How many times per day or week do you plan to juice and what quantities will you require? Is it just for you, you and your partner or your entire family? Is the time it takes to make a juice a major concern? Masticating juicers, while producing the highest quality juice are much slower than high-speed centrifugal juicers, so if you need to make a lot of juice quickly and you are willing to sacrifice a little on quality then centrifugal juicers are a good option, however if juice quality is your primary concern and you plan to juice mainly vegetables and leafy greens then a masticating juicer is by far the best choice. Masticating juicers take 60-100% more time to make juice compared to a centrifugal juicer. For example, it will take a masticating juicer about 5-7 minutes to make 500ml of juice, while it would take a centrifugal juicer only 3-4 mins (you will have a lot more waste!). 

Like most things in life, you get what you pay for, the same applies when it comes to juicers. Typically as the price goes up so does the juicer's performance. With a higher price comes higher juice yield, more features, an easier-to-clean product, a better warranty and in many cases a more aesthetically pleasing product. If you plan to make juicing a key part of your diet and health regime we recommend not skimping on the price, many people start off juicing by buying a cheap centrifugal juicer for less than £100. This is a false economy; you may quickly become disheartened by the effort involved in assembling the juicer, the large amount of waste produced and indeed the poor quality of the juicer and juice. In time the juicer just becomes another kitchen gadget gathering dust or worse breaks down within the first year. If you are willing to spend £200+ you will get a high-quality juicer that should last you at least 10 years.

In my opinion, one of the greatest benefits of juicing is the capability to extract raw live juice from leafy green vegetables. No other foods are as rich in vitamins, minerals and enzymes as leafy greens, especially wheatgrass, spinach, kale, chard and cabbage. Centrifugal juicers are very poor at juicing leafy greens and in effect simply cannot juice them. Our advice is to stick with masticating juicers (single gear = good, twin gear = best) which are excellent at extracting leafy green juice.

The ability to juice whole apples and other fruits and vegetables is important for people who wish to reduce the prep time involved before juicing. Most centrifugal juicers have large feed chutes to take whole apples etc… While most masticating juicers have a smaller feed chute of typically 4cm, this prevents overfeeding of the feed chute and is also a safety requirement under EU law (to prevent children from putting their hands into the chute). Nonetheless, your prep time is typically only increased marginally with masticating juicers, I find I only have to chop apples, beets and some large carrots. Some of the latest vertical masticating juicers such as the Hurom H400 include a self-feeding hopper that can cut and prep produce to the perfect size by using an internal cutting blade at the bottom of the hopper for hassle-free juicing!

To get the most from your juicer we recommend keeping it visible otherwise it may end up unused in a cupboard somewhere. Many juicer designs are stunning; most leading manufacturers have tried to design a range of styles and colours for contemporary kitchen environments. Consider the colour of other appliances in your kitchen and the size and shape of your juicer to ensure you will have adequate room around your juicer for collector bowls and the produce you are juicing, also consider the space above your juicer where you will need to access the hopper to feed produce in. Many juicers can be quite large and are now either horizontally or vertically positioned. It is important to consider the juicer dimensions when choosing your juicer. Some of the most stunning juicers include the Hurom juicers and the all-stainless steel Angel juicer range.