Juicing: how do you like it, and recipes please!

SweatsOnSunday

So I've come into a juicer, and want to try it for a few weeks. Does anyone use one regularly? How do you like it? Care to share a recipe or 2?

Thanks!

DancingMoosie

My husband was really into juicing for a while. I like spinach with carrot and red bell pepper, maybe a hint of ginger. It's better to eat the veggies so you get the fiber, too, but juicing is ok.

Cinder333

I had one years ago, and it was a pain to clean. I loved apple juice with carrots.

RovP6

Cinder333 wrote: »

I had one years ago, and it was a pain to clean. I loved apple juice with carrots.

I have one sitting in a cupboard that's not been used for ages as it's such a pain to clean. Someone has already mentioned the fibre aspect of juicing vegetables. They're okay for a juice fast if you're into that sort of thing. As for juicing fruit, well there's also a fibre aspect there too as the fibre in whole fruit helps to regulate the sugar absorption. The other aspect of juicing fruit is the sheer volume of fruit it's possible to consume by juicing. Now some might think that's a good thing, but you could easily drink the juice of half a dozen apples in one serving. Would you necessarily sit and eat 6 apples one after the other? Probably not.

NorthCascades

Oh, man, as a cyclist I hoped this would be about steroids.

😉

sgt1372

I did it for awhile

Stopped because it was too much trouble, generated too much waste, was a PITA to clean the juicer and ultimately was too expensive

Better to just eat the fruit/veggies themselves.

COGypsy

I used to juice quite a bit. I have gastroparesis and when my symptoms were at their worst—-like discussing feeding tubes worst—juices were a way to try and get at least a few calories and nutrients in. I found leafy greens weren’t worth the effort to juice. A whole head of romaine or bunch of spinach yields less than a shot glass of juice. Fruit juices were a bit more worthwhile, but the sugar hit would give me the shakes with nothing else in my system.

There are lots of interesting recipe combinations out there and many were pretty tasty. Just be prepared to spend 45 minutes cutting produce to fit into the feeder for every glass of juice. Juicing will be great if you compost though. You end up with pounds and pounds of pulp.

I used a mid-range Breville. It would overheat sometimes and the motor would shut down until it cooled enough to run again. That mostly just happened if I would try to make multiple servings. It was fairly easy to clean. Took up about the same amount of space as my Kitchen Aid mixer.

All in all, I’d say juicing can be good and helpful, but it’s a lot of work and a lot of mess for not a lot of output. If it’s something you’re really interested in, I’d suggest buying a variety of juices from a cold-pressed juice shop or website and seeing how you even like the basic combinations and if you like it enough to invest the time and energy.

kshama2001

I used to juice, but it gave me headaches and wasn't filling. Now I make smoothies in my food processor, which is easier to clean, plus I keep the fiber. I add protein powder and fat.

You could google "fat sick and nearly dead juice recipes"

DanyellMcGinnis

I made a lot of juice when I first got my juicer, and now I am down to doing it once a week, for Sunday brunch, which is the only time I drink juice (3 oranges and half a pineapple split between my husband and me). I think it tastes better than juice out of a carton, but of course is not pasteurized so has to be consumed pretty quickly after making. Most juicers will have recipes in the manual to get you started or you can get cheap ebooks on Amazon (even if you don't have a Kindle, they let you download a free app) with recipes.

It is very easy to make nondrinkable concoctions and certain fruits and veggies are incompatible with certain types of juicers. For example, the Jack LaLanne Power Juicer has spinning blades and you can't juice bananas with it, and you don't want to put pomegranate seeds in there because there will be a RACKET, let me tell you. It has an easier time with oranges and a harder time with pineapples. It can do hard things like beets if you cut them up into smaller pieces. Its parts can also be cleaned in a dishwasher.

I had a rotating slow juicer (or cold press or whatever) for awhile and perhaps it was the arrangement of parts but it was a pain to clean and wasn't dishwasher safe. It could juice bananas and pomegranate seeds and had an easier time with pineapples and a harder time with oranges. I think it would be pretty bad for greens because it couldn't squeeze much out of them, you'd want one with blades for that. I also think something like a beet would've broken it.

11Templars

We juice quite a bit. (no gear jokes kids) :-)

The key is having a good juicer, as most of them or shite, and waste tones of product. We use a GreenStar and it's honestly amazing. When we juice the remaining Pulp is literally dry. You can't squeeze any juice out of it, where as with less expensing juicers you can squeeze the pulp and juice will still be present.

In terms of the Better to eat your veggies thing, there might be some truth to that, however, your fibre can be gotten elsewhere, and you can get more nutrients from juice vs. eating in that you can drink more than you'll eat. ie. One of my go to juices every morning it 3 apples, and two carrots. I'm unlikely to eat that every morning.

The key imho is to make sure you only use organic fruits and vegetables. I do a 10 day juice fast every year, so during that time it's a lot of produce and fruits, so you want to keep the pesticide consumption to a min.In fairness, we grow a ton of our own food and that helps as well.

Here is a great site that explains the benefits of juicing etc. https://gerson.org/gerpress/faqs-juicing/

I appreciated not everyone is in the position to spend this kind of money on a juicer. My advice is to barrow a juicer, if you interested in trying it out for a couple of weeks. In terms of cleaning up, that's part of cooking, or any food prep.

Happy to answer any questions if you have them.

chris_in_cal

I like blended smoothies better. They too are a PITA to clean up after, but it seems both easier and more nutritious to drink down all that stuff, that is separated out from juicing.

Evamutt

We used to have juicer years ago then husband kept saying it would be better if we ate the pulp too & not wasted anything so we got a Nutribullet Rx & "juiced" veggies/fruit in there. I just add water or tea for the liquid. We love it!!

Danp

I went through a juicing (more blending really) phase a few years ago. Didn't do it so much as a weight loss tool and more that it made for a really convenient OTG breakfast.

ahoy_m8

Another vote for blending to use the whole fruits/vegetables so as not to waste fiber. Americans notoriously eat too little fiber. Hard to understand why anyone would intentionally waste it (outside of unusual situations like COGypsy described—that sounds terrible!) Echoing the point above about fiber slowing digestion to moderate glucose spikes from natural sugars in fruits, the juice of 3 apples could be really bad for someone with Insulin resistance. Lots of reasons whole fruits are healthier and more satisfying for the average person. My kids use an immersion blender to make smoothies right in the cup (easy cleanup), but I prefer eating fruit vs drinking it.

You don’t know if you don’t try, OP, so give it a whirl. 😉 Do count calories though and be aware if blood glucose is something you have to watch.