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My first... and last juicer
I bought this as my first juicer after reading mostly excellent reviews here and have been very pleased with the results.
Now, I have not blended too many juices together; I have mostly juiced various fruits. It makes the best orange juice I have ever had. The apple juice is very good as well, though I would recommend peeling the apples first, as it will leave the apple juice a bit pulpy. Strawberries and peaches also come out excellent. I have juiced both of those and then blended the juice with ice cream and made excellent smoothies. Grapefruit juice is also tasty.
I recommend the juicer, as nearly everything comes out decently smooth, and the motor is very powerful. All in all, a very good machine.
[Thursday, December 04, 2008]
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Best Juicer ever
This is the best juicer that i could ever imagine. Generally i do not write reviews, but this is a killer. After reading all the reviews i thought i will give it a shot. It took 5 minutes, to remove the parts, clean it up and dry it up and re-assemble it and it is ready to go. I juiced apples and carrots and it is fantastic. The pulp is pushed in to the waste basket. I really thought, could this ever be possible that a juicer can do this kind of a job. It is very sturdy and strong and powerful. After juicing, again it took me less than 5 minuts to clean it up. It is worth every penny. Although i only used it once, i see how easy it is to use it and how efficient it is. I have used juicers before and i had to do a lot of work and needs to use pressure and time to clean it up. But i think this is the best juice in the world.
[Wednesday, December 03, 2008]
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Ikon: Almost perfect. Better than Elite
I've had the opportunity to try both the Elite and the Ikon. I much prefer the Ikon. I found the Elite unnecessarily large. Both have the same ample-sized 3" fruit and vegetable receptacle in width, but the Elite's "food pusher" and chute are longer than the Ikon's, making the Elite more difficult to fit under an upper kitchen cabinet. The Elite looked too industrial and imposing on the counter. The Ikon looks "just right," and the Ikon's additional speed controls are a great plus. Also, the Ikon's "safety locking arm" is easier to use, possibly because it's more substantial, and the "arm" is more attractive than the Elite's.
WORTH NOTING: I bought the Ikon from Bed, Bath & Beyond. With their 20% off coupon, it was less expensive than Amazon's price and I didn't have to wait for Amazon to ship it to me. (I live close enough to BB&B to have been able to bring the juicer home in my shopping cart so no shipping charge was incurred -- both now charge sales tax, at least if bought in or sent to New York City so there was no saving for me if I bought from Amazon.) I returned the first Ikon to BB&B for another because I sensed something was not totally right. Sure enough the second Ikon felt and sounded perfect. (The pulp was definitely drier. I still sometimes run the pulp through a second time and the juice yield is greater. I just don't know if the additional amount is worth the effort.) I suspect variations of quality between the machines occurs frequently, so don't hesitate to make an exchange if you believe something is wrong. Amazon.com and BB&Beyond are very customer friendly so returning and/or exchanging was very easy.
WORTH NOTING #2: The reconditioned Breville juice extractor I received from Amazon.com was in amazingly bad condition. (I think the former owner cleaned the plastic juicer cover with the cleaning brush that should be used only on the filter basket.) The plastic was so scratched that no part of it was clear. The machine should never have been sent to me. The good news is that Amazon.com took it back with only a few questions.) I have since learned that there's a link on the ordering page for juicers that are "reconditioned" that allows you to specify the condition of the reconditioned machine that you're willing to accept.
Thanks to the reviews I read on Amazon.com of others who experienced the juicers before me, I knew to use a plastic bag in the pulp container -- definitely a helpful hint. I think too much is made of the difficulty and time consumption involved in cleaning the juicer. The important part to clean ASAP is the stainless steel filter basket. I just fill the sink with warm, sudsy water and drop parts in to be cleaned when I'm ready. If the plastic does become stained by carrots, a little fresh lemon rubbed on the stain removes it.
Good luck on your choice.
[Sunday, November 30, 2008]
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