Juicer vs Blender: #1 Ultimate easy purchase guide
Table of Contents
Juicer vs Blender: What’s the difference?
Juicer vs Blender is a hard topic for the conclusion. We all need lots of fresh produce in our diet. Both juicer and blender can process fruits and vegetables into a tasty, nutritious drink easily. However, the way they achieve this and the end result are slightly different.
Let’s deconstruct the features and differences: Juicer vs blender.
Blender
A smoothie is a drink made from blending fruit, vegetable, and liquid. You need to prep your ingredients to remove seeds, cores, and skin prior to blending.
A blender processes the whole fruit or vegetable, including the fiber and pulp. This makes a thicker smoothie that takes longer to digest. The blending process doesn’t extract nutrients and water the same way juicing does. Instead, it grinds up entire fruits and vegetables, which includes fiber and all. You still get all the nutrients, but they are released more slowly. This satisfies your appetite and leaves you feeling fuller for longer.
Benefits
- Great for the smoothie: Blender can handle not only fresh produce but also frozen fruits/ice, unlike a juicer.
- No waste: It processes everything you put into; there is nothing to throw away.
- You can put almost anything: You can’t put some ingredients in the juicer (ex. lettuce), but you can put almost anything, even for softer ones, to a blender.
- Slow-release energy: The fiber in the drink slows down digestion so that energy is released slowly and evenly. You will feel full for longer after drinking it.
- Aids digestion: Blender keeps all the fiber in the contents. The fiber works its way through your digestive system, which helps to remove toxins and prevents constipation.
- Blending can also increase your protein intake and more
Your ingredients don’t have to be just fruits and vegetables. You can add nuts, chia seeds, flaxseeds, protein powder to increase your protein. - Smoothies are often more of a meal replacement
Smoothies can contain fruit that is difficult or impossible to juice, like mango and banana. It’s also easy to add ingredients like almond butter, cacao powder, or other superfoods. Unlike juice, a smoothie can be a meal replacement. - Faster to make than a juicer
Blenders work at very high speeds, it’s quick to blend. The mouth is a lot bigger than the juicer, so it’s easier to put the ingredients in. - Cheap
You can use it for multi-purpose, and it’s extremely cheap! You can find decent ones even under $100.
Types of blenders
There are 2 types of blenders: single serving and jug blenders.
Single serving blenders
- Easy to use & efficiency
You can make a smoothie quick: Put the ingredients into the flask (a detachable lidded flask or cup), then detach the blades once blended, and you can just carry it with you or drink right away. - Cheaper and less maintenance
It’s very affordable, easy to take care of, less place needed unlike jug blender. - Small portion it can handle
Less cleaning, though the portion is limited by the size of the cup. If you screwed up the ingredient ratio, you might need to blake it down to two to make it right. - Not as much as powerful as a jug blender
Ice might not crash well as much as a jug blender.
Some brands: Ninja, Magic Bullet, Cincred, Devan, PopBabies
Jug blender
- More portion, less limitation
If you want to make smoothies in bulk, this is better than single-serving blender. You don’t need to worry about how much stuff you can put, unlike a single serving blender. - More power than a single serving
It has more power than a single-serving blender, so you can crush ice better than a single-serving one. - Multi usage
It’s not just for smoothies – you can use it for cooking! Chopping, blending/mixing, and more! - Cleaning takes longer than a single serving
It’s a lot bigger than a single serving one, so it takes more time to clean. - It could be expensive
I see many reasonably priced ones with decent power, but it could be very expensive like Vitamix. - It creates heat
It’s so powerful to blend, so it creates heat to destroy nutrients.
Some brands: NutriBullet, Vitamix (good but so loud!), Oster, Breville, and Hamilton Beach.
How to clean a blender
Washing a dirty blender (and safely making sure the blades are clean) seems difficult and time-consuming. Not true! Just fill your dirty blender about halfway with water, add some dish soap, and turn the blender back on. Then all you have to do is to rinse.
Juicer
Juicing
Juice is extracted from fruits and vegetables that provide nutrients and antioxidants. If you don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables every day, juicing is a convenient way to get a wide range of nutrients.
A juicer separates the fiber from the juice – the remaining fiber and pulp are discarded: you can pack more vegetables or fruits per cup and you get all your vitamins and nutrients in the most easily digestible form. Sounds great, right?
However, you’ll need a good amount of fruits and vegetables to make a glass of juice (always add something with more water content like cucumber, celery, etc. for volume and mild out the sweetness).
Benefits
- Easy Digestion: The liquid content of the juice is easy on your digestive system because the fiber has been removed.
- Fast Absorption: When you extract the juice, you leave all of the indigestible fibrous pulp behind. The vitamin and mineral-packed juice is easily absorbed by your body.
- Pack in nutritions: The juicing process can pack the vitamins and nutrients from a lot more fruits and vegetables into the same sized glass. You can have 3 carrots easily as a juice, but it’s hard to eat them with salad. However, it’s important to note that the portion size of juice should be smaller than a blended beverage. Or you get more calories from sugar. Limit the fruit in both juices and smoothies to 1-2 servings per drink (½ cup to 1 cup fruit).
- A great option for those who need a low-fiber diet
Juicing removes the fibers and pulp, so it may be a better option for those who limit fiber intake. - A good for those who are on a cleanse or fast
Juicing is a good option for a special diet or healing process for a short period of time. - Suitable for hard fruits and veggies: Most masticators can also handle some types of soft, juicy fruits and greens.
Types of juicers
There are 2 types of juicers: centrifugal and masticating juicers.
Centrifugal juicers
Centrifugal juicers extract the juice through a spinning metal blade pressing the ingredients. The pulp is left behind for disposal, though you can cook it!
- Less prepping than a blender
You need to chop your fresh produce when using a blender. You can toss vegetables without a cut or 1 cut for a juicer – even with skins (especially with organic). - Cheaper and smaller than masticating juicer
You can find decent centrifugal juicers from $80 to $150. It’s a lot smaller than masticating juicers, so it takes up less space and easier to clean and maintain. - It could be more expensive than smoothies
It requires more vegetables and fruits than smoothies with a blender. If you choose organic, it might cost a bit more. Also, juicer only makes juice versus blender can be multi-tasking.
Some brands: Breville (I like), Mueller, AICOOK, Hamilton Beach
Masticating juicers (cold press juicers)
It’s the ultimate juicer for the truly dedicated juicers. The juicer presses the ingredients slowly to get the juice. It takes a bit longer, but it retains more nutrients than other juicers that create heat. It’s bulkier and more expensive than centrifugal juicers.
- It retains more nutrients
Unlike blenders and other juicers, it creates little heat to destroy nutrients retaining nutrients a lot more than others. - It takes more time for juicing
It presses the ingredients instead of power through with speed and blade, so it takes a bit longer to extract the juice. It’s the cost to retain more nutrients! - Expensive
Most masticating juicers are priced at a few hundred dollars. It requires more vegetables and fruits than smoothies with a blender. - It’s bulky
It’s heavy and bulky taking up the kitchen space.
Some brands: Omega (I like), amzchef, AICOK
How to clean a juicer
Many juicers can conveniently be washed with a dishwasher. But I’ll cover the basics of cleaning the juicer.
The best way to maintain your juicer is to clean it immediately after juicing. Juice pulp and other small components cause the most problems. Once the pulps dry up, it’s hard to get rid of them. So clean it asap!
Tools
To clean your juicer better, you need tools:
- Small brushes (like a toothbrush and nail brush. Hard one is better)
- Soft cloth or sponge
- Dish Soap
Washing and Drying
- Unplug the juicer
Never clean your juicer while it is plugged into a power socket. Always make sure that you unplugged the cord. - Disassemble the juicer Completely
- Wash the mesh strainer
Run water through it from the bottom to help to remove pulps. Use a hard brush to remove all the pulps. You can also do this: Add some pure lemon juice to hot water (1:9). Put the filter inside this mixture, and let it soak for a while. Then wash and rinse. - Soak dried residue on the strainer (if needed)
Soak it a while in hot water with a little soap, and wash again. - Check the motor unit
Check it as best as you can and clean it completely. - Wash all the other pieces
Be careful if you wash the blade. Soak in hot water if needed. - Dry it out completely
Make sure everything is completely dry before you put it back together. You don’t want to rust it. Air drying is the most sanitary.
How to remove tough stains on juicer
It’s imperative to clean the juicer thoroughly every time, but you might see stains sometimes. Deep clean your juicer occasionally in every several weeks or so.
Tools you need
- Salt
- Water
- A spray bottle
- Bowl
- Milk
- White vinegar
- Denture tablets
- Enzyme dish liquid
- Turn off and unplug the juicer
- Eliminate the residue with enzyme dish liquid
- Rinse all the components under warm water, and use dish liquid to wash them.
- Make sure to rinse each component thoroughly
These liquids have strong chemicals, so you want to make sure you washed them all. - Check each of the parts
Leave the clean ones on the drying rack, and leave the still-dirty parts in the sink. - Soak the dirty parts
Grab a big bowl (or use your sink, but make sure to plug the drain), and put the dirty components inside. Fill the bowl with water until all parts are completely soaked. Add 2 denture tablets to the water, and watch them fizz. Make sure to rinse each component carefully until it is clean. - Check each component again
If you still notice stains, try these:
– Milk and vinegar: grab a bowl, and add these items in 1:1 ratio. Stir it. Take a spray bottle and fill it with the mixture. Spray it to the stain. You can repeat the process several times.
– Warm water and salt: add some salt to warm water (a teaspoon per quart). Soak the dirty components in the mixture for about 30 minutes. Rinse everything and see if any stains survived. - Dry it out and reassemble the appliance
More tips
- Always read the instruction manual before you clean the juicer.
Know which parts are detachable, and which you can wash with water. Some of the components might even be dishwasher-friendly. - Never put the base of the juicer into the water, especially if it is an electric appliance that uses a motor. You should also avoid soaking metal parts for too long because they might rust.
- If you don’t use it for a few days, store it in a box, and place it in a cupboard. That will prevent dust and debris from piling up over your juicer.
- Always place a towel below the juicer during the cleaning process.
You can do the same even while using the machine. That will protect your countertop.
Pulps
They can be great compos, and you can cook them (making a soup or patee mixing with tofu, meats, bread, etc.) so you won’t waste the beneficial fibers.
How much you should spend?
More expensive juicers/blenders tend to have more power.
I’ve tested from high-end industrial juicers/blenders to home-use ones. It doesn’t need to be high-end. I like Breville for juicer though it’s not the most expensive one. It’s easy to use and easy to clean. All you need for a blender is enough power to crush the ice well. The cheap ones tend to have less power, so you can’t crash ice well. So don’t go to the cheapest one, but it doesn’t need to be the most expensive one. For example, Vitamix is super loud – really loud. I think most of the middle-end models like Breville do a good job.
Juicer vs Blender: which one is better?
Now we learned about what each appliance does and its benefits. Juicer vs blender – so which is better?
Amount of nutrition:
The juicing process can pack the vitamins and nutrients from a lot more fruits and vegetables into the same sized glass. However, to get that amount of juice and nutrition, you must use a lot more fresh produce than with the blender. And you toss all the nutritious fibers (you can actually cook them!) and add the amount of sugar by volume than with a blender.
With a blender, you can drink all the vitamins, minerals, and fiber that your ingredients have to offer – with less amount of fresh produce than a juicer. And you can add so many add-ins like nut butter, protein powder, flaxeeds into smoothies to boost nutrients.
Juicer vs Blender: hard call
Waste management:
When you make the juice, you are left with food solids to be discarded. Food waste is a big issue in the United States, with some 30 to 40 % of our food supply discarded. Juicers contribute to this waste. When you blend ingredients rather than juice them, you drink everything without waste.
Juicer vs Blender: Blender
Cost-effectiveness:
The premise of juicer is you can intake a lot more vegetables and fruits than eating them. It’s hard to eat 3 carrots, but it’s easy to drink juice from 3 carrots. To extract liquid from fruit and vegetables, juicing requires more produce than you might think (unless you combine it with celery, cucumber. You can get very little liquid from kale).
Produce could be expensive considering organic and the amount of produce requires for juicing. With a blender, you can take it all without waste. Also, a juicer is a uni-task appliance that could cost hundreds of dollars. Blenders can perform multiple tasks with a lower price point.
Juicer vs Blender: Blender
Ease of cleaning:
Cleaning and maintenance of juicer could be difficult and time-consuming. Take apart the juicer and clean thoroughly. You must use blush to get rid of all the fibers (However, some juicers like this, is easy to clean, unlike others. You can even wash some parts with a dishwasher).
To clean a blender, all you need to do is to wash with soapy water – with the blender and rinse it. That’s it! And clean it as soon as you finish juicing! The pulps would stick it and it’d be harder to clean if you leave it for a while.
Juicer vs Blender: Blender!
The verdict of Juicer vs Blender
Juicer vs Blender. It’s hard to decide which one is better – depending on what you’re looking for.
More fiber? Go for a blender. Need a nutrient boost for your workout? Go for a juicer. But juicer is a uni-task tool. Blenders can perform so many cooking tasks at affordable prices. How often you do juicing is another element for decision making. At least you know what each juicer does now.
Conclusion: Blender has multiple functions - chop, grind, mix etc., while juicer can only make juice. Considering the amount of nutritions is debatable, but the amount of cost, time you spend, and waste you could produce for juicing. Juicer vs blender? I like juicer, yet I got to say “blender” is the winner!
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