Making Your Own Juice V.S. Buying
Packaged Juice
What's
the difference between a "From Concentrate" and "Not From Concentrate"
juice?
Why own a juicer?
Juicer Types
Why you should buy Omega Juicers?
The problem with cheap juicers
What happens to the pulp?
What's the difference
between a juicer and a blender? |
|
| Making Your Own Juice V.S.
Buying Packaged Juice |
| With making your own juice, you'll know
that what you're drinking in your juice is packed nutrients and vitamins fresh from the
fruit itself with no added artificial flavors, preservatives, sugar or added ingredients
such as coloring. Take a look at the labels of most fruit 'juices' you find on supermarket
shelves. Most are just sugared water with only a bit of fruit or vegetable juice (5%,
maybe 10%). There are brands of packaged juices of 100% pure juice with no added
ingredients out there but many are made from concentrate. |
|
| What's
the difference between a "From Concentrate" and "Not From Concentrate"
juice? |
| The difference is how the fruit is
processed. A "Not From Concentrate" product means the fruit is squeezed, the
juice is pasteurized and then packaged. A "From Concentrate" product means the
fruit is squeezed, the water is extracted which produces a concentrated form similar to
that you see in the frozen food department, then at a later time we add the water back,
the juice is pasteurized and packaged. The bottom line is that with processed juices, most
of the nutrients you would get from fresh fruits and vegetables are gone. |
|
| Why own a
juicer? |
| So we've established why fresh juice
(over processed packaged juice) is better for you. That brings us to juicing your own
fruits and vegetables. This can be done manually, by hand of course, but see how many 8
ounce glasses of orange juice you can squeeze before getting tired. Or, for a greater
challenge, try juicing your own vegetables or grasses. That's why you should own a juicer. |
|
| Juicer Types |
Masticating:
Masticating machines operates at a slower speed. It chews the fibers and breaks up the
cells of vegetables and fruits. This gives you more fiber, enzymes, vitamins and trace
minerals. The Omega 8001 is a
masticating juicer. It also is more versatile because in addition to extracting juices,
the unit homogenizes making baby foods, sauces, nut butters, banana ice creams and fruit
sorbets. An optional grain mill attachment is available for grinding grains into flour.
Centrifugal: The Centrifugal machine first grinds the fruit and
vegetables then pushes them through the strainer by spinning at a very high rpm (similar
to your washing machine on the spin cycle). This method usually yields a little more
volume of juice. The Omega 1000 & the Omega 4000 are
centrifugal machines. (Most juicers sold on the market are centrifugal). Optional citrus
attachments are available for the Omega 1000 and Omega 4000 juicers that
allow juicing of citrus fruits without peeling. |
|
| Why you should buy Omega Juicers? |
Ease: This is a
integral factor when considering buying a juicer. The easier a juicer is to use and clean
up, the more you'll be using it. You don't want to buy a juicer only to have it stashed
away in your cupboard because it's too time consuming and cumbersome to use. Omega Juicers
are one of the easiest to use and clean. Disposable filters allow easy clean up.
Yield: The amount of juice extracted from the fruit or vegetable. It is
important that you maximize the amount of juice extracted. An efficient juicer can get as
much as 40% more juice. Juicers that eject the pulp outside the machine yield about 30%
less juice than juicers that keep the pulp in the basket. 30% less juice is equivalent to
throwing 1 glass of juice down the drain for every 2 glasses you drink. The Omega Juicers
extract 20 to 35% more juice than self-extracting pulp juicers.
Juice Quality: Cleanest pulp free juice. Good nutrient quality juice as long as
you drink it right away.
Reliability: A good juicer is built to last many years. They are usually
guaranteed with warranties of 5 to 10 years. An inexpensive juicer lacks reliability, and
is typically warranted 90 days to a year. Most inexpensive juicers are not built for daily
use. The cutting blade usually wears out after 2 to 4 months and the motor burns out after
your warranty expires. Omega guarantees up to 15 year warranty (on certain models).
Power - A powerful motor will allow you to juice harder produce quicker
without straining the motor. Power is measured by watts and not RPMs. RPMs measure the
number of rotations per minute. The higher the RPM, the faster the nutrient from the
produce is destroyed by oxidation. A motor rating of 450 watts or greater is recommended.
The Omega Juicer runs on 630 watts motor at 3600 RPM.
Replacement Parts: Finding replacement parts for unknown juicers can be a
nightmare. Getting replacement parts from some manufacturers can take 4 to 8 weeks. Once
you get into juicing everyday, 1 week is too long to go without a juicer. Imagine not
having a toothbrush for 4 to 8 weeks. Omega replacement parts are readily available. |
|
| The
problem with cheap juicers |
| There are many inexpensive juicers under
$100 available in the market. However their small, less than 450 watts motors, are not
built for daily juicing. The most common complaint is that these motors are overstrained
and they burn out within 6 months, right after your warranty runs out. If you plan to
juice regularly, buying a good juicer from the start is well worth it. It will last you 20
or more years - a worthwhile investment. |
|
| What
happens to the pulp? |
| Juicers can be sub-categorized into two
categories, pulp-ejection and non-pulp ejection. With pulp ejection machines the pulp is
ejected into a separate container allowing continuous juicing. This is more advantageous
when juicing large quantities of juice. The Omega 4000 is a
pulp-ejecting machine. With
non-pulp ejecting machines the pulp collects inside the basket and one must stop and clean
it after juicing about one quart of juice. Using the paper filters make cleaning a much
simpler process and yields a finely strained juice. The Omega 1000 is a
non-pulp-ejecting machine. |
|
| What's the difference
between a juicer and a blender? |
| Blenders are not juicers. The concept of
juicing is to separate the pulp from the juice so that your body can immediately take in
the nutrients and not spend energy trying to breakdown the fiber. Blenders don't separate
the pulp from the juice resulting in the juice being very thick and usually not drinkable,
especially carrot juice. However, most blender owners also own another machine for juice
extracting. You may want to own a blender to make smoothies. Made from a blend of juice,
fruit, non-frozen yogurt or low fat sherbet and a dash of ice, smoothies are a healthy
treat. It's the fastest, healthiest and most delicious meal you can ever enjoy for
breakfast on the way to work. Smoothies are so delicious, they can be mistaken for a
desert. |
