Customer Reviews

Breville BJE200XL 700-Watt Compact Juice Fountain

5 star:		(594)
4 star:		(184)
3 star:		(50)
2 star:		(31)
1 star:		(23)

 

 

I juice at least once a day as I primarily eat raw foods.

My Jack LaLane juicer finally wore out after 2.5 years of daily use. I was tempted to buy another - but I liked the way everything including the pulp catcher is all in one unit. So glad I got the Breville.

This thing is POWERFUL, especially compared to "Jack LaLanne". It is so powerful I usually don't even use the pusher except to cover the top so your ceiling doesn't get covered with stuff. Other reviewers have mentioned that tendency. What wasn't mentioned is that the reason it does that is because the motor is so beefy that stuff will shoot straight up.

When juicing soft stuff I immediately cover the top with my hand.

The design of this thing is absolutely first rate. Even down to the plug, which has a moulded loop so that it is easy to unplug and plug in! No tool is required to remove the basket, as in most other juicers. Breville uses a combo of ingenious design and magnets to hold it in place!

Ease of use and fit and finish is perfect.

Clean up is really a 2 minute operation and I don't even own a dishwasher. It will stain eventually, as every juicer I have ever owned does. Carrot juice would make a great dye :-)

The pulp on this juicer is a bit wetter than the Jack LaLanne. The "Jack" had a much larger basket and a much slower rotation. I believe that may account for it. But it isn't much wetter - just very slightly.

This juicer makes much smaller pieces of pulp though - and my experience so far has been that it gets just as much juice from a pound of carrots.

Bottom line - I can't imagine anyone not loving this unit.

UPDATE 3/26/2011 This thing is still going strong 3.5 years later. Folks I buy carrots by the 25 pound bag so I am HARD on juicers. And not one part has needed replacement!

This is my third juicing machine. My first was a Champion which served without problems for years. On the plus side it was powerful and durable. On the down side it was rather noisy, vibrated a lot and left a lot of juice in the pulp and was hard to clean. My second juicer was the omega screw machine which I still have. I bought it because it also did wheat grass. On the plus side it is quiet and juices anything, makes nut butter and extracts a lot of juice leaving very dry pulp. On the down side it is slow and worst of all the feed tube is really small. You have to do a lot of cutting to get things small enough to get into the feed tube. I pretty much only use it for wheatgrass now. The Breville is the best juicer I have had. It is an example of good product design in that it is simple, practical and attractive. It is powerful, has a feed tube large enough to take large whole carrots, beets and small apples. It is quiet, comes apart easy and cleans up quickly. The capture pitcher which nests into the machine has a nice cover so you can store the juice for later. If making juice is a hassle you're going to put off doing it. This juicer makes juicing easy and not a hassle.

This juicer rocks!!
Been using it for two weeks, works better than advertised.
Solid piece of engineering, sturdy long lasting parts, excellent workmanship.
Best features are its simplicity and ease of cleaning.
Though named "Compact" the unit is pretty large.
The 700 HP motor is powerful and not too loud. Pulp container is of decent capacity. Do not expect to juice entire apples, unless you are using very small apples.
The pulp extract is pretty dry so you are getting almost all the juice out of the fruit/vegetables with this unit.

Nothing better than fresh juice and this juicer makes the whole experience a breeze.

Would highly recommend it to anyone looking for easy maintenance good long lasting juicer .

I received the BJE200XL from [...] in April 2007. Today I was drying the pulp container and noticed liquid and pulp trapped inside the seam between the clear part and the grey plastic. This seam can be seen by looking down at the pulp container from above. It is most visible around the spout, but it continues all around in a full circle. This place cannot be cleaned with the special brush provided. I don't want to be an alarmist, but a little bit of food poisoning is not a trivial matter, especially since a lot of people who juice are already sick or have weak immune systems. A few germs breeding in this trapped space and mixed with the juice could be a constant drag that is undiagnosed, rather than one big episode that sends you to the hospital. I reported the problem to the manufacture and received a prompt replacement. After almost daily use for two weeks there is no sign of the problem. I will keep checking, but it would appear at this point that this was a defective part, not a design problem. At this point we are happy with the machine and with the manufacturer's excellent customer service.

UPDATE: May 23, 2010. I just got this unit out of storage and used it a couple of times because I am fighting a systemic infection and thought I could use a boost to my diet and I am on antibiotics. Strangely, they antibiotics are not working. So I thought I should do an extra juicing this morning. In the strong morning sunlight I discovered that the pulp container has same problem as noted in the original review, plus the spout as a whole is a septic trap. This is way too risk for a perfectly healthy person, and I'm 71 and not perfectly healthy. I will be looking for an extractor that is easy and quick to clean--thoroughly.

I have not used any other juicer so I don't know how this compares to others, but I have read a lot of reviews where most complaints about juicers were about wet pulp and hard to clean up.

This thing is a complete BREEZE to clean up and actually goes in the dishwasher if you want to. I rent an older home and don't have a dishwasher so I handwash and even that is quick. I can rinse off all pieces in less than 3 minutes if that.

