The Difference Between a Centrifugal and a Masticating Juicer
A question we get asked a lot from our customers is “What is the difference between a Masticating Juicer and a Centrifugal Juicer?”
The main difference between the two is the way that they work to extract the juice from your produce.
A Centrifugal Juicer usually has an upright design, in which food is pushed into a rapidly spinning mesh chamber with sharp teeth on its floor. The teeth shred the food into a pulp, and the centrifugal motion pulls the juice out of the pulp and through the mesh filter, where it is funneled out of the juicer. The pulp is normally collected in a separate chamber.
The less expensive Juicers on the market normally work in this way. They work best on hard fruits and vegetables, however they are not great for greens. They have trouble dealing with the fibre in most leafy green vegetables. The plus side is the price - they are less expensive and they are very fast. You do not have to wait long to get your juice. However the down side is that they are generally noisier, and the juice is extracted at high speed. This means that the heat kills some of the enzymes in the drink and the enzymes don’t live very long after juicing, so juices from these machines are best drunk immediately.
Masticating juicers work in a completely different way. They generally have either one or two augers which slowly push against a mesh to extract the juice. They handle the leafy greens and wheatgrass very well and the pulp which comes out of these juicers is much drier than the centrifugal juicer, meaning that the yield of juice from the produce is higher.
The disadvantage of these juicers is that they tend to be more expensive and because they work slower you have to wait a little bit longer for your juice. However the big advantage and the reason why I would recommend them over the centrifugal type is that because they work slower, there is no heat generated in the juicing process and therefore there are more live enzymes in the juice.
When it comes to juicing it is all about the enzymes. Leafy green vegetables and wheatgrass are so beneficial in terms of nutrient content and to get the best from them you really do need a masticating juicer. The enzymes also live much longer, so if you are lead a busy life and bring your juices to work with you in a PUNC insulated flask, the enzymes are still going to be alive when you drink you juice in the afternoon.
If your budget can afford it, it is definitely worth the wait for the better quality of juice you get in the end.
