To masticate literally means to chew, and this is what a masticating juicer does, it grinds and chews the plants using this strange looking grinder called an auger.
This action forces the plants through a strainer in a much gentler fashion than a centrifugal and therefore puts less stress on the cells within the plant. As a result the juices are often a richer color, and some claim, better quality, probably through being torn apart rather than sliced.
I will share what I have gleaned from online research and from the people who I have met via forums who favor the Omega Juicers.
Pro’s of the masticating juicer…
The juices made by a masticating juicer are said to have a higher level of nutrients with significantly less foam than a centrifugal, making them look and taste better. This is attributed to the grinding and tearing action of a masticator which doesn’t disrupt the cellular make-up of the plants to the same degree as the centrifugal juicers. The slower rpm’s also produce less heat than a centrifugal which possibly lends to better juice, however, as shown in the tests mentioned on the centrifugal page, these claims are debatable and could be more about marketing than fact.
Masticating juicers are known to be excellent at juicing soft fruits such as banana, mango and avocado, which cannot be put through a centrifugal. They have a variety of interchangeable strainers/screens that allow you to do this.
The Omega Vert upright masticating juicer:
They are quiet (because of the slow rpm’s).
When it comes to leafy greens, including wheat grass — they will yield about 20% more juice than a centrifugal juicer.
One of the big plusses for the masticating juicers is that many of them — not all — perform other functions, making them very much like a food processor. The popular Omega J8006 (pictured above) for example, can make pasta, nut butters, and is famous for its banana ice-cream which can be made by simply changing the internal screen.
Whilst the Omega VRT350HD can’t make pasta and nut butters, it is a heavy duty machine and can even handle beans, which means you can make soy and even nut milks with it. It is also apparently a legend at juicing leafy greens. If all those things aren’t cool enough, this model also has little windscreen wipers that clean the screen inside as you juice.
Con’s of the masticating juicer
The starting price is $300 — $400, which is a big outlay for someone who is new to juicing.
Harder vegetables such as carrots will definitely juice in a masticator, but not as easily and efficiently as with a centrifugal. Some people I talk to still feel that their Omega’s are a great all round juicer, while others, particularly hard core juicers like me, have told me that they use two different juicers depending on what they want to juice….in my book this is a potential negative.
Due to masticating juicers operating on much lower rpm’s (only 80–120) they are much slower than centrifugal juicers.
The juices are more pulpy and the discarded pulp is generally wetter than that of the centrifugal which indicates that not as much juice is being extracted, which concerns me. Some people like the pulpier juice, while other’s choose to strain.
Masticating juicers have much smaller feed chutes to stop you from force feeding the machine, so you need to cut up your produce quite a bit before juicing. It is also recommended that some produce be peeled in order to juice it properly, such as pumpkin. This all adds to the total time spent preparing juice. Also, as you can tell from this website, I don’t like discarding any part of a plant, especially the peel.
