The Breville BJE510XL Ikon 900-Watt Variable-Speed Juice Extractor is the third juicer I've owned, and is definitely my favorite. My cheap and easy-to-use Juiceman's motor burnt out after a year, at which point it would have been more expensive to repair than replace. My Champion still works after 15 years and is not difficult to clean, but is messy to use, leaving drips all over the countertop or whatever I line it with. I've also tried the Green Star and Green Power Juicers, which make perfect juice with dry pulp, but take a long time to clean and assemble. The Breville BJE510XL Ikon 900 is the second-down from the top of the line of the four Breville juicers (only the Elite is better), but after a month of use of about every-other-day use, I find no need to upgrade.
Here's why I like this juicer so much for my typical juice of carrot, kale, celery and apple and/or pear:
*Easy to set-up: The Breville BJE510XL takes only seconds to set up this juicer. The juicer itself has only 3 pieces to snap into place, plus there's the acrylic pitcher, pulp basket, and pusher. The pieces fit perfectly like a jigsaw puzzle, which brings me to the second reason I like it:
*Not messy: The Breville BJE510XL juicer ends up in the pitcher, the pulp goes to the pulp basket, plus some residual of each ends up in the juicer to be cleaned. My Champion Juicer OTOH required me to find containers around the house that would fit, and still some would drip out. I would have to place a baking sheet or towel under it to contain the mess.
*Quick vegetable and fruit prep: I can fit several carrots at once into the 3" diameter shoot, plus whole pears and/or apples. I don't have to do as much cutting ahead of time as I did with other juicers with a narrower shoot. You must be careful though to use the pusher and not your hand.
*Quick clean up: Those 6 pieces mentioned above are all I have to clean. I can clean my juicer in just a few minutes, once I figured out a good way to clean the filtration basket--by far the most challenging part to clean. This basket was frustrating to clean at first, particularly since my juicer did not come with the brush it was supposed to (and customer service did not respond to my request to obtain a brush). I tried various brushes, but what works best is an all purpose nylon scouring pad from Trader Joe's which comes in packages of 4 for $2.59. The secret to quick clean up is to begin cleaning as soon as you've finished juicing, although you do have a few minutes to drink your juice first. Rinse off the filtration basket and vigorously scrub half of each of the three sections at a time with the nylon scrubber, rinsing each half section before moving on to the next. This should remove 90 to 90% of the pulp debris. Repeat or spot clean to remove the rest. I can clean the whole basket in less than a minute. The other parts are quick and straightforward to clean, although you have to be careful to clean under the rim of the acrylic part that the basket sits in.
*Helpful design features: The Breville BJE510XL juicer has a smaller footprint than the Champion and Greenstar Juicers; a sleek, modern look that looks good in kitchens; pieces that fit together well (as mentioned), and even the plug is in the shape of a ring so one can easily pull it out of the socket without yanking on the cord.
*Doesn't stain. Although The Breville BJE510XLhas some acrylic parts, so far, with immediate cleaning after use, there have been no stains.
A few compromises. No juicer is perfect. This juicer is average in several areas. You can have a juicer that is above average in these areas (Green Star and Green Power), but you will be spending a lot more time in assembly, disassembly and cleaning. Having used the Green Star and Green Power, I would rather have the quick and easy juicer and sacrifice a small amount of yield.
*Noise - This juicer is as loud as your average kitchen appliance like a food processor or blender. The Green Star or Green Power are whisper quiet. It is not as loud as my Blendtec blender which requires me to wear ear phones.
*Yield - The pulp in this The Breville BJE510XL is neither very wet nor very dry--it's average. For sawdust-dry pulp and more yield, the Green Star, Green Power and the $2,000 difficult-to-clean Norwalk exceed the Breville.
*Versatility - The Breville BJE510XL is strictly a juicer. If you're a raw foodist who is interested in making frozen banana "ice cream" and "not tuna" pate', you might prefer the Champion, Green Star or Green Power. However, I have found you can make these items in the food processor, so I'd rather have the dedicated easy juicer. Banana "ice cream" takes about 5 minutes in the food processor, as opposed to about 30 seconds in the Champion juicer.
