best juicer for beginner

im curious on a juicer for juicing the fruit instead of using mesh bags. so, when i type in juicer on amazon i get juice extractors. this is the only type of juicer i have ever known about, until today.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000MDHH06/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

now that i seen someone on the wine forum mention a steamer juicer, i looked it up. so i searched amazon for a steam juicer and found a bunch of them like this one.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055Q2D2W/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

so my question is why is the steam juicer better? what one will get the most juice out of the fruit? what is the downside to either one?


Edit: these are the 2 i was considering buying as well. so if anyone has opinions on either of the models, please let me know!

I have the steam juicer in the second link. Plan on using it for the first time this weekend. One of the differences is the one in the first link uses a blade to chop up the fruit/vegatable/etc. The steam juicer uses the power of the steam to extract the juice only, leaving the pulp behind. For wine making, I think just the juice is more desireable than having skins, hull, seeds, etc. all chopped up in your must.

I do not own one but I would love to have the Omega VRT 330 juicer. From what I have heard, better quality juice and better yield than any thing else out there today. the 10 year bumper to bumper warenty helps as well.

roadwarriorsvt said:

For wine making, I think just the juice is more desireable than having skins, hull, seeds, etc. all chopped up in your must.

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I think this depends on the fruit. For grapes, you do want the skins. For Oranges, you want the zest (outer skin) and inner fruit but not the pith. By peeling and de-seeding first, you could get around the parts you don't want.

I personally have this juicer and love it:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FHQJ6C/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I have not used it for winemaking but it makes great juice.

I know many who use a steam juicer, but they only use it (for winemaking purposes) on red/black/blue fruits. If you use it with white/green fruits like apples-pears-kiwi it can give the juice a cooked flavor, etc. I just invested in a stainless steel steam juicer (great deals on Amazon right now!)--so it is one more tool in my winemaking arsenal. I also own and use a centrifugal juicer.

You really don't need a juicer to make wine. I would recommend if you do opt to juice consider putting the pulp in a straining bag and adding it to your primary ferment as you still pull a lot from that pulp when making wine. But experiment if you do own a juicer--you will learn what works for you and what does not.

I found an old 'Juice Man' (remember that guy??) machine in my mom's basement. I figure I might try it with my blueberries.

Is the skin that important our can I use tannin and what not to replace it?

The most important thing is you don't want anything that will grind up the small seeds in fruits like blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, etc. You will end up with a bitter wine.

I use a steam juicer, even have a BLOG about it. The good thing about a steam juicer is you can drain the juice into canning jars and store it for off season. Also good for making mixed fruit wines when the fruits don't come on the same time of year.

I've steam juiced elderberries, strawberries, rhubarb, raspberries, blackberries, plums, apples, and concord grapes. Made very good wine with all.

Last thing is if you put it in pint size canning jars, you can use a pint of juice and a cup or two of sugar to make a very good f-pac. Just put it in a pan and put it on the stove on low heat and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Love the f pack idea, and how did the rhubarb turn out? I have about 15 pounds ready for picking

The rhubarb was a surprise it juiced very well. I cut it up in 1 inch pieces froze it and then juiced it. I mixed it with a strawberry concentrate I got from Home Winery Supply (it was a bad strawberry year here). It's aging at this time, but by early taste test it's going to be a good one.

Breville Juicer is the best now beside Omega and Phillip

Couple of years I use centrifugal juicer, Breville BJE200XL, but after two years I start prepare most advanced recipes, first year I prepare simple citrus juice, couple of simple recipes, lemon juice, orange, and orange with banana or strawberry. However, with more experience I start to do more experiments with vegetables, wheatgrass and leafy greens. At finally my centrifugal juicer, do not satisfy all my needs, so I decided to buy masticating juicer for more efficiency, and I found that masticating juicer is better decision when you want to prepare juice from hard fiber produce or same type.
I buy Omega J8004 and now I am very happy with it.
For newbie I will recommend to buy centrifugal juicer, it is cheaper, is money is not problem for you then buy masticating.
P.S. Masticating juicer need more space, so, before buy it look if you have enough space on the kitchen.

This is a very old thread. I would imagine a lot of the products mentioned are either no longer made or replaced by new models.

Check the date of the first and last post. Last post was in 2013

Scooter68 said:

This is a very old thread. I would imagine a lot of the products mentioned are either no longer made or replaced by new models.

Check the date of the first and last post. Last post was in 2013

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I agree, but many good juicers models is made even now, for example my Omega J8004 are on the market from 2009. I read loot about juicers. I found that good juicers is on the market for more than 7 years, thanks to good design and good quality parts.

UBB said:

I found an old 'Juice Man' (remember that guy??) machine in my mom's basement. I figure I might try it with my blueberries.

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I have one of those. Use it for apples, and not drinking apple juice! Have made several gallons of apple wine from the apples on my property. I used it because I don't have a press or any good means to extract the juice after primary fermentation. It works, just have to keep cleaning the pulp out frequently.

I have used my steam juicer for several years. It works well for apples, chock cherries, Nanking cherries and Aronia berries. It takes about 12 lbs of fruit per batch. From that I get about 5 qts of juice. I have been known to bag the mush from the juicing and thrown that in the fermenter for a few days. I use a knee-high nylon for the bag so I can pitch the mush when done. No bag cleaning involved!!

Has anyone ever use the steamer for white peaches. Have some frozen and not sure how to process them for wine. Any suggestions?

cmegaf said:

Has anyone ever use the steamer for white peaches. Have some frozen and not sure how to process them for wine. Any suggestions?

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Never having worked with white peaches, I would try this. If they are soft when thawed and have been pitted, I would probably mash them. And I would use a pastry blender. One with flat tines, not the round tines. Steaming would take longer. Good luck.

Thanks, I will give it a try!

Very informative thread.