The pulp to me feels really dry, sort of the texture of PlayDough. I don't see how much more juice could come out of it.

Since this is so easy to put together, use, and clean up I am juicing every night. I am looking forward to starting a compost pile for my garden now that I am compiling a good bit of colorful pulp to add to the compost heap.

I never thought I would drink a beet but I've made some great juices with beets, apples, oranges, and a little piece of ginger. It makes me feel really good to know that I'm getting my daily alottment of veggies/fruits in a tasty drink instead of eating cups and cups of veggies that I've had to prepare, cook, clean pots/pans, etc.

Since it's "compact" it doesn't take up much counter space. About the size of a coffee maker. Noise isn't too bad either.

My only complaint is sometimes smaller things slip over the chopping bowl (looks like metal coffee filter) such as grapes, small pieces of ginger, and some smaller pieces of fruit once it has been whittled down. It's just a small bit of waste tho, about the size of a half dollar in the case of a beet, that slips over into the pulp bin without getting juiced. With the ginger, I just open it up (after the blade stops spinning of course) and retrieve the piece and try it again.

For $99, it's hard to find a 700 hp model. Most are 400 hp in this price range.

So - I'm very happy with my purchase.

This was the best appliance purchase I have ever made! This juicer is very sharp looking. Looks great in any kitchen. It is compact but kinda tall. The best part is it's ability to juice in a second. Very powerful motor. It fact probably more powerful than I needed but it doesnt hurt to have the best. I bought this juicer so I can make fresh juice for my toddlers, myself and husband every day. Now my girls get fresh apple, pear, carrot, grape and strawberry juice. I absolutely love cucumber and apple juice. Cucumber juice is so refreshing and I could drink a ton a day. My husband loves the bloody mary juice. A tomato, celery and onion and then a dash of hot sauce. We can get 4 times as much fruits and veggies in a day by juicing then by eating alone. I dont want to sit around and eat 8 carrots or celery sticks but I can easily drink that in a day. I cant stand eating melons but I drink them with an apple in this juicer. I dont even have to chop up most of my veggies and fruit. The entry hole is so big, an apple, cucumber, tomato etc. fits great. As long as you buy your fruit organic you can dont have to peel most of your fruits and veggies. Get a good juicing book and it will tell you what fruits and veggies you can juice whole. The ultimate is the easy clean up with this juicer. It tastes less than a minute to clean the entire thing. Yes, the pieces are plastic, except for the base of the motor, but can you imagine how heavy this thing would be if it were glass?? And I have dropped it a few times in the sink and I would have broken the pieces if it were glass. I am now going to start a composting bin for all the scraps from my juicer. That is one of the benefits of juicing too. You can use the leftovers for compost or depending on the fruit or veggie can use for a loaf or bread. Like carrot, apple or zuccini pulp can be used to bake tasty loafs. I am just an average Mom who bought this juicer. For all the other Moms out there.........buy this!

pros: solid construction & design, gets more juice from the carrots than most juicers, small footprint, built in pulp tray is better than side pulp basket on other juicers, quick & powerful motor, plug is designed for easy removal from ac outlet.

cons: most parts are plastic instead of stainless to keep the cost down, very tall, juice is a little foamy but the foam screen on the measuring cup helps, could use a slow speed (available on bigger more expensive model).

we really like this juicer that we've had for about a month. it makes better juice than our old juiceman and l'equip juice machines and it's easier to clean than my brother's omega. it saves counter space compared to the others which is a must for our nyc apartment. it's a very high speed motor which makes quick work of most fruit and veggies. nothing we've seen in this price range can touch it!

OK, there are a million pro juicers here who can tell you all the reasons this type of juicer is best, another million who can tell you why a SLOW juicer like the Champion Brand are best if you want leafy greens juiced. My only experience until this week was with an OLD 15 year old juicer we paid about $70.00 for that took about a grocery CART full of fruits & veggies just to get a 12 oz. glass 1/2 full!

As a result, we used it one time and set it out in the garage until I finally sold it for $20.00 last month. But I saw a Jack La Lane infomercial and came to trusty old Amazon.com to see about trying again since these NEW juicers get more juice (or DO they?). I start reading and see so many more people liking this particular brand over Jacks model so then go to YouTube sniffing around. I take A MONTH DECIDING and bought this juicer from Amazon directly. Used it for just 2 days so I have no way to tell you about how it is best or worse, how it is changing my life, or anything earth shattering.

But I DO have something I CAN tell you. I don't even want a beer anymore. And I like beer. A LOT!!!! I haven't even tried any of the GREAT selection of included recipes that came included with the juicer. I just tossed in about 4 carrots, 1 small pear, 2 pieces of celery, 2 small red apples and it made over 16 ounces of juice! Blows my old mind (short trip). The weirdest thing of all to me at 60 years of age is I HATE carrots. HATE them. ANY form, hate them. Now, I can't get enough. And even weirder, I wasn't able to even eat any breakfast as I was too full. I don't remember anyone saying juice would fill me up. Usually if I had a V8 it just made me want a beer to go WITH it.

