UPDATE: As of March 11, 2013, the J8006 (identical, but with a chrome look), was temporarily $209 on Amazon (sold by Amazon, itself). This had always been a more expensive color. Please be sure to compare and buy strictly on price between these two models. Enjoy!
My wife and I have had this for two months of intense juicing of cabbage and occasionally broccoli. My wife had multiple stomach and duodenal ulcers from medications due to a spinal injury and we combed the internet looking for studies on the best home remedies, as prescription antacids were not healing her. We chanced across two studies on raw cabbage juice healing ulcers in a matter of weeks, so that led me to research juicers.
There are four basic types of juicers. In order of general effectiveness (least effective to most effective) on greens, they are as follows:
1. Spinning blade/centrifugal ($50-$200)
2. Single-gear masticating (like this one) ($200-$350)
3. Double-gear masticating ($425-$550)
4. Hydraulic press w/shredder ($1,000-$2,500)
We were hoping the ulcers would heal quickly and I didn't plan to invest much. In reading the reviews on the spinning blade-type extractors, they seemed a poor choice for leafy greens, but quite good for fruits and other types of vegetables. One additional caveat I found was that juice from such juicers didn't keep that long, apparently due to oxidation and heat friction. My wife grew up with such a juicer and she had always enjoyed it, but she agreed it wouldn't work well for wringing juice from a cabbage.
Next came the single-gear juicers, and these varied from steel to melamine construction to a new high-tech super-hard GE plastic. Steel can oxidize fruit juice and melamine is a soft plastic that is most known for appearing in contaminated animal food from China, which in tests artificially appears as protein. Neither of these sounded good, but in reviewing the latest versions of the J8006/J8004 (they are identical except for the color and $40 difference), I found Omega was using GE Ultem, a plastic at least six times harder than melamine for the augur. This was a huge plus to me.
The double-gear juicers appear to get about 15% more juice out of the same amount of produce, but take quite a bit more time to clean. They are also twice the cost of single-gear juicers. This wasn't worth it to me.
Finally, the hydraulic press juicers get the most juice out, but can cost thousands of dollars. I couldn't find one under $800.
Our Experience:
I decided to get the J8004 and we went to town using it. It's been used probably 40 times so far for about 45 - 60 minutes each time. I make two quarts of cabbage juice at a time and it's refrigerated, with my wife drinking all of it within two days. At the end of the second day, if it's been kept sealed in the refrigerator, the juice tastes virtually identical to when it was juiced (just shake it up a bit because the juice settles).
Directions for the juicer say it shouldn't be used more than 30 minutes at a time. This isn't a problem, as I prepare two plates of cabbage leaves, juice them, turn off the machine, then prepare two more plates of leaves at a time.
The Omega leaves some juice in the pulp, which I now recapture by feeding the mash back through the machine. Strangely, the extra passes go very fast compared with the first one with the leaves, basically because the mash goes in the tube with absolutely no friction, and is much less volume to handle. In general, if you are juicing cabbage leaves, this is how each pass juices out if you got 600 milliliters with the first two platefuls:
1st time - 600 milliliters
2nd time - 150 ml more
3rd time - 50 ml more
4&5th time - 50 ml more total
Yes, the double-gear machines might get more each pass, but I figure that putting cabbage through three times is more than equal to putting the it through twice on a double-gear, and I save $250 for that net of one extra pass.
The unit has held up well and has never stained from all the greens touching it, so save forty dollars and get this over the silver J8006 twin (both units are superior to the J8005 because that unit, strangely numbered higher than this, uses a melamine auger and has only a 10 year warranty). The parts all rinse clean in no time, save for the two filtering portions on the cone the augur presses against. These require a brushing motion (one is included) to clean, and even then the part with the fine mesh retains some cabbage fiber. Fortunately, we put the parts in the dishwasher where anything remaining can be blasted off.
We've used it to mass-grind coffee with an included grinding option. It grinds a pound of coffee in about three minutes.
You can't go wrong with an Omega J8004 if you are juicing greens. We would definitely buy this again, but due to the incredibly long warranty, we don't expect to buy anything for over 15 years!
