Customer Reviews

Juiceman Jr. Automatic Juice Extractor

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

This juicer is good for someone who isn't sure if juicing is for them. It gives you the opportunity to try various juice recipes without investing a lot of money in the more expensive juicers. I would recommend you get a juicing book as a companion to the juicer, as some parts of fruits shouldn't be juiced. (apple core/seeds)

It is a chore to clean, however we found that using a toothbrush to clean the strainer was a big help.

When juicing apples in your mixture, it's best to use them as the last ingredient, they tend to clog up the strainer more than other fruits/vegetables. Don't put pineapple rinds through the juicer, they will dull the blades.

We've used this juicer for about 2 years, then bought the juiceman II. It has a more powerful motor, and is a bit larger.

The mesh clogs easily, causing the machine to vibrate wildly only after a few slices of beet or apple - I had to stop it because it fealt it might desintegrate. This means that for anything than a cup or so of juice it is not the appliance to use.

I used it with carrots, apples, beet, cabbage, celery. For just over 3 cups of juice mixing all of the above, I had to stop and clean the mesh at least 4 times. This is not acceptable, because I prepared the fruits and the veggies more than I should have: peeled the apples, peeled the beet root, removed the apple seeds before juicing.... With my current Juiceman II that I got after returning the Jr, there is no such problem (although there are others - I'll try to write a review for it too).

The motor is OK if you are not in a hurry, but you need to be gentle with it - it slows down quite a bit when juicing hard produce such as carrots...

This juicer does its job and is durable, but I would recommend that you pay a little more to get a juicer with two speeds. I bought a bag of lemons and decided to juice them for cooking. As soon as I put half a lemon into the machine, the machine spit some juice and pulp back up the insertion hole, even before I had a chance to put the plunger in. It made a mess very quickly. I think if the juicer had a slower speed, this problem would have decreased. Also, the ejected lemon pulp in the pulp bin was more wet and runny than I expected. I thought the ejected lemon pulp would be moist but not wet because the machine would suck out all the juice. Again, slower speed would have sucked out more juice out of a juicy lemon. This unit is as noisy as one of those louder hair dryers.

After two weeks, you'd have thought that I was juicing rocks not apples, carrots, and oranges. The blade is so dull that the motor really gets overwhelmed easily and juicing is slow going. The stainless steel blade doesn't appear to be sufficient for basic juicing operations. There is a fair amount of solid material that isn't caught by the strainer, making for "hearty" juices. I like them this way once I stir it up a bit, otherwise it all collects on the top for a harsh tanin taste.

I purchased this juicer at a yard sale about 2 years ago and really like it. I wanted to try juicing, and found that in the first year I used it once or twice time a week. The juicer works well with all hard fruit and veggies and does pretty well with kale and spinach - but the Green star or more pro-juicers may be better if your doing mostly greens. The juicer does vibrate when the filter gets full. To remedy this I usually stop the juicer and clean the filter, just wipe it quickly to remove any built up pulp, replace, and continue.
I called the company and they sent me a replacement manual and juice recipe book for free.
Now that I'm juicing daily, the juicer is still performing well, I may upgrade this year, but I'm happy to recommend this anyone starting out on juicing, or who cannot spend $200 and up for a Professional juicer.

I began experimenting with raw foods about a month ago and have had this juicer for about three years. It sat on my shelf untouched and I couldn't throw it away since it had always worked fine. Needless to say, a month ago I dusted it off and got it down off the top shelf to make daily use of this machine to make great green juices!

The first few initial runs were great, but after a while cleaning the filter became a problem. I found it was best to rinse it by putting the kitchen sink spray nozzle right on the filter. Even then it was still not clean. Putting it in the dishwasher just left caked on "green-parts" on all pieces of the machine. The entire machine is best washed by hand.

After some almost daily use, I found it would suck the last parts of vegetables right through without actually grating and juicing them and I would end up with whole slices of carrot, apple or celery in the pulp container. I also found that juicing a full cup worth of fruits or veggies would lead to excess pulp backing up around the filter--maybe that is what lead to the extra pieces not getting juiced, but it seemed that that pulp, when I would clean it, was still "juicy".

This morning after leaving the juicer alone for about a week, I tried sending some celery through the shoot and it ended up getting stuck, and I smelled smoke - like when a sock gets stuck in the vacuum cleaner roller. I stopped the machine and pulled the celery out. There were celery strings that never got cut/grated and it kept the rest of the stock from going under. The juice tasted fine however.

I have not tried any other juicers at this point but at my nutrition school, the students have been recommending Champion Juicers and Omega juicers as being the best. I will be trying a Champion Juicer next.

Overall, I am giving this juicer 3 stars because it is VERY affordable, as far as juicers go, for the quality of juice extracted. I just think it not meant for daily use - which is great for some people that want juice sometimes and are on a budget.

I've been using my Juiceman Jr. for about 3 years and I am quite pleased with its performance. I usually make one to two quarts of juice at a time using beets, carrots, apples, ginger cucumbers, parsley etc. I have to empty the basket once, sometimes twice. I agree with the writer who suggested saving softer stuff for last since it does tend to clog up the works. If you want to make juice for more than one or two people then this is not the juicer for you, but it serves the two of us quite satisfactorily. There are heavier-duty and much more expensive machines if you need to meet a heavier work load. But for those who just want to give juicing a try without breaking the bank, this is an excellent choice. As for cleanup, I do NOT recommend putting it in the dishwasher. It's quick and easy to wash by hand, although the basket does need a light scrubbing with a dishwashing brush or, as some folks suggested, a toothbrush. But hey, what do you expect? It's a metal mesh basket that grinds and separates the fiber from the juice. Buy a scrub brush and don't be so lazy! Just remember to line the debris bin with a plastic bag before juicing and cleanup will be a snap.

It takes me 12-15 minutes to:
1) clean veggies,
2) juice 2 BIG glasses of juice,
3) to clean Juiceman Jr.

I do not understand why other people find it messy to clean this juicer. Nothing messy about it! I like design - only 3 items to clean!

I use normal sponge to clean juicer's blade. This blade always should be perfectly clean, otherwise juicer will give poor performance.

Enjoy!

I have been using my Juiceman Jr. successfully for nearly two years now, and I am pretty happy. It's not the best juicer out there, but it's the best for the money. If you juice occasionally and don't mind a little extra prep time or clean-up time, there's nothing wrong with this product (in my experience). Just remember to core the apples and cut everything into sizes that will fit in the chute and you'll be fine. The mesh is hard to clean, but other reviewers have suggested a toothbrush, so I'll be giving that a try.

Also, you must clear out the pulp after every few glasses of juice have been made. When I would juice for three people, I found myself having to clean the machine out after the first two servings.

If you have more money to spend, there are more expensive models that are well-worth the money and will save you a lot of time. If you're on a budget, this is the best buy you'll find for the money. Like I said, I've had this thing for nearly two years and have yet to have any serious problems at all.

The only thing this juicer is good for is to find out if you will really be into juicing. This juicer lasted for 3 months while juicing 3 to 5 times a week (for two people). At 3 months the tray that holds the blade warped and started spitting plastic into the drink. I considered getting another one to have spare parts....then I scraped that idea and got a real juicer. Besides being cheaply made...it should also be priced cheaper. Also the blade takes a while to clean.