples, celery, carrots, and cucumbers. I haven't tried any leafy greens yet. I want my body to get used to juices before I try the high nutrient stuff. I'm pretty happy with the results. It's very easy to clean, i throw the removeable pieces in the dish washer and forget about it, plus the pulp goes right in my compost bin. It takes me about 10 minutes to make juice, including the time it takes to cut the produce. The feeder is a bit small but that doesn't bother me a bit. This is definitely worth the money and I'm already feeling better for drinking yummy nutritious juice. I definitely recommend this juicer for beginners. Keep in mind, you get what you paid for and this is not a high end juicer. Still, it gets the job done well.

I'm a new juicer, and I was looking for a good machine to test out juicing, see if I like it or not. This machine is great for that. It's easy to use, and easy to clean. You get a decent amount of juice out of each fruit or vegetable (for example one apple gave me 4oz. of juice!), but it's no omega or champion. It seems to waste more of the fruit than is strictly necessary, but it still does a great job for the price.

I would highly recommend this juicer to anyone who is just starting out. It's a no muss, no fuss machine that you can experiment with and test out, without feeling oligated to use (because it doens't cost hundreds of dollars).

My only advice is that you should have an extra toothbrush on hand for cleaning the basket in the middle.

This is a good extractor, however it cannot intake vegetables like carrots in whole form. Wide carrots must be cut and can present a hazard when using cutlery.

My wife and I don't know the purpose of the gray top. It is very hard to remove when cleaning the unit. We give this device 4 stars out of 5.

We hope this unit lasts a while. My wife has been quite satisfied with Black and Decker products so far.

This juicer is a piece of junk. Do not buy it! The blade spins so quickly that the fruit or vegetables don't get ground up adequately, resulting in a lot of waste! The tube you put the fruit and vegetables down is too small and this makes the process messy. I would return mine if I could; save your money and get something worth your while.