If you are in a rush and just want to find out what is the easiest to clean juicer, then we recommend the Omega NC900HDC Low-Speed, Masticating Juicer as our top pick.
All the features offered by a juicer and all the benefits of fresh juice may not be enough to encourage you to use a juicer if it isn’t easy to clean. With the growing interest in nutrition, healthy eating, and removing preservatives and other chemicals from food, more and more people want to start their day with juice when they are trying to get ready to go to work. For that reason, the speed and ease of cleaning the juicer actually become an important feature that influences whether the juicer gets used on a daily basis. Below, you’ll find tips on the features that you should consider when choosing a juicer, including ease of cleaning. Then, you’ll find reviews of five juicers. We use this information to compare them and choose the one we feel is the easiest juicer to clean, but you can use the information to make your own decision.
Here are the easy to clean juicers we will be reviewing:
- Omega J8006HDS Low-Speed, Cold-Press, Horizontal, Masticating Juicer
- Omega NC900HDC Low-Speed, Masticating Juicer
- Breville JE98XL Centrifugal Juice Fountain
- Breville BJE200XL Juice Fountain Juicer
- Aicok Slow Masticating Juicer
- Tribest CitriStar CS-1000 Electric Citrus Juicer
Buyer’s Guide to Finding the Best Easy to Clean Juicer
Juicer Versus Blender
If you already own a blender, you may wonder why you should buy a separate juicer. The difference between blenders and juicers is that blenders do not extract pulp from the juice. Leaving the pulp in does add fiber to your juice, but because blenders do not remove any pulp, there can be so much pulp that the juice is thick, hard to drink, and unappealing. Juicers include extractors that separate the pulp into a bin, leaving a smooth, easy to drink juice.
Masticating Juicers Versus Centrifugal Juicers
Masticating juicers are quiet, low-speed, cold-press juicers. The low speed reduces the heat build-up and oxidation that occurs in high-speed juicers.
Besides making your juice warmer, the heat build-up from high-speed juicers can destroy some of the nutrients in the juice. The oxidation caused by high-speed juicers also reduces the nutritional value of the juice as well as adversely affecting the taste and reducing the shelf life of the juice from 72 hours to 24 hours or less, even if you refrigerate your juice.
Low-speed juicers create more juice from your produce than high-speed juicers, so you save money by using less produce with a low-speed juicer. In addition, you can create a larger variety of products with low-speed juicers than with high-speed juicers, including wheatgrass juice, baby food, fruit sorbets, minced herbs, ground nuts for nut milks and butters, ground coffee and beans, pasta, and fruit and vegetable juices.
Low-speed juicers do take longer to produce juice, which could become an issue if you need to make juice on a morning when you are in a hurry. However, to offset that issue — with a low-speed masticating juicer, you get the ability to produce a variety of delicious, nutritious foods, including a more nutritious and better-tasting juice with a higher yield and a shelf life of 72 hours. So, if you have a low-speed juicer and you know you have a hectic morning coming, you no longer have to wait until that morning to make your juice to make sure that it tastes fresh. You can make it at your leisure a day or even two days in advance and know that it will taste just as fresh and be just as nutritious as if you had made it that morning.
Centrifugal juicers, on the other hand, are high-speed juicers that produce juice more quickly than low-speed masticating juicers. That is an advantage if you want to make your juice fresh every morning, even on a busy morning.
As mentioned, however, high-speed juicers reduce the nutritional value, the shelf life, and the yield of the resulting juice, which means that you need more produce to make the same amount of juice. Centrifugal juicers are also noisier than low-speed juicers, and they have limitations on the kinds of produce you can use with them. For example, centrifugal juicers can’t process leafy greens such as wheatgrass. Still, having time to drink a glass of fresh juice from a centrifugal juicer is better than not having any juice at all.
Wide or Narrow Feeding Tube
The width of the feeding tube will impact your preparation time. If the juicer you choose has a narrow feeding tube, you will have to spend more time chopping your ingredients into smaller pieces. However, no matter how wide your feeding tube is, do not put food into the juicer too quickly, or you will have a lower juice yield and large chunks of produce in your juice.
Horizontal, Vertical, or Cube Juicer
Vertical juicers process juice faster than horizontal juicers and have a smaller base, so they take up less counter space than horizontal juicers. Cube juicers are horizontal juicers, but the cube shape makes them more compact, so they, too, require less counter space than the standard horizontal juicer. However, counter space is not the only consideration when choosing between vertical, horizontal, and cube juicers.
Other considerations among these three styles of juicers include the length of the feeding tube and the height of the juice nozzle. Shorter juicers, like some cube and horizontal juicers, have shorter feeding tubes, so it takes longer to feed produce into the juicer. Also, if a juicer is shorter, the juice nozzle is closer to the counter, requiring a smaller container to catch the juice. This requires removing the container more often to empty it into a pitcher, which can cause drips on the counter from continuous-flow juicers.
Other Features
Continuous-flow juicers allow the juice to continuously run into the juice container that sits below the juice nozzle. This shortens the processing time to some extent, but it also means that you will need to be on the watch — close to the juicer so that you are there to empty the juice container into a pitcher before it overflows. If you have a second juice container, you can slide it into place while you are emptying the first container to ensure the least amount of drips on your counter.
A dual-stage processing feature provides an operation that crushes the juice out of the produce and then squeezes out more juice from the pulp before depositing the pulp into the extraction bin. This produces higher juice yield, requiring less produce to create your juice.
Some single auger juicers are using the GE Ultem Auger that is eight times stronger than plastic augers in other juicers. This is important when you want to juice or grind harder ingredients.
Unlike single auger juicers that press the produce against the chamber of the juicer, twin gear juicers have two side-by-side gears that work in unison to press the juice from the produce. This provides a higher juice yield with more nutrition.
Juicers that offer adjustable settings allow you to choose between multiple pressures to extract the most juice from the produce you are using. You can use the highest pressure for harder ingredients and a lower pressure for softer ingredients.
Some juicers are equipped with a reverse function that helps clear jams. If the juicer becomes jammed, using the reverse function can clear the jam. However, with some juicers, the reverse function directs the pulp away from the pulp nozzle and out the juice nozzle, adding pulp to the juice. You then need to take time to strain the juice.
Food processing attachments are available for some juicers. This makes them even more versatile and allows you to create an even larger variety of foods, such as nut milks and butters and fresh-ground coffee.
A more powerful motor along with the stronger auger and the heavy-duty screen enable juicers to do any heavy-duty work that you might desire. You will want a powerful motor along with food processing attachments if you want to grind nuts to create your own nut milks and butters, to grind coffee beans to create your own blends, or to have your own freshly crushed or ground spices.
Budget
Juicers vary in price. Centrifugal juicers are less expensive than masticating juicers. However, juicers are long-term investments that you will, hopefully, use every day. So before you choose a juicer based on its price and your budget, compare the features of different juicers and decide if additional features provide added value for you now and in the future. If a juicer is priced higher but helps you create nut milks or butters that you will be buying, then spending the money on a higher-priced model might be the best long-term investment. The more use that you can get out of a juicer, the more it is worth finding a way to be able to buy a higher-priced model as a long-term investment.
Ease of Cleaning
To clean juicers thoroughly, you need a brush to remove pulp from the auger and the screen. Some juicers include a brush. If the juicer you choose doesn’t have a brush, be sure that you have one so that you do not have to wait to use your juicer.
Another consideration is how easy the juicer is to disassemble and assemble. Some juicers require a screwdriver to remove some parts. This is another issue that can discourage you from using your juicer, especially when you are in a hurry.
With most juicers, you just disassemble the parts by hand and rinse them under running water. Use the brush on the auger and the screen where pulp has collected to clean them thoroughly. Dry the parts well, and reassemble the juicer.
It’s important to be certain that you have carefully and thoroughly cleaned and dried all of the parts to avoid the growth of any mold or bacteria. On most easy to clean juicers, this type of cleaning takes about three minutes.
Most instructions do not mention drying the parts. However, we strongly recommend it to avoid rusting as well as the growth of mold and bacteria.
You will want to clean your juicer quickly after you are done using it because the pulp will dry on parts and become difficult to remove. If you cannot clean your juicer immediately after using it, let the parts soak in warm water. Some juicers are designed to allow you to run water through the juicer to aid in cleaning when you are done juicing.
The parts on some juicers are dishwasher-safe on the top shelf. This is something that you may want to consider because it is a good idea to wash the parts of your juicer by hand or in the dishwasher at least once a week.
A popular tip to aid in making it easier to clean your juicer is to line the pulp extractor receptacle with a plastic freezer bag. Then, you can just remove the bag and dispose of the pulp. That is far less work than cleaning the pulp bin.
Some final tips include learning about the materials used in juicers that come in contact with the juice. Some materials can be easily stained by certain juices, and, even though the juicer is clean, stained parts can make it less appealing to use. In addition, if the smooth surface of a part becomes scuffed, seriously consider replacing it because that is an area where bacteria can collect.
Warranty
Since buying a good juicer will be a long-term investment, you should compare warranties to protect your investment. The warranty will help keep your juicer from becoming an unusable appliance, and it will allow you to assess how much confidence the company has in their product.
Now that you have read about all the features juicers offer, including ease of cleaning, you can compare the five juicers that we have reviewed and choose the best easy to clean juicer that will be the most useful to you.
Our Top 5 Picks for Easy to Clean Juicer
Omega J8006HDS Low-Speed, Cold-Press, Horizontal, Masticating Juicer
The Omega J8006HDS is a low-speed, cold-press, horizontal, masticating juicer. Since it runs at the low speed of 80 RPMs, the Omega J8006HDS provides better tasting juice with a higher nutritional value and a longer 72-hour shelf life than juices obtained from high-speed juicers. Like other low-speed, masticating juicers, the J8006HDS produces a higher juice yield than high-speed juicers so that you can save money by purchasing smaller amounts of produce to create your juices. However, like all low-speed juicers, it does take longer to process juice than a high-speed juicer, and that can be an issue on busy mornings.
The Omega J8006HDS offers a dual-stage processing system. It crushes ingredients, and then it presses more juice out of the pulp before removing the pulp to the ejector bin. This helps create a higher juice yield and reduces the amount of produce required to make juice.
The J8006HDS also provides you with a choice of three pressure settings that you can adjust depending on the hardness or softness of your ingredients.
The J8006HDS includes the continuous juicing feature, so you will have to empty the juicing receptacle and then replace it under the tap to avoid spills on your counter. For this reason, it’s a good idea to purchase an extra juice receptacle when you purchase this juicer.
Although the J8006HDS weighs 13 pounds, its built-in handle lets you move it from a shelf storage area to your counter when you want to use it, so it doesn’t have to take up your counter space. However, since this juicer measures only 6 1/2 inches wide x 14 1/2 inches deep x 15 1/2 inches high, and it could be an appliance that you use almost daily, you might want to give it a permanent countertop home.
This heavy-duty juicer has a powerful 2-horsepower-equivalent motor and a single GE Ultem auger that provides eight times the strength of plastic augers in other juicers. With maximum power (torque) provided at all pressure settings, this quiet juicer can grind nuts for butter or milk, create juice from leafy greens and wheatgrass, grind coffee and other beans, press pasta, and mince herbs as well as make baby food, fruit sorbets, and fruit and vegetable juices. It includes five nozzles, both a juice and a homogenizing cone, a cleaning brush, and juice and pulp bowls. Omega provides a one-year commercial and international warranty and a 15-year US and Canadian home warranty for the J8006HDS.
The J8006HDS is part of the Omega series that includes the J8004, J8006, and the J8008C. The J8006 is one of the most popular juicers on the market. The J8008C was given a commercial motor, but it is manufactured in China, while the J8006 was manufactured in Korea, which produces better motors overall.
Now, while all these features are great, it’s the ease of cleaning that determines how often most people will use a juicer after they have purchased it. With the J8006HDS, loosening a few knobs allows you to easily disassemble the juicer. It comes with a brush, and there are no hard to reach areas. Daily cleaning of the auger, lid, hopper, screens, and pulp and juice catchers takes only three minutes. The detachable parts are also dishwasher safe on the top rack.
Pros:
- To easily clean the Omega J8006HDS, loosen the knobs and disassemble the juicer. You can rinse most parts and use the brush that is included to remove pulp. Clean up only takes about three minutes.
- The low-speed J8006HDS produces a better tasting and more nutritious juice with a longer shelf life and greater juice yield than a centrifugal juicer.
- The J8006HDS has a larger feed tube so ingredients can be cut into larger pieces, reducing preparation time.
- Omega designs their juicers to be heavy-duty and to last a long time, so they provide a 15-year warranty.
Cons:
- Since it is a low-speed juicer, time to process the juice can take longer than a centrifugal juicer.
Omega NC900HDC Low-Speed, Masticating Juicer
The Omega NC900HDC is a low-speed, 150-watt, horizontal, masticating juicer that offers dual-stage extraction. This means that it first extracts juice by crushing your ingredients, and then it presses the pulp again to extract more juice before extracting the pulp and automatically ejecting it into the pulp receptacle. This provides both a smoother juice and a higher juice yield that requires less produce to create.
The oval feeding tube measures 2 inches long x 1 1/2 inches wide, and that is larger than the feeding tube of many other Omega juicers; less chopping of ingredients is required, reducing preparation time. The NC900HDC comes with two juicing screens and six nozzles.
This juicer measures 6 1/2 inches wide x 14 1/2 inches deep x 15 1/2 inches high, which is identical to the J8006HDS, but at 17.45 pounds, it weighs a little less. We also feel more secure with the design of the handle for the NC900HDC than we do with the handle for the J8006HDS. Omega offers the same 1-year commercial and international warranty and 15-year US and Canadian home use warranty on this juicer than it does on the J8006HDS .
Cleaning up the NC900HDC is identical to cleaning up the J8006HDS. Disassemble the juicer by loosening a few knobs. All of the parts are easily accessible. You should clean the pulp and juice bowls, hopper, auger, and lid daily, but you won’t mind because the cleaning requires just three minutes. You should clean the parts of the juicer more thoroughly once a week, and like the J8006HDS, the detachable parts are dishwasher safe on the top rack.
Pros:
- You should clean the pulp and juice bowls, hopper, auger, and lid daily, but all the parts are easily accessible and disassemble easily. Cleaning requires just three minutes.
- The oval feeding tube measures 2 inches long x 1 1/2 inches wide, and that is larger than the feeding tube of many other Omega juicers; less chopping of ingredients is required, reducing preparation time.
- With its 2-horsepower motor, its stainless steel case, and its larger auger and screen, the NC900HDC can offer five adjustable pressure settings.
- This juicer comes with two juicing screens and six nozzles including a juice cone, a homogenizing cone, a breadstick nozzle, a round pasta nozzle, and a flat pasta nozzle.
- The NC900HDC has the power needed to make fruit, vegetable, and wheatgrass juice; soy milk; frozen desserts; pressed garlic; pressed pasta; nut butter and nut milk; and ground spices, herbs, and coffee.
Cons:
- Although the wider feed times allows you to cut your ingredients into larger pieces, reducing your preparation time, low-speed juicers do take longer than centrifugal blenders to make juice.
Breville JE98XL Centrifugal Juice Fountain
The Breville JE98XL Juice Fountain is a high-speed, centrifugal juicer that can have your juice ready in five seconds, and it overcomes some of the issues that are associated with centrifugal juicers. It is one of the few centrifugal juicers that does not cause as much heat build-up in the juice, so your juice retains much of the taste and nutrition you want.
The JE98XL also offers a large 1-liter juice jug and a 2.6-liter pulp container. The juicer measures 13.2 inches x 16.5 inches x 18.2 inches, so it does take up a little more counter space than other juicers.
The 850-watt, two-speed JE98XL juicer can process apples, beets, and other hard fruits and vegetables at 12,000 RPMs, but it also can process cantaloupe, spinach, leafy green vegetables, and softer fruits at 6,500 RPMs. However, even with all that power, it is quieter than most centrifugal juicers.
The micro-mesh filter and the stainless-steel cutting disc help this juicer extract 40 percent more vitamins and 30 percent more juice than other centrifugal juicers.
For safety, the JE98XL offers overload protection that will cause it to shut off if it detects any issues. The juicer will also not start if the lid is not fastened securely with the safety locking arm. Breville offers a limited 1-year warranty.
This is another juicer that’s easy to clean. Just unlock the safety locking arm and all the parts can easily be removed. Rinse the parts under running water and use the brush to remove any pulp. Dry the parts and assemble the juicer. This takes about three minutes. At least once a week, you should do a more thorough cleaning. Some of the parts — including the juice jug, the filter basket, and the cleaning brush — are dishwasher safe. The other parts have to be hand washed. To prevent damage to any parts and your dishwasher, you should make sure that everyone in your family knows which parts cannot go in the dishwasher.
Pros:
- The Breville JE98XL is easy to clean. It comes with a cleaning brush and is easy to disassemble and assemble. Just unlock the safety arm and remove the parts. Rinse the parts, dry them, and then reassemble the juicer. Some parts are dishwasher-safe.
- The JE98XL quickly provides you with a glass of juice on a busy morning. The larger feed tube requires less time chopping produce into small pieces, and the juice can produce a glass of juice in five seconds.
- It has a large 1-liter juice jug and a 2.6-liter pulp container.
- Breville has designed the JE98XL to be a sturdy and durable juicer.
Cons:
- All the parts are not dishwasher-safe, so besides doing some hand washing, you have to make sure everyone in your family knows which parts cannot go in the dishwasher.
- There are some issues with food being spit out when adding more ingredients while the juicer is running and some leaks where the lid is not sealed as well.
Breville BJE200XL Juice Fountain Juicer
The Breville BJE200XL Juicer is a high-speed, centrifugal juicer. Unlike the JE98XL, the BJE200XL has only one processing speed of 14,000 RPMs, but like all centrifugal juicers, the BJE200XL provides you with a glass of juice quickly. The 3-inch round feed tube allows you to add ingredients in larger pieces, reducing chopping and preparation time. These are great benefits on busy mornings.
With the 700-watt motor, the stainless-steel cutting disc, and the micro-mesh filter, the BJE200XL is designed to be heavy-duty and to provide 40 percent more vitamins and 30 percent more juice than other centrifugal juicers. The motor is powerful enough to process harder fruits and vegetables, such as beets and cabbage quarters. Breville offers a one-year warranty with the BJE200XL.
The safety locking arm prevents the juicer from operating if it is not locked. This is a good feature if you have younger children.
Cleaning is easy. Release the safety locking arm, remove the parts, empty the pulp extractor, rinse and dry the parts using the brush provided to remove pulp, and then reassemble the juicer. On a minimum of a weekly basis, you should thoroughly wash the parts. All parts except the food pusher are dishwasher-safe.
Pros:
- To clean, you just release the safety locking arm, remove the parts, empty the pulp extractor rinse and dry the parts using the brush provided to remove pulp, and then reassemble the juicer. On a weekly basis, you should thoroughly wash the parts; all parts except the food pusher are dishwasher-safe.
- The high speed and the wide feed tube helps the Breville BJE200XL provide a glass of juice quickly.
- The BJE200XL is powerful enough to process beets and cabbage quarters.
Cons:
- While the high-speed processing provides you with a glass of juice quickly, it also causes heat build-up and oxidation in your juice that adversely affects the taste, the nutritional value, the shelf life, and the juice yield, requiring more produce to create your juice.
- The BJE200XL can be noisy when you add ingredients.
Aicok Slow Masticating Juicer
The Aicock is one of the higher-performing juicers when it comes to pure, clean juice. Aicock’s masticating juicer has a higher yield, and it’s also one of the best as an easy to clean juicer. You can easily take this juicer apart and put it back together again within minutes. The large pulp collector allows you to juice numerous fruits and leafy green vegetables, and even if you are working with fibrous vegetables, you can take each element apart quickly.
Aicock’s masticating juicers also have a spiral system that has seven segments, so that you get less oxidation and more nutrition from your juice. With this juicer, you’ll also have less pulp with this ETL certified juicer. With a guaranteed less than 60 decibels, this juicer is made from PMMA material, and the parts are dishwasher-safe.
It also has a two-year warranty, and there’s an option for a one-year extra warranty. However, this is a high-quality juicer that mitigates overheating and friction thanks to the highly-rated materials used in its construction. With thousands of reviews, this juicer is one of the best rated for easy to clean juicers.
Not all juicers have the same capabilities, so it’s rare to find a juicer that is easy to use and easy to clean while also having a high efficiency. Creating the perfect can be easy with the Aicock, but you’ll also have an easy time cleaning out the machine once you’re finished with the juice. This is due to the interlocking design that you can disassemble and place in the dishwasher easily.
