To Juice or not to Juice - Philips HR1865 Juicer (Philips HR1865)

Member Name: Wappum2

Product:	Philips HR1865
Date:	24/02/09 (554 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of juice, easy to clean, looks good

Disadvantages: None

I brought into the whole juicing phrase because of Jordan - I'm not a huge fan of hers but her ability to shrink immediately after childbirth caught my attention (I admit I'm quite shallow) and so during my 2nd pregnancy I purchased the Philips HR1865 Juicer for £169, in readiness for the big diet once I'd given birth.
So, once my gorgeous baby boy had arrived, and I'd given my body enough time to recover, I weaned myself off the cakes and junk food and fired the Juicer into action

HOW IT WORKS
Apparently it has some centrifugal action going on - the fruit and veg get spun round fast enough to ensure all the juice is extracted. The large feeding tube where you put the fruit etc to be juiced is big enough to ensure that most things don't have to be chopped prior to juicing - although I have had apples get wedged - so I do tend to at least cut them in half and it doesn't require much effort to juice anything - the speed of the 700w motor ensures most items are easily pulped
The juicer comes complete with a jug and foam separator if you don't like to drink the foam that is created during the juicing - and it's easy to take it apart and stick in the dishwasher to clean - so there's no drawn out cleaning to put you off making any juices. The only part of the juicer that required more effort to clean was the mesh filter - but the juicer came with a handy brush that you can use to easily scrub that clean.

THE APPEARANCE
Looks are important (see, told you I was shallow) and this juicer fits in nicely with the rest of my kitchen appliances. It's stainless steel/black with an LED display - so it looks nice and modern. It's not too bulky either, so it can be left out on a work surface without getting in the way.

THE JUICES
My Juicer came with a juicing recipe book (so I'm assuming all of these models do) and some of the recipes are really nice. They don't all sound appealing - mixing veg like spinach and carrots with pineapple etc - but once made most are palatable. One that was slightly too hardcore for me was the Broccoli/spinach combo. It tasted like dirt. You do get a lot of juiced squeezed out with this machine, so each juicing recipe usually creates enough juice for 2 drinks.

THE RESULTS
The diet plan that I was following recommended you replace all meals for a week with juices - which I followed for 3 days before the need to actually chew something overwhelmed me, and I started eating proper food. I just replaced 1 or 2 meals a day with a juice, usually at least breakfast each day - and lost 7lb in the 1st week, and then a steady 2/3lb in the following weeks. I reached pre-pregnancy weight within 6 weeks of starting - so I do recommend juicing for weight loss and the Philips Juicer is a great tool for helping with that. I still use the juicer most days - and my 5 yr old enjoys firing the veg down the chute - although he's not so keen on drinking the results!

Summary: A great tool to help with a healthier lifestyle

Processing/Quality:
Reliability:
Ease of use:
Cleaning/Maintenance:
Quality: