Are you feeling juicy? (Philips HR1865)

Member Name: twinmum2007

Product:	Philips HR1865
Date:	29/08/09 (172 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very quick, easy to use and makes carrots fun

Disadvantages: A pain to clean

We bought the Philips juicer in a mad post-baby diet fad as an upgrade to our smoothie maker and just wish we had upgraded sooner.

We found the juicer in our local Makro for £80 + VAT, which was a fabulous price. I believe they are now retailing at around £130. The juicer comes with a book by the 'Juice Master', Jason Vale. The book has some great recipes and some impressive juice solutions to all manner of body complaints. We followed his juice diet and lasted 2 days before we were tired of taking a horrific selection of vegetable based juices into work! I would recommend the juices book but the full juice detox diet is only for the brave and determined (I am neither!)

Anyway, I digress - back to the juicer.

The machine itself is a large silver and black contraption, which is pleasant enough on your counter top but is a little heavy to lift in and out of the cupboard every day. Hence, if you wouldn't keep it out then it might be a little too easy to get fed up of hefting it in and out so it could end up consigned to the unused gadget section at the back of your cupboard.

There are 3 sections to the juicer - the main motor body of the machine, the mulch box at the back and the lid area with the mesh filter plus chute. The jug simply rests around the exit chute, ensuring there is no splatter or ridiculous need to catch the juice in a cup as it flies out.

The 700 watt motor is incredibly powerful and makes very quick work of even the hardest of apples. The noise can be quite loud but due to the sheer power it only takes seconds to juice 3 apples so the noise is short lived. The extra large chute is designed to be able to fit apples in whole and states it juices the whole fruit. This claim is largely true and fruit doesn't need preparing to juice but if your apples are very large then they may need chopping in two before popping down the chute.

The mulch disposal area is huge and we have never managed to even nearly fill the 'bin', even when we were fad dieting and preparing around 4 litres of juice for the day ahead. The bin is easy to clean, even if left to 'mature' throughout the day after a breakfast juicing session. However, the mesh filter is not such a dream to clean as this can end up caked with very dry pulp. The machine does come with a brush for this purpose but it can often need soaking to release the pulp and is best done as soon as possible. Unfortunately the juice produced by the machine is so yummy that it tends to disappear very quickly and the time in relation needed to clean the filter can be a little offputting.

The jug that comes with the machine is a great size and comes with a foam remover that allows you to pour a smoother juice out of the jug as it siphon off the foam, which is an inevitable product of high powered juicing. However, make sure you don't leave it in while actually juicing or the result will be a jug full off froth (I speak from experience as I have done this 7 or 8 times myself - if only I learnt from my mistakes eh!)

The juicer is expensive but I can't see this as a disadvantage due to the sheer quality of the machine, it's ease of use and versatility. It is worth every penny and you really do get what you pay for.
Cheaper juicers tend to need fruit and veg to be prepared whereas with this juicer you really can just fling it in. The chute is significantly wider than a standard juicer and the motor power is beyond amazing. If you fancy one of these but have seen a different juicer for cheaper I really would recommend paying the extra for the Philips - it really is the king of all juicers.

Sadly, I can't give the juicer a 5 in every section due to the cleaning (if Philips are reading this then please make a new specification machine which is either self cleaning or comes with a little man in the box who will clean it for you!)

Summary: Well worth the hefty price tag - it'll send you juice crazy

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