Juice Makers

Widespread drinking of non-fermented fruit juice is a fairly new phenomenon, historically speaking, and one which has only come into its own since the invention of refrigeration. Prior to recent times, long-term preservation of fruit juice was impossible except by turning it into some kind of liquor – as, for example, plum brandy or hard cider. One of the earliest examples of large-scale production of juice as we would recognize it today was a mid-nineteenth century foray by one Mr. Welch, who set out to create bottled grape juice for other religiously-minded teetotalers to enjoy at their church services in place of the usual wine.

The next period saw the introduction of  many different packaged fruit juices, as well as the creation of blenders – home machines able to puree various foods and, to some extent, juice fruit. It is not until recent decades, however, that dedicated fruit juicers have become widely available, as increasing awareness of the health benefits of fresh fruit juice and technical advances in small machine manufacture have converged to produce both a demand for, and a supply of, small, efficient juicers.

Four different types of juicing machines exist – citrus, centrifugal, single-augur masticating, and twin-gear triturating. The cost of the machines, as well as their general effectiveness (and complexity), increases in the same order. Citrus juicers are the most limited and twin-gear triturating juicers can usually extract juice from anything that has any fluid content at all.

Citrus juicers work in a very simple fashion and are basically good only for juicing citrus. Oranges, tangerines, lemons, and so on must be cut in half, and a half fruit is then pushed down onto a conical, ribbed reamer. Turning the machine on causes the reamer to rotate back and forth, squeezing the juice out of the fruit. Seeds and pulp are caught by a mesh screen while the juice flows out into a pitcher or directly into a glass underneath a spigot.

Centrifugal juice makers rely on a spinning cutting disc to pulp fruit and spin the resulting wet mass against a screen, keeping the pulp back while spraying the juice through to the other side. The speed of the cutting disc needs to be varied for maximum juicing depending on the type of fruit. Soft fruits and vegetables require a slower speed in rpm, while crisp, hard fruits and vegetables need a high rpm rate to be successfully juiced. Many centrifugal juicers have two built-in speeds for this reason; those that do not may be better at handling soft or hard fruits depending on the single speed they are capable of.

Single-augur masticating machines ‘chew’ fruit or vegetables to a pulp, then squeeze it against a screen using a variation on the ancient Archimedes screw. These machines are more efficient than most centrifugal juice makers, but slower. They do tend to oxidize the juice less as well, since they generate considerably less heat.

Twin-gear triturating machines are the peak of juice machine design, and squeeze juice out of fruit pulp in much the same way as a clothes-wringer squeezed water out of laundry. They are even slower than single-augur masticating machines, but yet more effective, and may produce a juice yield in excess of 90% of weight (that is, 10 ounces of fruit or vegetables will produce 9 ounces of juice). These machines are quite expensive, but can handle anything from grapes and peaches to difficult juicing subjects such as rind-on pineapple, wheatgrass, seeds, and nut butter preparation.