Vegetable Juice

RWB

I've seen it on TV just not sure what it is called or how to do it. People adding various fruits and vegetables to a blender of some special sort that turns it all into a healthy juice. I think this would be a great way of me getting my 5 servings of vegetables and fruits.

So what is it called, and how do I go about doing it?

Guess it's called juicing... sounds funny. Found this interesting link:
http://www.soymilkquick.com/vegetablejuicerecipes.asp#GardenTonic

Once I get my paycheck I'm gonna buy me a juicer and give a few of these recipes a try. Any comments or suggestions? A certain brand of juicer you like(my pocket is hurting so a decent juicer for a nice price would be great) and any recipes you guys would like to share?

BetsyD

Vita-mix (http://www.vitamix.com/welcome.html)

I love that I can make ice cream in it and also make piping hot soup. Its slightly pricier than a regular juicer but my parents had one for 37 years and its still going strong (but they replaced it anyway b/c they wanted a new one :P )

RWB

I kind of need the price under $100, I'd go higher but I really cannot afford even $100. Know of anything else?

GHoosdum

I like the Jack Lalane Power Juicer. Costco sells them for about 90 bucks. Not the best juicer you could buy, but it's about the minimum you should tolerate if you're going to be doing it regularly. Hard stuff like carrots really tends to beat up the cheap juicers.

BetsyD

Check ebay. Even if you dont find the newest one on there, they really do last forever.

As for under $100 when I researched juicers (and subsequently decided the vita-mix was worth the price) I found that the ones under $100 didnt last, didnt give you the nutrients that you should get out of fruit, and just plain weren't worth the hassle to clean.

RWB

BetsyD wrote:

Check ebay. Even if you dont find the newest one on there, they really do last forever.

As for under $100 when I researched juicers (and subsequently decided the vita-mix was worth the price) I found that the ones under $100 didnt last, didnt give you the nutrients that you should get out of fruit, and just plain weren't worth the hassle to clean.

How's that? I'd figure a juicer is a juicer is a... juicer. One may not be as quality as another in that it won't last long or maybe it would take longer to "juice" or clean up afterwards, but juice is juice.

GHoosdum

Well, the Vita-Mix is more of a high-powered blender/food processor than a juicer. There's no screen or filter to clean in it because it basically liquifies anything that you put inside - although it turns things into more of a smoothie consisitency than a juice.

There are several different styles of juicers though, and they have their strenghts and weaknesses. These days it's unfortunately difficult to find a high-quality model because of the Wal-Mart effect and Chinese production lines.

RWB

Well.... I might be able to do $200 in the name of "making a good investment".

GHoosdum

When Betsy got her Vita-Mix, I was actually surprised to see that the quality has declined in the past decades even on it! 20 years ago, the Vita-Mix was an all-stainless steel unit aside from the spigot and lid. These days it's all plastic and looks like a blender.

It's still a good unit if you want to puree and liquefy. If all you want is juice, you can get a decent juicer in your original price range.

Oh, and Here is a fun competitor to the vita-mix.

lemonlime

I've actually been using just a standard blender for a long time. I put any combination of fruits and vegetables that I have on hand--add some ice, orange juice and soy milk. Juicers are great, but there is a lot of the fiber and other nutrients in the 'pulp' that is very healthy. I have a juicer as well, but prefer a good blender.

BetsyD

GHoosdum wrote:

When Betsy got her Vita-Mix, I was actually surprised to see that the quality has declined in the past decades even on it! 20 years ago, the Vita-Mix was an all-stainless steel unit aside from the spigot and lid. These days it's all plastic and looks like a blender.

It's still a good unit if you want to puree and liquefy. If all you want is juice, you can get a decent juicer in your original price range.

Oh, and Here is a fun competitor to the vita-mix.

Actually its not plastic... I forget what it is but not just plain plastic... About 5~10 years ago they redesigned it because the metal units would bend when dropped

RWB

lemonlime wrote:

I've actually been using just a standard blender for a long time. I put any combination of fruits and vegetables that I have on hand--add some ice, orange juice and soy milk. Juicers are great, but there is a lot of the fiber and other nutrients in the 'pulp' that is very healthy. I have a juicer as well, but prefer a good blender.

