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How to Become a Juicing Master at Home: Cold-Pressed vs. Vitamix and Beyond
You might be wondering why I'm writing about juicing. Well, I like to write about personal, relatable experiences as often as possible and this one has been on my mind for weeks. I have been trying to master the art of juicing and creating awesome smoothies for months now and have made a ton of mistakes so decided to look into what I might be missing in the equation. One of the big things that happened is I went into a local juice spot and didn't really look at the prices until it was too late and I found myself paying $14 for one-single-juice! In my mind, I could've purchased at least 5 bags of spinach or 6 bunches of kale so I concluded, I need to figure out the at-home version and also figure out what's better for me in the world of juicing (little did I know there's lots of different ways!) “Juicing” is a term that’s become incredibly popular in the last two years. While it’s been a way for many to ensure their bodies receive the nutrition they need for much longer than two years, it’s gained huge mainstream popularity more recently. With home juicing and mixing machines readily available, and becoming increasingly affordable, why would you subject yourself to a $14 bill at a juicery anymore? (oh and I am loving the entrepreneurial spirit around all the juicing spots popping up, I just want to balance my budget with juicing at home too!)
Looking after yourself from the inside out is something that’s super important to me. But, I know there must be a way to do this for less money and from the comfort of home. So, I did a little research and want to share with you today how you can start becoming a juice-making expert yourself to balance out the days you treat yourself at a juice cafe.
With the right equipment (and a certain amount of patience), you can absolutely recreate most of your favourite juices at home. When I say “the right equipment,” it’s important to understand the difference between things like a “juicer” and a “mixer.”
When you purchase juice from a juicery, it’s usually cold-pressed – particularly if the price point seems high. In true juicing, there are two juicing methods: centrifugal and cold-pressed. The first, centrifugal, is more like your traditional mixing machine like a VitaMix. It uses a fast-spinning blade to pulverize fruit and veggies and extracts the juice. With that being said, it’s not the exact same as throwing everything into a blender and calling it a day. For myself, it's a two step process where I drain the VitaMix creation through a cheese cloth to just enjoy the juice. The second, cold-pressed, involves a slow pulverizer and hydraulic press. This method is more popular with specialty juicing companies or those offering juice cleanses.
With the cold-pressed method, it’s often said that the process doesn’t create heat. However, natural heat is created when anything is being crushed and grinded. To truly maintain the label of “cold-pressed,” the standard rule of thumb is that the heat created does not venture over 50 degrees Celsius.
When it comes down to which method is better, you should consider a few things like ease of use, maintenance, end nutritional value, shelf life and how much juice you can make at once. A cold-pressed juicing machine tends to be more expensive (to both buy and maintain), takes longer to use and produces smaller batches. However, the nutritional value also tends to be higher and the juice itself can last longer.
With a centrifugal machine, like Vitamix, you see larger batches, slightly lower cost and better ease of use. While the end result may not have asconcentrated of nutrients, you are still fully capable of making delicious, nutritious juices that are much more packed with healthy ingredients than your standard grocery store OJ.
For me, I think I'm going to stick with Vitamix at home and then treat myself to a coldpress juice now and again. There's less clean up with a vitamix and the cheese cloth really does do the trick.
Once you’ve chosen your machine type and are ready to get going, you’ll be glad to know there is an endless supply of juice recipes online. From those that teach how to emulate popular juice cleanses like Blueprint Cleanse to easy, everyday juices featuring nearly a single ingredient – you’ll have a blast learning, growing and treating your body to a healthy dose of delicious whenever you wish.
To your authenticity,
Love, Christine
