| Product: |
Kenwood Citrus Juicer JE-260 / 270 |
| Date: |
14/01/07 (680 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Yield, Ease of Use, Easy to Clean, Easy to Store, Price
Disadvantages: None
I have enjoyed making smoothies for several years now, and I have always used either fresh orange juice from a carton, or cranberry juice from a carton as the base to which I add my fruit. In fact while there is nothing particularly wrong with this method, as orange juice in cartons comes from concentrate, I have often wondered how good it actually is, compared to the real fruit. Unless you get your oranges on trays of four from overpriced food stores, then arguably the real fruit will come in cheaper too.
There isn't actually a juicer on the market that will do all kinds of fruit and vegetables. In fact I have four juicers in my collection (vegetable, citrus, wheatgrass and regular blender - for smoothies) I find they are the most useful of all kitchen appliances - no other modern gadgetry generally finds its way into my kitchen. I make my fruit smoothies in the blender part of my food processor, but of course this is not adequate for citrus fruit.
The Kenwood JE270 is a citrus juice extractor that does what is asked of it, and comes in at an affordable price. You can actually pay £100s for a citrus juice extractor, which would seem like overkill for anyone other than a commercial outlet. In fact the Kenwood JE270 retails for around £15 from the electrical retailers and you may find it slightly cheaper on line.
Assembling the extractor is simplicity itself. The base unit is on a fairly short electrical cord, and the specially shaped jug slips over the central plastic spike. There is a silver tray to catch the pulp, and finally the domed citrus squeezer shape on the top. There is no on/off switch with this type of appliance, instead the extractor is activated by pressure - when you push the orange half down on the squeezer, the appliance spins around gently and extracts the juice.
There are two main advantages to using this citrus extractor instead of a traditional lemon squeezer. Firstly the amount of juice that can be extracted from the Orange (or other fruit) is significantly more than what could be achieved manually. Any extractor worth its juice will have a two way alternated rotation, meaning it will spin one way, and then the other. This helps to yield the most juice from the fruit, for far less effort than trying to do the same thing manually. The second most important advantage for me has been the time element. If I had to get up and manually squeeze four oranges before I can put that juice into the blender to make a smoothie maker, then I would probably be more incliined to stick with the carton orange variety.
Obviously the juicer will cater for lemon and lime and is adequate for this too, although it is unlikely that many people would have a need to juice those fruits in quite the same volume as oranges..
The metal tray separates the pulp from the juice and it is possible to squeeze around 3-4 oranges without having to tip the build off away, as it builds up around the squeezer. This is not really a problem for smoothie making, although preparing fresh orange juice for breakfast for several people obviously takes a lot more oranges! Technically this is what is referred to as Pulp rejection.
A very important factor when buying a juicer is usually the ease at which it is cleaned. Again I think this simple extractor makes life very easy. There are the three components, the jug, the glass squeezer, and the metal pulp catcher tray, and all three of these can be put in the dishwasher without any problem. the base unit itself rarely gets messy and can be wiped down with a soft damp cloth if any pulp does attach itself to it.
The final factor is probably the storeability. Mine tends to live on the kitchen worktop next to the food processor and the veg juicer as it gets used regularly. However if you do want to store it, then the small 6" diameter and height of the appliance make this straightfoward and the cord can be "retracted" around the base.
I have owned this juicer for well over twelve months now and as it is a very simple appliance then there is very little that could go wrong with it. If you are thinking of introducing more fresh juices into your diet then I don't think you will regret a purchase, particularly at this price.
Summary: An affordable way to increase your healthy food intake
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