Yeah from what have read so far the pulp is very good for you and most the blenders or juicers I am finding take it out for you.

GHoosdum

On a side note, carrot-beet-apple-celery makes a tasty juice combination, but it's a lot tastier without the pulp. I guess I should say it makes a great juice but only a so-so smoothie. I'd recommend giving it a try if you start juicing though.

cambrose

I say the Jack Lalaine juicer is amazing. Whenever I have fruit at home that is getting ready to start to get soft, I dump it all in there and make a 'superjuice' with it. It generally ends up tasting like Naked Juice though...

CB

cambrose wrote:

I say the Jack Lalaine juicer is amazing. Whenever I have fruit at home that is getting ready to start to get soft, I dump it all in there and make a 'superjuice' with it. It generally ends up tasting like Naked Juice though...

That's becasue that's how they make Nakedjuice...

RWB

Just to be sure a normal blender won't do? I just found my old blender :P

RWB

GHoosdum wrote:

On a side note, carrot-beet-apple-celery makes a tasty juice combination, but it's a lot tastier without the pulp. I guess I should say it makes a great juice but only a so-so smoothie. I'd recommend giving it a try if you start juicing though.

In what portions, how much of each item for the drink?

GHoosdum

Depends on how much sweetness you want. More beets for more sweetness. I'd start with about two carrots, one beet (two if you want more sweet), two apples, and three celery stalks. Then adjust based upon which flavors you want.

RWB

Whole objects? Like for the apple the core and all?

GHoosdum

As long as you cut them down into smaller pieces, you can pretty much juice the whole thing.

RWB

Ugh I am just finding way too much conflicting information....

Most generic sites don't talk about the pulp at all, other sites talk about the pulp being nutritious as well and wasted, juicers talking about enzymes being super healthy for you so they don't destroy them by only running 80RPM's and virtually no heat and places talking about these enzymes are plant enzymes for plant's not humans.

So it's like WTF!!!

Ultimately I might just take BetsyD's advise, save up and get me the vita-mix blender. It seems to do a lot of cool(hot? hehe) stuff! But frankly while I do want to learn more about all this stuff; and will; it's looking like I'll need to have a doctorates in nutrition to know fact from fiction. Everyone is claiming to be a nutrition pro.

But there is one more point I found... blenders don't extract the juices like a juice extractor will and will lock away a lot of the nutrients... this is driving me nuts.

BlackHawk

My mom has a Juiceman Jr Pro. Had to drink vegetables juices (carrot, celery, beets, etc) for around 90 days for a cancer treatment of hers and it worked great.

BetsyD

RWB wrote:

Ugh I am just finding way too much conflicting information....

Most generic sites don't talk about the pulp at all, other sites talk about the pulp being nutritious as well and wasted, juicers talking about enzymes being super healthy for you so they don't destroy them by only running 80RPM's and virtually no heat and places talking about these enzymes are plant enzymes for plant's not humans.

So it's like WTF!!!

Ultimately I might just take BetsyD's advise, save up and get me the vita-mix blender. It seems to do a lot of cool(hot? hehe) stuff! But frankly while I do want to learn more about all this stuff; and will; it's looking like I'll need to have a doctorates in nutrition to know fact from fiction. Everyone is claiming to be a nutrition pro.

But there is one more point I found... blenders don't extract the juices like a juice extractor will and will lock away a lot of the nutrients... this is driving me nuts.

YA I have gotten another to see the light!

RWB

BetsyD wrote:

YA I have gotten another to see the light!

Actually, probably not.... I found some awesome recipes that would love to try out that uses the pulp. like Carrot Cake Muffins and Carrot Cake. :bigggrin:

BetsyD

Here is a Vitamix 5000 on ebay for a really decent price: http://cgi.ebay.com/Vita-Mix-Vitamix-5000-Blender-Total-Nutrition-Center_W0QQitemZ270171937307QQihZ017QQcategoryZ20677QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem