That might seem obvious, but in reality, you can make juice without a juicer. It involves using a blender and a cheesecloth, but I won’t be going into that today. The easiest, quickest, and most practical way of making homemade juice is by using a juicer.
The best types of juicers are the slow juicers. My favorite 3 are the Tribest Slowstar Juicer, the Kuvings C7000, and the Tribest Greenstar Elite.
Most juicers come with their own jugs, but just in case yours didn’t, you will need 2 jugs or containers. One to catch the juice and another one to catch the pulp. These containers look like this:
You can use any containers you might have at home, but if you are buying, make sure they are short enough to fit right under the spouts.
Whenever possible, go for organic fresh fruits and vegetables.
You can juice almost anything, except for a few fruits and veggies that do not have much water content like banana, avocados, and figs.
The most common fruit and vegetables to juice are:
Even if you are juicing organic fruits and vegetables, you still need to wash them with water and scrub them with a brush. A good brush will get into every nook and cranny to take off all the dirt and other contaminants. Below are 2 excellent vegetable cleaning brushes that will get the job done.
Most of the time, you can leave the peel on for added nutrients when juicing. But some fruit and vegetable peels will make the juice taste bitter or just plain bad. And sometimes it’s a matter of preference too.
I always peel the beets. I prefer them that way, and I peel them with this type of peeler below. But of course, you can use any peeler you feel comfortable with.
I never peel apples, pears, carrots, or cucumbers. Also, I don’t peel lemons and limes, but I do peel oranges, tangerines, grapefruits, pineapples, and melons. I use a Santoku style knife similar to the one below to peel them and to cut all the other fruits and vegetables. Actually, this is the only type of knife I use in the kitchen. Really, I use it for everything.
Any type of chopping board will do. I use bamboo cutting boards for their esthetics and because they are the most environmentally friendly.
The first juicer that I owned used to leave a lot of pulp and foam in my juice, and I prefer my juice to be smooth. So I used to put a sieve on top of the jug, right under the juice spout to catch the extra pulp. If you don’t mind the pulp, or if your juicer gives you smooth pulpless juice, then there is no need for the sieve.
If you are not planning to drink your juice right away, I suggest you store it in a sealable glass container. I use mason jars for juice, the ones that come with lids. You can use bottles, carafes, or pitchers, and that’s purely a matter of preference. These are the types of mason jars that work best for me.
You can chug down your juice, or you can sip it through a straw. The latter is what I prefer. I find myself savoring the juice better when I drink it through a straw.
I care about the environment, and I never use disposable straws. I have a whole drawer of straws in my kitchen. All of them are reusable ones. I have bamboo straws, stainless steel straws, plastic straws, silicone straws, and even cute ones with smileys on them.
Pouring water through a straw is not enough to clean it. The insides need to be scrubbed to get off any dangerous bacteria that might be clinging to your straw. So you need a straw cleaning brush for that. Most of the time, a set of straws comes with its own cleaning brush. If not, this is what you should be looking for.
Juicers usually come with their own sets of cleaning brushes. They need to be of particular sizes to be able to clean different parts of the juicer. You might be able to find a set of brushes for your juicer from Amazon.
Cleaning is everyone’s least favorite part of juicing, but it has to be done. So having a good set of cleaning brushes will save you precious time.
And of course, you need a few juice recipes for beginners to get you started. You can find some of my favorite recipes here or, if you haven’t already, download my FREE Juice Recipe Book.
That’s it!
That’s the complete list of what you need to start juicing. You can still juice without a few of these items, but they sure make the whole process of juicing easier and quicker.
Me, before and after adopting juicing and a plant-based diet.
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