The bottom line is that the right juicer for you is the one that can get used. With quick and easy food prep, assembly, disassembly, and cleaning, at my house, this IS the juicer that gets used.
Here's why I like this juicer so much for my typical juice of carrot, kale, celery and apple and/or pear:
*Easy to set-up: The Breville BJE510XL takes only seconds to set up this juicer. The juicer itself has only 3 pieces to snap into place, plus there's the acrylic pitcher, pulp basket, and pusher. The pieces fit perfectly like a jigsaw puzzle, which brings me to the second reason I like it:
*Not messy: The Breville BJE510XL juicer ends up in the pitcher, the pulp goes to the pulp basket, plus some residual of each ends up in the juicer to be cleaned. My Champion Juicer OTOH required me to find containers around the house that would fit, and still some would drip out. I would have to place a baking sheet or towel under it to contain the mess.
*Quick vegetable and fruit prep: I can fit several carrots at once into the 3" diameter shoot, plus whole pears and/or apples. I don't have to do as much cutting ahead of time as I did with other juicers with a narrower shoot. You must be careful though to use the pusher and not your hand.
*Quick clean up: Those 6 pieces mentioned above are all I have to clean. I can clean my juicer in just a few minutes, once I figured out a good way to clean the filtration basket--by far the most challenging part to clean. This basket was frustrating to clean at first, particularly since my juicer did not come with the brush it was supposed to (and customer service did not respond to my request to obtain a brush). I tried various brushes, but what works best is an all purpose nylon scouring pad from Trader Joe's which comes in packages of 4 for $2.59. The secret to quick clean up is to begin cleaning as soon as you've finished juicing, although you do have a few minutes to drink your juice first. Rinse off the filtration basket and vigorously scrub half of each of the three sections at a time with the nylon scrubber, rinsing each half section before moving on to the next. This should remove 90 to 90% of the pulp debris. Repeat or spot clean to remove the rest. I can clean the whole basket in less than a minute. The other parts are quick and straightforward to clean, although you have to be careful to clean under the rim of the acrylic part that the basket sits in.
*Helpful design features: The Breville BJE510XL juicer has a smaller footprint than the Champion and Greenstar Juicers; a sleek, modern look that looks good in kitchens; pieces that fit together well (as mentioned), and even the plug is in the shape of a ring so one can easily pull it out of the socket without yanking on the cord.
*Doesn't stain. Although The Breville BJE510XLhas some acrylic parts, so far, with immediate cleaning after use, there have been no stains.
A few compromises. No juicer is perfect. This juicer is average in several areas. You can have a juicer that is above average in these areas (Green Star and Green Power), but you will be spending a lot more time in assembly, disassembly and cleaning. Having used the Green Star and Green Power, I would rather have the quick and easy juicer and sacrifice a small amount of yield.
*Noise - This juicer is as loud as your average kitchen appliance like a food processor or blender. The Green Star or Green Power are whisper quiet. It is not as loud as my Blendtec blender which requires me to wear ear phones.
*Yield - The pulp in this The Breville BJE510XL is neither very wet nor very dry--it's average. For sawdust-dry pulp and more yield, the Green Star, Green Power and the $2,000 difficult-to-clean Norwalk exceed the Breville.
*Versatility - The Breville BJE510XL is strictly a juicer. If you're a raw foodist who is interested in making frozen banana "ice cream" and "not tuna" pate', you might prefer the Champion, Green Star or Green Power. However, I have found you can make these items in the food processor, so I'd rather have the dedicated easy juicer. Banana "ice cream" takes about 5 minutes in the food processor, as opposed to about 30 seconds in the Champion juicer.
The bottom line is that the right juicer for you is the one that can get used. With quick and easy food prep, assembly, disassembly, and cleaning, at my house, this IS the juicer that gets used.