Best juicers 2018

Convenience, size and ease of cleaning are key considerations when choosing a juicer. We've tested popular versions to suit all budgets and requirements.

Find out more about our BBC Good Food reviews.

Read our pick of the best machines for blitzing fruit and veg to create delicious healthy juices at home. Whether you’re a novice to the juicing trend or call yourself a pro juicer, we’ve rounded up the best options on the market. More of a smoothie fan? Read our review of the best bullet blenders.

Smeg slow juicer

Best all-rounder

This classic retro design Smeg slow juicer was crowned our Star Buy due to its incredibly smooth results as well as having the option of two various strainers for fine or thicker juice. In contrast to some of the heavy and unattractive machinery on the market, this slick design and relatively lightweight model means we’d be happy to keep it pride of place on our kitchen counter. The appliance also benefits from an easy-to-manage assembly with brilliant picture instructions and lots of handy recipes. Just a note: larger pieces of fruit and veg may need to be cut slightly to fit into the smaller-than-normal entrance funnel.

 

 

Panasonic slow juicer MJ-L500

Best for a small kitchen
If you don’t have the luxury of a large kitchen, you might be concerned about investing in another bulky piece of equipment. Of all the ones we tested, this was by far the slimmest and most compact. However, it’s worth noting that you may need to chop your fruit down into smaller pieces as the machine has a fairly small entrance funnel due to its overall compact nature. When it came to doing the washing-up, we were pleasantly surprised at the practical cleaning brushes that came with this machine – really handy for removing any chunks caught in the blades.

 

Electriq HSL600 slow masticating cold press juicer

 

Best budget buy
We were pleasantly surprised at the innovative design of the Electriq machine, the first to have a see-through component meaning fruit and veg can be seen travelling from input to output. At under £60, we would say with confidence that this tried and tested model is excellent value for money. Although we found the machine harder to clean than some other models, this one would be perfect for anyone new to juicing who's looking to save a penny or two.

 

Omega MMV702 Mega Mouth

Best for a pro juicer
This fairly heavy piece of equipment wouldn’t look out of place in an industrial kitchen. With a pretty large body and a relatively tricky build, this is definitely aimed more towards those who take their juicing seriously. Some machines particularly struggled to break down leafy greens such as kale, but this one tackled the ‘kale test’ with ease, making the smoothest juice of all the appliances we tried. It's at the higher end of the pricing scale, so we wouldn’t recommend buying this machine if you’re a total novice, but for those who know their way around a juicer and are looking for the ultimate smooth results, this one should be on your wish list.  

Buy from UK Juicers (£399)

For all of the products mentioned in this review, various retailers have been suggested by our affiliate partner Monetizer 101 and are not suggested or chosen by BBC Good Food. For more information on how these retailers are selected and the nature of our partnership, please read the Monetizer101 FAQ page. 

Buyer's advice

Why buy?

Whether you’re trying to increase your fruit and veg intake or just want to know what all the fuss is about, juicing is the trend for you. How does juicing differ from smoothie-making, you may ask? Simply put, most juice makers extract juice from fruit and veg and then go on to separate the juice from the pulp. Smoothie makers, on the other hand, cannot extract any juice and merely blend together the chosen ingredients, meaning the results are often thicker. 
 

What to buy?

Although there are plenty of options on the market, there are fundamentally two options to choose from: fast or slow juicers. 

Centrifugal (fast) juicers: These seem to be the most popular choice because they are speedy, easy to use and tend to be fairly budget-friendly. Most of the time, they work by feeding whole chunks of fruit or veg down a tube where it is then chopped and separated at the bottom. 

Masticating (slow) juicers: For anyone who considers juicing a vital part of their daily diet, masticating juicing would often be deemed the preferred choice. Although not as speedy as a fast juicer, a masticating machine will definitely do a much better job at breaking down the fruit or veg – particularly those hard-to-blend leafy greens. It's often said that you will yield more juice when using a slow juicer so they're often considered more cost-effective in the long run than a fast juicer. 
 

What we looked for

Ease of use: Although assembling the machines can be quite time-consuming, we noted how easy the instruction manuals were to use and the simplicity of each machine’s functionality once put together. 
Smoothness: As we were looking to juice a variety of fruit and veg, it was important the juicers could handle everything we threw their way. We also made sure they weren’t too noisy for an everyday kitchen. 
Ease of cleaning: We looked for machines with removable components that could be washed in a dishwasher or with an old-fashioned manual scrub.
Ease of storage: Although all juicers tend to be vast in size due to the nature of the work they do, we looked for compact appliances that could be stored in a kitchen cupboard. 
Features: Any added bonuses, like different options for frozen juices or veg prep, were taken into account.
 

How we tested

We tested all of the juicers using the same quantities of carrots, apples, fresh root ginger and kale. We looked for a smooth green juice which told us the machine could handle leafy greens. The juices that came out orange told us that the machine did not process the kale properly. The amount of juice produced was also very important, and we measured the yield of each batch. 

Juice recipes and advice

Cucumber, apple & spinach juice
Carrot, clementine & pineapple juice
Fennel, blueberry & apple juice
The health benefits of juice

The best gadgets – tested

The best bullet blenders
The best food processors
The best blenders
The best gadgets for health lovers 

This review was last updated in August 2018. If you have any questions, suggestions for future reviews or spot anything that has changed in price or availability please get in touch at goodfoodwebsite@bbc.com. 

Have you tried juicing yet? Will you be investing in a juicer? We'd like to hear your thoughts...