The benefits of carrots are many. Science has proven that they help vision, metabolism, skin disorders, the immunes system, lower cholesterol, reduce cancer risks, and a host of other things that improve your health. So it goes without saying that carrot juice also carries these advantages. But what should you look for when purchasing a juicer to make carrot juice at home?
With several options available to the consumer, a little foreknowledge about the pros and cons of a juicer can go a long way. Certain juicers are better for fruits and others for vegetables, but you want something that gets the most out of your carrots.
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Things to Consider Beforehand
Prior to beginning your search for the perfect carrot juicer, you have to first decide on your budget. Juicers range anywhere from $20 to a couple hundred. Depending on how much juice you wish to make, you should know how much you’re willing to spend. A pricey juicer may be able to handle a wider variety of fruits and vegetables but that may be unnecessary if you want to work primarily with carrots.
Another few things to keep in mind are quality, durability, assembly, and cleaning. Juicers have a lot of moving parts and if any one of them isn’t working at peak performance, you will be the one to lose. You must also be able to dismantle, clean, and reassemble your machine with ease as you will be doing so regularly.
Last but not least, read the reviews of the model you choose. There’s no better way to decide which juicer is meant for you than to see what people who own one think.
Centrifugal Juicers
Centrifugal juicers use a sharp blade spinning at high speeds to juice your food. Similar to a blender, they are by far the quickest. These work well for carrots since they’re capable of breaking down hard matter while extracting juice and separating the pulp.
However, because they slice and dice food as opposed to squeezing it, juice from centrifugal juicers oxidizes fast. In order to not lose nutrients to this process, you need to quickly refrigerate the products of your labor in an airtight container and drink it within a day. Additionally, studies show that while centrifugal juicers are typically cheaper and faster, they extract lower quality juice when compared to other options.
Masticating Juicers
Also known as cold-press or slow juicers, masticating juicers work by means of a slow-moving auger that presses produce against a screen mesh to squeeze out juice and remove pulp. For carrots, these are a good option since this process reduces oxidation permitting storage for up to 72 hours while providing a greater yield. Plus, they are easy to take apart, clean, and put back together.
As previously discussed, some juicers work better for certain fruits and vegetables. Masticating juicers aren’t great for leafy greens but are excellent when it comes to carrots. The main drawback with these would be the speed at which they work. Though there are various options when it comes to cost, the more expensive ones are more durable and capable of doing better juicing.
Triturating Juicers
Triturating juicers use twin gears that grind together shredding fruits and vegetables. Not so good for soft matter, they function great with carrots, most greens, and food with high fibrous pulp. They not only juice, but can make peanut butter, baby food, sorbets, and a couple of other things. They also slow the oxidation allowing for storage of up to 72 hours.
Though these can work with carrots, triturating juicers are primarily used for things like lettuce and kale. Moreover, their price is a big drawback as they start in the low hundreds. Furthermore, they are harder to take apart and clean since they contain more parts.
Verdict
After comparing the three options, it’s clear that masticating juicers are best for working with carrots. Centrifugal juicers are faster as well as more affordable and triturating juicers can make more than just juice, but masticating juicers find a healthy balance between function, cleaning, and price.
While sacrificing speed, they make up for this by producing juice that lasts longer than anything made by centrifugal juicers. And, though triturating juicers are more versatile, they are more expensive and complicated than masticating juicers.
With the capacity to slow oxidization by means of squeezing rather than shredding plus their vast price range to ensure affordability and ease of use, it’s not difficult to see best-rated carrot juicers are typically masticating.