Pros:
- An upgraded spiral system with 7 segments
- Easy to take apart and assemble
- Dishwasher-safe PMMA materials
- Less than 60 decibels noise guarantee
Cons:
- Max 80 RPMs (average speed)
- Not heavy duty and not made for long continuous juicing
- Slower than centrifugal juicers
Tribest CitriStar CS-1000 Electric Citrus Juicer
If you are looking for the overall easiest and most inexpensive way to start adding fresh juice to your diet, then consider the Tribest CitriStar CS-1000 Citrus Juicer. With the CitriStar CS-1000, you are limited to citrus fruits, but you can still create numerous combinations with oranges, tangerines, lemons, limes, grapefruit, and pomegranates.
It provides maximum extraction with no clogging due to the fine stainless steel screen.
Measuring 8 inches wide x 8 inches deep x 9 1/2 inches high and weighing five pounds, the CitriStar CS-1000 takes up minimal counter space, and it could be an option to have when you are traveling.
The Tribest CitriStar CS-1000 has a quiet 50-watt motor that easily provides all the power needed.
To clean the CitriStar CS-1000, just remove and wash the screen, the screen hub, the two nesting reams, and the bowl, using a brush to remove pulp.
Pros:
- There are only five easily removable parts to clean.
- The Tribest CitriStar CS-1000 is small and lightweight. This makes it ideal for those with limited counter space or for traveling.
- It has a large and small ream to accommodate different sized fruits.
- The spout has a locking mechanism to prevent drips and leaks.
- The fine stainless-steel screen prevents clogging.
- The 50-watt motor runs quietly.
Cons:
- Unlike more expensive juicers, the Tribest CitriStar CS-1000 is limited to citrus fruits, but it is a good juicer for those just starting to add fresh juice to their diets.
- A cleaning brush is not included.
Our Winner for Easiest to Clean Juicer
While ease of cleaning is an important factor in choosing our winner, it’s not the only criteria we are using. We also are basing our decision on the quality of the juice each juicer produces, how easy it is to use, and how versatile it is. The latter category takes into consideration how many different types of foods you can make with each juicer because the more different types of food you can make, the more use you will get out of your juicer.
For these reasons, we had to choose a low-speed, horizontal, masticating juicer over a vertical, centrifugal juicer.
While centrifugal juicers operate more quickly and are less expensive than low-speed, horizontal, masticating juicers, in general, they cannot produce the force required for making juices from wheatgrass and leafy green vegetables, for pressing pasta, or for grinding nuts, spices, and coffee or other beans. So these juicers are limited to producing fruit and vegetable juices from softer fruits and vegetables.
Because vertical, centrifugal juicers operate so quickly, they aren’t capable of extracting as much juice from the pulp as low-speed, horizontal or cube, masticating juicers. Therefore, if you are using a vertical, centrifugal juicer, you need to purchase more produce to obtain a full pitcher of juice than you would if you were using a low-speed, horizontal, masticating juicer. This means that, over time, a low-speed, horizontal or cube juicer is more economical than a vertical, centrifugal juicer.
Finally, the heat and oxidation produced by the operation of a centrifugal juicer destroy some of the nutrients in your ingredients, reducing the nutritional value of the juice. These same factors also reduce the refrigerated shelf life of the juice from 72 hours for juice from a low-speed, horizontal, masticating juicer to 24 hours or less for a vertical, centrifugal juicer. In addition, juices produced by vertical, centrifugal juicers are less flavorful than those produced by low-speed, horizontal, masticating juicers.
The J8006HDS and the Omega NC900HDC have similar advantages in addition to those possessed by low-speed, horizontal, masticating juicers mentioned above. Both have large feeding tubes. While the Omega NC900HDC is slightly lighter in weight and, we feel, has a better design for the handle, both juicers are identical in size. Both have identical warranties.
When it comes to ease of cleaning, these two juicers tie again. Both come with a cleaning brush and disassemble with the loosening of a few nobs. Daily cleanup takes only three minutes followed by a more thorough weekly cleanup. Detachable parts are top-shelf dishwasher safe.
However, the Omega NC900HDC has a few extra advantages over the J8006HDS, and those advantages make the Omega NC900HDC our winner. The Omega NC900HDC has a stainless steel body. It offers five adjustable pressures, rather than just three, giving you more control over the processing of your ingredients.
For those who really do just want a simple, easy to operate, easy to clean citrus juicer, though, we recommend the Tribest CitriStar CS-1000 Electric Citrus Juicer.
