Post: #226

Guys you have to watch this also...

http://blog.ted.com/2012/08/09/10-talks-...egetables/

Post: #227

Couple questions:

For chards and brocolli, do you only stick the leafy parts in the Vitamix or the stalks also?

Do you peel the skin off of beets?

Post: #228

(06-28-2013 05:05 AM)Bolthouse Wrote:  Couple questions:

For chards and brocolli, do you only stick the leafy parts in the Vitamix or the stalks also?

Do you peel the skin off of beets?

I put the whole thing in. I try to wash stuff really good if I'm putting in the skin or rind, etc. and try to get organic. Sometimes I will even presoak stuff with a little white vinegar and water.

I was shopping at Wegmans last weekend and there was a Vitamix display there and I noticed the person was making samples where he would put in the watermelon with the rind. I asked him about that and he said he even puts in bananas with the skin and talked about how a lot of fruits and vegetables have vitamins in the skin and parts we may not typically eat. He used cantaloups as another example. He was also using agave since some of this stuff can make the smoothie/juice more bitter.

Post: #229

After juicing for a few weeks with an ordinary centrifugal juicer I would like to step it up a notch and buy a proper juicer. What is your take on this one?



I know the Angel Juicer 5500 is a pretty expensive piece of machinery, but since this thing will extract three times more than a normal juicer I figured the steep fix costs will average out after a few months of buying less produce.

Any experiences?

Post: #230

How is that thing to clean?

How fast does it work?

If it is a b*tch to clean, and slow as sh*t you are just going to have an expensive paper weight in your kitchen.

Post: #231

^^ agree ^^
Cleaning complex juicers is a debbie downer

Post: #232

Looks like a fancy version of the omega masticating juicer. Go with that one and if you want to get fancy, step it up later.

Post: #233

^Yeah, honestly, there's probably not much that machine can do that a Nutribullet can't do. I just got a nutribullet a couple weeks ago and it's gold. I even make my own pasta sauce with it! (3 tomatoes + 1 onion, plus salt to preserve). One thing that pisses me off is I juice frozen berries, and the result doesn't taste sweet at all. I guess you really have to buy the actual fruit for it to have some flavor?
.

Post: #234

(06-28-2013 06:14 AM)Mr. Cameltoe Wrote:  After juicing for a few weeks with an ordinary centrifugal juicer I would like to step it up a notch and buy a proper juicer. What is your take on this one?



I know the Angel Juicer 5500 is a pretty expensive piece of machinery, but since this thing will extract three times more than a normal juicer I figured the steep fix costs will average out after a few months of buying less produce.

Any experiences?

It's an amazing juicer.

Here are (in my opinion) the best high end juicers:

[url=http://fit-juice.com/best-juicer-for-kale-spinach/
]Best Juicer for Kale and Spinach[/url].


I personally have the J8006. I've used friends' Angel and VRT350 juicers. They are awesome juicers, they get a lot of juice out of kale, spinach, and lettuce and other leafy greens, and are easy to clean.

The main con is that they are a bit on the pricier side. (Worth it to me, since I save money by needing to buy less kale since those juicers get way more juice out of kale.)

Post: #235

(06-28-2013 10:11 AM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  How is that thing to clean?

How fast does it work?

If it is a b*tch to clean, and slow as sh*t you are just going to have an expensive paper weight in your kitchen.

Masticating juicers are actually easier to clean than centrifugal juicers. (The Breviller is a centrifugal juicer, as is the Hamilton Beach).

A masticating juicer doesn't have that screen to clean. So you just rinse off the parts.

My Omega J8006 takes a little longer to juice with, but cleaning time is around 30-60 seconds.

The Omega VRT350 takes a bit longer to clean because it has a screen.

The Green Star Juicers have those two metal crushers to clean. No big deal.

Here's some individual reviews:

Omega J8006 Review
Omega VRT350 Review

The benefit to masticating juicers is you get way way way more juice out of kale and spinach.

Based on my experiments, you'll get 3 times more juice out of kale in an Omega Juicer than in a centrifugal juicer like a Breville.

Juicing kale.

Since I juice a lot of vegetables, especially leafy greens, the more expensive masticating juicers end up saving me money over the long run.

Post: #236

(06-28-2013 06:24 PM)Cyclone Wrote:  ^Yeah, honestly, there's probably not much that machine can do that a Nutribullet can't do. I just got a nutribullet a couple weeks ago and it's gold. I even make my own pasta sauce with it! (3 tomatoes + 1 onion, plus salt to preserve). One thing that pisses me off is I juice frozen berries, and the result doesn't taste sweet at all. I guess you really have to buy the actual fruit for it to have some flavor?
.

