Blender and Juicer Buying Guide

They Both do Juice, Right?

Not Quite.

Blenders combine whole or pre-prepared ingredients in a jug. In most cases, you will require a liquid component like water or coconut water to agitate the food and bring it into contact with the blade. The final product usually takes on a thicker consistency, affectionately known as a smoothie. 

Juicers process your favourite fruits and veggies to give you a separation of pulp and juice, resulting in a final product that is less thick, not as aerated, and smoother on the palate. However, the separation process entails more parts for cleaning.

Either option will serve you well for preparing healthy juices and smoothies, but the decision ultimately rests on the types of ingredients you like, your frequency of use, and your willingness to clean up after yourself.

What Are Your Beverage Prep Priorities?

While all blenders and juicers will help you to produce a juice or smoothie, some are easier to clean, or excel making certain blended drinks. Before you dive into our range of blenders and juicers, it’s worth thinking about the purpose you want these products to serve. 

I'm looking for the most nutrition...

Juicers with variable speed settings allow you to choose the right speed for the type of fruit or vegetable. This optimises the amount of juice and reduces pulp waste. 

I'm looking for the best blender for leafy greens, nuts and vegetables...

A blender with a square jug will provide even blending consistency as particles bounce off the wall and onto the blade. Blenders with wide blades also help by minimising food traps, meaning no food is left in the jug.

I'm looking for an easy-to-clean appliance...

Juicing parts are usually dishwasher-safe. If you intend to use your juicer every day, look for a model with parts that can easily be disassembled and assembled by hand, without the use of tools. Some juicers will come with a brush for cleaning the blades and mesh screen, which will help to prevent blockages.

I want to create homemade cold-press juices...

Cold-press juicers with a dispenser will continually mix your ingredients until the juice is ready to serve. This allows for an even combination of ingredients to give you a fuller flavour. Cold-press juicers can also juice a wider variety of fruits, vegetables, and leafy foods. 

I'm looking to create homemade nut milk...

A high-performance blender is the best appliance for making nut milk. Water will help the process by giving you a smoother consistency. One advantage to using a slow juicer is that you save on prep time because you don’t have to strain the nuts yourself. 

 

Need an All-Rounder Appliance for Food Prep?

 

If you’re looking to make homemade dips and sauces, such as vegetable dips or hummus, a food processor may be just what you need. Harness the versatility of a processor by using its blade attachments to refine ingredients; some models even come with a blender attachment so you can mix the dip or sauce in a jug that’s powered by the same engine. 

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Types of Blenders

1. Personal Blenders

Drink from the same vessel that produced your beverage in the first place. Sleek and compact in design, their jug capacities vary from 600 ml to 1 litre, with some units having multiple jugs. They are ideal for making one or two beverages at a time, and they come with lids for on-the-go drinking.

Benefits

- Compact in design; save on bench space

- On-the-go drink maker for ultra convenience

- Smoothie specialist, geared towards the active 

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Standard Blenders

These blenders offer more volume than personal blenders, with jug capacities of up to two litres. This is in conjunction with a motor size increase, with greater wattage for tasks like crushing ice. Some units have variable speeds and programmed blending and cleaning functions. 

 

Benefits

- Less preparation of ingredients before loading, with larger jugs and motors

- Ability to crush ice and make all cold beverages

- Built with variable speeds and some models have programmed functions tailored to specific recipes

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Blender Features

Types of jugs: There are many different types of jugs for blenders. The two most common types are glass and polycarbonate plastic. Plastic jugs are 20 times stronger than glass jugs and they won’t break if you drop them by accident. Square jugs make particles bounce off the walls and onto the blades to help with consistent blending.

Blades: Traditionally raised blades rely on the jug’s fins to direct food to the blade. The alternative blade design is where the blades cover the full width of the bowl. This design prevents food traps as ingredients travel up the wall and back onto the blades.

Speed dial: Operating your blender is easy as most units will have a variable speed dial. Almost all blenders will have a pulse function for breaking down solids in short bursts, ideal for crushing ice. Some machines will have built-in recipe programs, as well as timers for staying on top of tasks.

Noise: Noise is an inherent part of any high-powered engine working in tandem with a jug full of ingredients. Although blenders can be loud, this is considered normal and the end product makes it all worthwhile.

Easy cleaning: The best time to clean your blender is straight after use. If food gets stuck, some blenders have removable blades for easy cleaning. Other blenders have cleaning programs that help to wash the jug with water and detergent.

Motor protection: To avoid damaging the motor or to accommodate overuse, high-end blenders are equipped with motor protection. This safety measure will cut the motor off when it becomes overheated.

Types of Juicers

Citrus Press

Old meets new with this semi-automatic method of preparing citrus juices. Generally speaking, you should not put citrus fruit into a juice extractor as it will not produce as much juice. With a citrus press, the turning reamer squeezes out the juice from the citrus fruit and the juice either collects or dispenses. 

 

 

 

Benefits

- Compact in design; save on bench space

- Easy to operate

- Fewer parts means there’s less cleaning to do

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Juice Extractors

Extractors use rapid juicing blades to separate juice from pulp. Wider feed chutes can accommodate whole fruits and vegetables, saving you the hassle of whittling down ingredients to smaller chunks. 

Benefits

- Quick preparation and juicing

- The ability to juice most fruits and vegetables, regardless of texture

- Dishwasher-safe components for easy cleaning

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Juicer Features

Blades: With juice extractors, the blade is constructed with small teeth to break down the food, along with a fine mesh for the juice to pass through. Slow juicers have a slow-turning screw blade that forces the food against a mesh for the juice to pass through, before paddling and massaging the waste into the pulp chute.

Minimise cleaning: Most extractors are built with dishwasher-safe parts. Using a plastic bag in the waste will minimise cleaning. Cleaning a slow juicer is as easy as pouring water into its juicing compartment while it’s running.

Noise: Juice extractors tend to be louder than slow juicers. Food being pushed against a fast moving blade will increase the overall noise of the extractor. Conversely, the slow juicer is quieter to operate as it has a powerful slow-moving motor.

Safety: In the case of both extractors and slow juicers, they will not operate unless assembled correctly. For additional safety, the motors have thermal cutouts and some have a reset switch to continue juicing.

Speed options: Slow juicers will only have power and reverse options, with their motors engineered to work at one speed. Extractors, on the other hand, have a range of different power and speed options across different brands, e.g. low and high for soft and hard fruits, or a variable speed that will help produce more juice and less pulp.