Our Juicing and Smoothie Appliances

Today starts the first day of our 365 day Juicing challenge. 

We have been juicing for years, and burning through juicers just as fast. Let me tell ya we reaffirmed the saying "quality vs. quantity"...ha ha. 

After much research, we decided to get a Slow Squeezing System.  It presses the ingredients gently in low speeds minimizing the loss of nutrients caused by heat, friction, and oxidation to produce the freshest and most potent juice extract. We decided on the Hurom Juicer. It is a mid price ranged juicer and was the perfect fit for us, our frequent use, and our goal of maintaining the most amount of nutrients in our blends. 

Here is a link to Hurom's website. Ours was purchased at Costco online if you are in the market for an EXCELLENT juicer. Hurom Juicer 

As for our blender, last year we decided to finally make the jump and purchaser the Vitamix.  I should rephrase that, I had been begging and wishing for a couple of years and finally my awesome hubby gave in and said the magic words I had been longing to hear, "Go Ahead". Let me tell ya, I still remember that magical moment. ha ha. I really love the vitamix, the smooth blends, the ability to grind my own grains (bought the grain attachment as well), and the overall usability of the appliance definitely justifies its fairly substantial price tag.    Being our machine is in constant use between daily smoothies, baking, grain prep, grain and nut milks, and raw food prepping it is a staple appliance in our kitchen. 

Here is a link for more information on the vitamix if you are not familiar with it.  
Vitamix . We also purchased this machine at Costco as well. 

If you are just starting out juicing/ making smoothies, you don't need to rush out and buy all the big expensive equipment, use what you have until you see if the process is a fit for you.  

As for Juicers, you can buy one of the cheaper models at your local appliance store (usually $80 to $120) or check on your local buy and swap (kijiji, ebay, your local buy sell). If you are financially able and see juicing as a part of your everyday life spend the money to purchase a slow squeezing juicer.  It will save you money in the long run as you get substantially more juice from your produce, a great pulp that can be used in soups, fruit leathers, etc. If there is one new appliance I would recommend adding to your kitchen this year it would definitely be a good quality juicer. 

Also if you are looking for some inspiration on juicing please check out the documentary Fat sick and nearly dead.

Watch for our Daily Juicing Challenge starting today

Time to get our juice on...

Happy 2014