Thaw your berries in the fridge first.

That said, berries aren't that sweet. THey are a low-sugar fruit. Most berries have sugar added to them; that's why people think berries are sweet.

Juicing is way different than blending, and a juicer does stuff an Nutribulleet can't do.

Last thing I wanna do is argue over juicing v. blending. That's like arguing over gun control or abortion or affirmative action. People really have heated ass discussions.

That said, here are some prons and cons:

Juicing or Blending.

That said, I have a high-end juicer and blender. It's my health. I don't skimp on that.

Because berries are really good for you and it's hard to juice berries, so a blender is good:

Berry Smoothies.

For me it's all about getting as much greens into me as possible.

I'll juice 1 pound of spinach in my Omega and chug it down. (Gross, but whatever, take it like a large shot; or add some apple to sweeten it.)

Put 1 pound of spinach into a blender and drink that. Then report back.

Post: #237

   

Just made my first one. It went better than I thought and didn't taste as gut wrenching as I imagined it would.

As you can see from the picture, I've got nearly half a pint of it there and there's nearly a full pint I've tipped out of the blender into another glass that's now sitting in the fridge.

I only poured that amount into the glass as a taster thinking I'd go back for more but it filled me up. This will easily last me 4 days with all the ingredients I bought.

It came to about £7 in total which really isn't that bad, and I bought it from Waitrose which is known to be expensive. I've got some hempseeds, flax seeds and dulce flakes to come as per that video I posted before so it'll be interesting to see if that changes the texture or taste at all. I know it's going to be better for protein and other vitamins too.

Recipe:

Kale
Spinach
Celery
Banana
Coconut Milk (I wanted water but they didn't have any)
Blueberries
Mint leaves
Cinnamon

The banana really overrides the taste which is good, and the mint overpowers the smell of the kale and spinach which, again, is good. I'm thinking of adding broccoli to it next time too.

It was a bit thicker than I wanted it to be so I think I'll have to replace the coconut milk with something else. Any suggestions?

Edit - no idea why the picture has come up sideways but meh.

Post: #238

(06-28-2013 10:11 AM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  How is that thing to clean?

How fast does it work?

If it is a b*tch to clean, and slow as sh*t you are just going to have an expensive paper weight in your kitchen.

After one more hour of thorough research I came to the conclusion that the Angel juicer might not be the perfect choice for my needs:

Pros:

• Stainless steel and no plastic (BPA)
• Maximum juice extraction without oxidation
• Looks awesome
  

Cons:

• Construction flaw - it tips over easily and the clamping looks flimsy
• Even though there is a video on Youtube showing the cleaning process in something like 2:45 minutes it still looks like a bitch to clean
• It's slower than a centrifugal juicer
• It looks like I can't make sorbet with it out of frozen fruit
• It's a thousand bucks
  

Usually, I don't have any issue with dropping some cash for my health and mental clarity, but in light of the apparent flaws of this machine I can't bring myself to spend this kind of money. I rather buy an Omega 8006 and a S.T. Dupont lighter.

It's quite funny that all the people rave about the Angel and its good extraction capabilites, but what no one sees is that you can simply throw the pulp of the Omega into the machine again for a second run and have the same result.

In summary, I think I'm going to buy the Omega 8006. Masticating juicers in general are slower than centrifugal juicers, but the seem to be easier to clean which will cancel out the addition in juicing time.

Or should I go manual?

Post: #239

My big-mouth juicer burned out on day 2 of use. =/. I heard this whirling sound, then a bunch of cracking and smell of burning plastic, then my juice got big chunks of black plastic. The strainer/cutter plastic where it attaches to the motor was charred and warped upon further inspection.

Anybody else have these issues? Thankfully the warranty is still good, but cmon day 2 of juicing?

Post: #240

Sounds like you just got a bad machine.

My big mouth lasted a year, juicing 3x a week. Most of this time was not juicing too many leafy greens.

Toward the end I started shoving kale, spinach, parsley in there and it died soon after.

My second one (from warranty) is struggling a bit as well (month 2) as I refuse to stop juicing leafy greens.

I have a masticating juicer (Breville) ordered now, hopefully its here soon.

Post: #241

(07-02-2013 01:54 PM)DVY Wrote:  My big-mouth juicer burned out on day 2 of use. =/. I heard this whirling sound, then a bunch of cracking and smell of burning plastic, then my juice got big chunks of black plastic. The strainer/cutter plastic where it attaches to the motor was charred and warped upon further inspection.

Anybody else have these issues? Thankfully the warranty is still good, but cmon day 2 of juicing?

I wrote a post earlier in the thread about the process of getting a new one with the warranty.