So all the expert juicers can decide which brand is best, which style is best. For my recreational use and for my being able to EASILY take it apart and fully clean in 10 minutes (and I am disabled, no, NOT from the beer!), I do a very rare thing. I give this a 5 star rating. As my experience with it grows, I will update this review as required as to reliability, stamina etc. My last and only prior juicer was such a nightmare to clean AND use, got NO juice, it makes this nothing less than shocking. To have so much juice, so much GREAT flavor, almost fun to operate and clean, who knows.....I may just end up skinny & healthy. But then after today's tomato. celery & zucchini with onion experiment, I can see myself wondering what a little Vodka might do for a little added flavor? Probably lucky for me that the only alcohol I ever liked was beer......

If I get into this in a big way and discover I like leafy green stuff juiced, and find this will NOT do that well, I will find someway to go the BIG bucks for a slow turning juicer that does that type juicing best. Heck, maybe I can recycle all my old beer cans to pay for it? Can't believe it took me 60 years to find a HEALTHY way to get juiced.
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2 week update. After using this twice a day some days, once per day everyday for over a week I have problems. One, we have now ruined MORE than the cost of our juicer is clothing stains from flying juice and "pieces" no matter how careful we are. It also has the dreaded "pulp trapped inside the seam between the clear part and the grey plastic" problem. I have tried to no end to contact the manufacturer. On hold with voice mail for over 1 HOUR, then instructed to leave my phone number to have them call me back=NEVER did. Sent email=NO response. Will SADLY now request a return from Amazon on this product I first loved but now is a problem as well as a health risk. I will also buy a juicer with a warranty LONGER than just ONE year. I tried to revise my 5 star rating but Amazon does NOT allow me to do this. I would drop it to 2 stars IF I knew it was not a serious health risk due to the hassle with NO customer service in my case. If I knew for sure it IS a serious health risk, I would drop it to NO stars. But then Amazon will not let me do this either.....
1/23/2009 UPDATE:

This juicer has been returned and I have now owned the new Omega 8006 for a few weeks. Did a FULL review at Epinions of it. What an amazing difference.

1 YEAR 2 week later update:
The Omega Model 8006 is still being used as well as a L Equip XL Wide Mouth Mini Juicer. Still lost over 50 pounds, STILL haven't had or even wanted a beer in over a year. And both of these models are easy to clean and trap no unhealthy food particulate in any crevices etc. Tried & true good solid juicers being used daily.
Mike

2 Year Update: Just sold the L Equip. Probably (well "maybe") going to sell our Omega Juicer as well. Been using a Vitamix 5200 the past few months also. I know it isn't "real" juicing since I also eat the entire product. But for quick & easy, saving 70% on the fruits & veggies, making soups etc? I just got lazy I guess? But to get an idea, go create my meal, clean up & be sitting at the table in 5 minutes? What would ANY lazy old goat like me do? Oh, and for what it's worth, it is now over 2 years without a single beer.....

I've used the Breville at least every other day, sometimes more, since I bought it a month ago. It works very well, and is pretty easy to clean as long as I do it immediately after juicing. The worst part is, of course, the wire mesh, but the brush they include does the job quite well. I've only had experience with one other juicer that was very hard to put back together. This one only has three parts, so it's pretty simple!

I use it mostly for juicing celery, romaine, apples, and lemons, which it does quite well. Although it can, as they claim, juice a whole apple (no cutting necessary) I still cut it up most of the time to make sure there are no obvious bad spots. I have juiced oranges using the Brevile too - it made very good juice, although rather frothy at the top.

As for waste... it could be a little less wastful - I do sometimes find pieces of apple or celery in the waste, but all of the pulp I have goes to chickens, so I don't mind if all of the fruit or vegetable isn't used. This is a pretty powerful juicer. It's about as loud as a blender, but it isn't on for that long either.

I am definitely satisfied with the purchase.

I bought this juicer because it had good reviews and seemed to be really popular. However, after its first use i realized how cumbersome it is to clean. Maybe I'm just lazy but there's no way i would use this juicer everyday just based off of ease of cleaning alone. Apart from that, it's messy to juice small fruits and vegetables. For example, pieces of strawberries were being flung outside of the juicer because it's impossible to get the entry tube covered before the blade starts chopping up the strawberries. The juicer is loud and produces frothy juice that was somewhat warm because there is so much heat generated to process the fruits or vegetables. You're also limited on what you can juice. On top of all this, the base of the wire mesh basket is impossible to clean. The reason being is because the mesh is backed by a metal ring so there is no way to spray or brush food particles through the mesh at the base. This could create a possible food poisoning situation.
All that said, people have given this juicer good reviews so there must be something good about it I just don't know what it is.
Needless to say i returned this product immediately. I did more detailed research and stumbled upon the Omega 8003 masticating juicer. It cost twice as much but worth every penny. It's quiet, easy to clean, and produces great tasting high quality juice. I would highly recommend this juicer to anybody. Even if this is your first juicer purchase I would go with the Omega and avoid having to waste $100 before you realize that buying a centrifugal juicer was a bad decision.
I hope this helps, happy juicing!