UPDATE: We've now used it more than 60 days on cabbage and broccoli and used it to make wonderful blueberry sorbet (using the second cone unit for grinding). Putting frozen wild blueberries into it makes a sorbet come out the end that if allowed to thaw, is a perfect cold blueberry juice. This summer we have been using it in this capacity far more than for cabbage. WONDERFUL! (NOTE: My wife's ulcers completely healed by the two month point, so we've moved on to juicing other items.)
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GREAT JUICER - FOR 5 WEEKS
GREAT JUICER - FOR 5 WEEKSI purchased this seemingly top quality Omega J8004 commercial-grade masticating juicer/food processor on 12/29/16 after trying a less expensive juicer, reading many of the informative Amazon reviews, and doing some research and cost comparisons on the internet. I was this careful and thorough because it's a large purchase for my budget and because I needed a machine that would meet all my specifications AND perform well for my years. I was pleased, briefly, with the performance and quality: heavy in weight, sleek design, solid construction, easy to operate and clean... GREAT JUICER - FOR 5 WEEKS. I made sure to read the owners' booklet and watch numerous instructive videos prior to operating so I would use it properly and not damage it.CONS:- It takes a LOT more time to juice with this (and all) masticating juicers.- Does not juice citrus or soft fruits efficiently, so if you want to juice more than a small amount of soft fruit, you'll probably end up buying a separate juicer for that as I did ($30-$50). I needed a power juicer because I have advanced osteoarthritis and juicing for more than 30 minutes is very painful for my hands (all the prep work), back, and knees (standing so long). I tried cutting down on the duration by juicing every day for shorter periods, but the food prep and mess/clean up time, assembling/disassembling/cleaning the machine each day was still too much time and not worth undertaking every day. It takes me a day to recover from the pain, so I can only juice with this machine once every 2-3 days.- DEAL BREAKER: Just 2 weeks into using the Omega, I noticed a squeaking sound while juicing several different items. The juice was collecting in the barrel and getting clogged behind the auger rather than pouring out the bottom. I alternated hard and soft items, as recommended by the seller, and this solved the problem for a few weeks.Today: The squeaking is worse, the pulp is increasingly moist, and the clogging occurs frequently with just a couple of slices of fruit. I have to add carrots more frequently just to keep it operating, but I don't want that many carrots in the juice. Each time juice clogs the Omega, I have to turn off the machine, remove and clean all the attachments, and then reassemble it. WORSE: I just noticed the factory coating on the auger and inside the funnel has scraped off (see photos), and the auger teeth are getting damaged. I realized this Omega was useless to me after just 5 weeks of operation and decided to return it.Per my Amazon order notes, the return window had passed. Oh no, I thought, this cost over $200! I braced myself for the long road ahead: dig out the Omega booklet, find their contact info, long & probably multiple phone calls, hassle, and cost to contact the seller, beg for a refund, pay for return shipping and restocking fee, etc., IF I could get a refund at all. I decided to start with a call to Amazon and hope for some reprieve. Amazon to the rescue!PROS: AMAZON Customer Service! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️THANK YOU, SHAWN!!First of all, the connection in this phone call was clearer than I'd experienced in the past. Second, Shawn's accent did not impede our conversation. He was easy to understand; very professional, knowledgeable, and courteous; and he went the extra mile to help me - several times! After noting that the return window had closed, he took the initiative to dig for information to help me. He searched several times and discovered there were no phone numbers or email addresses for Omega at all. Again, without my asking, he searched for options to help me while I waited with fingers crossed, hoping I wasn't out $219. The next thing I heard was that, because OMEGA FAILED to provide any contact information or customer support, Amazon would handle the matter for me! He emailed me a return label on the spot, and assured me Amazon would give me a FULL REFUND - which they did. All the while, Shawn spoke calmly and patiently. I'd had good and great experiences with Amazon customer service before, but this was off the charts. I will only continue to purchase expensive items through Amazon because I can trust them to do the right thing. Thank you, Amazon!
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