-----

Anyone try a Magic Bullet?



http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Bullet-MBR-1...B001WAKFDY

Good? Decent? Suck?

Post: #242

We have talked about this before:

(03-05-2013 02:48 PM)Giovonny Wrote:  

(03-05-2013 09:11 AM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  Anyone else like the Nutribullet?

I have a "Magic Bullet".



Basically, the exact same thing as the "nutri-bullet". A little chaeper,but, it's not cheap, it's durable.

It's basically a mini-blender.

I got it a Walgreens for like 40 bucks. Target has them, and Kmart.

I use it to make salsa. Throw in 2 roasted tomatoes, an onion, a jalapeno, a little cilantro, lime juice, salt, and you are good to go.

For green salsa use roasted tomatillos instead of tomatoes.

G,

You obviously need a juicer. But, I don't think you need a "nutri-bullet", food processor or "vita-mix".

A juicer and a blender can accomplish 90% of your work.

You kind of have to play around with them to determine which machine you want to for which task.

For me,

juice = juicer

protein shake/smoothie = blender or bullet

salsa = bullet or blender

pesto sauce or almond butter or frozen fruit sorbet = vita-mix

liquid salad = vita-mix

I am anal about this shit. This is a big part of my life. My family gives me appliances like this for Christmas/Birthdays.

Again, I think all you need is a juicer and a blender....?

/thread-19549-...#pid386260

Post: #243

@G-man- Its good for limited applications. Making some light smoothies, blending some almonds, salsa, protein shakes. What are you trying to do?

Theres also immersion blenders (for soups)-

Post: #244

(07-02-2013 04:56 PM)DVY Wrote:  blending some almonds

Do you mean making almond butter?

How did this work out for you with the "Magic Bullet"?

Did you have to add any oil?

Post: #245

Wow! My bowels love me.

Started on Saturday and didn't have my first shit until Monday, and wasn't feeling as good as I thought I'd be feeling all weekend.

Now, I feel so good. My shit looks healthy, I feel healthy, the whites of my eyes are starting to clear up and I feel like a well oiled machine.

Massive thanks to Mike for getting this thread going and the others who have contributed.

Post: #246

@Gio- no its not strong enough to make almond butter. Making a banana, almond milk-shake is doable though. The almond isn't pulverized like the blentec but its chopped into smaller pieces.

Post: #247

i make banana frozen berry smoothies with milk and rolled oats.

anti-oxidents in berries help keep immune system high and fight off colds. drink at least one per day.

Post: #248

My Breville Juice Fountain Crush was delivered to me last week and I have ran it through the gears testing it out.

So far the construction of the machine seems solid. Its a heavy beast. Made in Korea. The only components that I see that might be a problem are some of the silicone squeegee blades and the containers that receive the pulp and juice. Everything else is SOLID.

Its a low speed juicer that is meant to give a bit more "froth" to the juice. It does deliver. I can taste the thicker texture right away, but not thicker with pulp it seams (though there is the odd fibre).

As I said before I was juicing a lot of leafy greens and that it killed my last juicer (Bigmouth) and was burning out my replacement. The Breville was meant to allow me to juice these veggies at higher yields.

What a difference. I am impressed I can get this much more out of the parsley, spinach, kale, wheatgrass. But I also seem to get more out of regular veggies as well. Its hard to compare.

I normally hit up a huge Chinese outdoor market down the street where veggies go a day or two after they are taken off the shelf at SWPL markets. I buy two bags, full, and juice that. I imagine its about 8-10kg of some organic some not produce for about $14.

The clean up is easier with this machine as well. The fibre does not clog the mesh filter as intensely as with the centrifugal type. Two minutes and i am done cleaning.

I have noticed the the pulp is a little damper than with the bigmouth. Not sure why that is. I tried running it through again, and I got more juice but I also had the pulp itself run into the juice.

All in all, a solid machine. I would recommend (so far).

Post: #249

I am taking a break from juicing. I am currently blending. I just wanted to try something different. Blending is faster and easier.

I have been making "Green-Fruit Smoothies"..

To my blender, I add:

1.5 cups of water
1 cup frozen blueberries or other berries
2-3 large handfuls of greens (spinach, arugula, lettuce, chard, etc.)

That is the base.

I also might add:

1 frozen banana
1 cup of raw oats
1 cup of nuts
0.5 cups of almond or rice milk

This smoothie has a berry flavor with a strong hint of fresh greens.

I call it a "liquid salad".

Post: #250

Nice one Giovonny. I'll give your recipe a shot. Blending retains the veggie fibre so it slows down the rate of sugar absorption. Its probably a more sustainable part of your diet too