Sunday, September 30, 2012

My Review: Jack Lalanne Juicer vs. Breville Juicer



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I just juiced myself a nice carrot/persian cucumber juice and decided that I should right a review of my thoughts on the Jack LaLanne vs. Breville Juicer.  

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I had heard of juicing before and my interest in juicing was kind of peaked, but then I watched Fat, Sick and nearly dead on netflix and was convinced that I needed to get a juicer.  I have researched the benefits of juicing, and realized that it can help with so many different health ailments.  Im currently juicing to assist with my weight loss efforts, and i've  heard that it can also assist with hair growth. The hubby and I also just decided to attempt to conceive, so I want my lil alien baby to have a nice host environment, lol.

I personally own a Breville Juice Fountain Plus.  My parents own a Jack Lalanne juicer. I'm not sure of the exact model but its the $100 version. When I was home visiting my parents, I used their juicer (since they never even opened it - after having it for 6+ months), and now I base my review on those experiences - and NO I was not paid to do this review and the makers of Breville or Jack Lalanne dont even know that I exist.

For those who are impatient and want to know which one wins...in my opinion, its the Breville Juice Fountain Plus, for those who want to know why....keep reading.

So lets get started:

Color:  The Breville is a silver type color.  The Jack Lalanne that my parents own is White.  Depending on your kitchen decor, you may be lead to choose one or the other.  BUT...I caution you, the white color can get stained. When making my parents third juice, I decided to do a carrot/apple etc. combo.  It immediately stained their white juicer.  I have been using my Silver juicer for quite a few months and always throw colorful fruits and vegetables in it and it never stains.

Cleaning:  Before I purchased my juicer, everyone said, clean your juicer immediately because you dont want stuck on hell later.  So, immediately after I juice, I clean all of the parts and when im done, my reward is that I get to drink my juice.  With both juicers, there is a lil debris/remains catching basket.  I lined both of them with a plastic bag, so that you can just dump the bag and not have to clean that part.  Easy peasy.  My breville came with a scrubby brush to make cleaning the other parts easier. The Jack Lalanne did not.  No biggie.  After using theirs the first time, and realizing the convenience of this brush, I went to the dollar tree and brought a kitchen brush.  

Juice feeder size:  The breville's juice feeder size is much bigger than the Jack Lalanne's.  So for most of my fruits and vegetables, I can just throw them right in (example apples, pears).  If there's a pit, then I have to cut the fruit, but otherwise, its just wash and throw in the shoot. I noticed that I wasnt able to do that with the Jack Lalanne juicer.  So I had to (well I asked my dad to) cut the fruits up into smaller pieces, which can make juicing take a lot longer.

Amount of Juice:  I believe the Jack Lalanne wins this category.  I didnt do a side by side measurement comparison, but it just looked like the Jack Lalanne put out more juice than my Breville did, so thats a plus.  Plus the Jack Lalanne box said that that it produces 30% more juice than other juicers. 

Juice Storage:  Freshly squeezed juice is best when used within 15 minutes of juicing.  So when I say juice storage, i'm talking about being able to distribute it to everyone who wants juice right then and there, but i couldnt think of a category name for it...so deal with it. :) The breville comes with a juice pitcher, so that after all of the juice is made, you can distribute some to your family members.  The Jack Lalanne did not come with a pitcher.  You have to put a cup that is short enough to fit under the spout to catch the juice.  If juicing for one person, that is not a big problem.  But if your juicing for more than one - than everyone doesnt get the same juice experience.  Some may have more apples, some more carrots, etc.  So to circument vent this problem, I placed each cup of juice in a pitcher my parents owned, stirred it up, and then distributed it amongst us all.  That could be annoying though.

Speed:  The Breville juicer has a high/low power switch.  High is used for harder fruits/vegetables like apples/carrots.  Low is used for softer fruits/vegetables like grapes/strawberries.  The Jack Lalanne only has one speed.

Price:  The Breville Juice Fountain Plus was approximately $150, and the Jack Lalanne version I used was approximately $100.   For the extra convenience, I believe that the $50 price increase was worth it.

Overall:  I believe that if I had to choose all over again, I would definitely pick the Breville over the Jack Lalanne again.

Do you have one or the other? what are your thoughts on them?