The options
In the order we'd actually suggest
Ranked by what gets a first-timer through a cycle, not by what earns us the most. Those two orderings are exact opposites, which is the whole reason this page reads the way it does.
Borrowing
How to actually find one
Juicers are the most abandoned appliance in North America. There is almost certainly one within two streets of you, in a cupboard, used twice in 2019.
The message that works
"Does anyone have a juicer sitting unused? I'm doing a two-day seasonal reset on the next turning point and I'd rather borrow than buy. Happy to return it clean with some juice in it."
Post it on a neighbourhood group, a building message board, or a work channel. The offer to return it with juice is the part that gets replies.
Places worth asking
- Your CSA pickup — the single highest hit rate anywhere
- Neighbourhood groups and local buy-nothing groups
- Tool libraries, which increasingly stock kitchen equipment
- A local gym, yoga studio, or run club noticeboard
- Whoever in your family bought one and mentioned it once
Return it properly
Every screen and every seal, cleaned within an hour of last use — dried pulp in a mesh screen is genuinely difficult to remove later. A jar of juice with it is what turns a one-time loan into a standing offer for the next three cycles.
No juicer
The blender method, properly explained
This is a real technique, not a downgrade. Plenty of people who own presses still do it this way when travelling.
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Step one
Chop and add a splash of water
Rough chunks, then a quarter cup of water per batch to get the blades moving. Hard produce like beet and carrot needs a little more; cucumber and citrus need almost none.
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Step two
Blend until genuinely smooth
A minute or more. Any texture left in the blender is texture you will be fighting through the bag, so run it longer than feels necessary.
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Step three
Strain through a bag over a bowl
A nut-milk bag is ideal and costs about ten dollars. A doubled square of muslin, a clean pillowcase, or a fine sieve pressed with the back of a ladle all work. Twist and wring — the last third of the juice only comes out under pressure.
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Step four
Keep the pulp
Blender pulp is finer than press pulp and better for cooking. It goes into stock, crackers, or straight onto the compost. Don't bin it.
Expect roughly ten minutes per pressing versus three or four with a press, and a slightly foamier result. Neither of those will stop you finishing a cycle.
The best press is the one you already have access to.
If you are buying
What actually matters
Worth paying for
- A wide feed chute — halves your prep time
- Few parts, and all of them dishwasher-safe
- A long warranty on the motor and the auger
- Spare screens still being sold for that model
- Quiet operation if anyone else is asleep
Not worth paying for
- Claims about "nutrient retention" — largely marketing
- Wattage figures, which say little about yield
- Smoothie, sorbet, and pasta attachments
- Anything advertised as "commercial grade" at home prices
- App connectivity, on a machine with one moving part
How we make money here, in plain terms
Some links on this page and in the pamphlet are affiliate links: if you buy through one, the retailer pays us a commission and you pay exactly the same price. We only list equipment we would use, and we have deliberately put the free options above the paid ones, which costs us money on every visit.
We'd rather have five thousand people who trust the guide than five hundred juicer sales. If that ever stops being true, this page is where you'll be able to tell.
Next
Equipment sorted. Now the food.
The sourcing guide tells you what will actually be at market on the date where you live, and the calculator tells you how much of it to buy.