I'm pretty fruity and like experimenting! (Phillips HR1851 Juicer)

Member Name: Lunar_see

Product:	Phillips HR1851 Juicer
Date:	06/02/08 (678 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use, great price, machine washable

Disadvantages: Quite noisy but acceptable

I have wanted a juicer for ages now, everyone I know seemed to have one and everyone raved about how fabulous it was to be able to make your own fresh juice in a morning to give you the kick you needed. So I decided to invest in something not to flash but easy enough to use so should I decide I do like it then I could always upgrade for a better model.

Philips HR1851 Juice Extractor retails at £24.99 from Argos and it comes with a 1 year warranty and looks like a blender with a spout on the front. Encased in white with orange colored features this gadget although a little bulky does fit into your kitchen décor without any trouble and also has non slip suction feet to ensure it is sturdy upon your work service and doesn't move about when it is chopping and juicing. There is also a section to store your power cord which is also a very useful too have.

To the side of the Juicer is a little dial which you turn according to the speed required and with a 500 watt motor the difference is quite remarkable. However there are only two speeds. One speed is designed for soft fruits and the second faster speed is designed for harder fruits and not only does this Juicer just deal with fruit, you can also put vegetables, nuts, chocolate and ice through it as well. However to get a glass full of juice you do need to have quite a lot of fruit at your disposal and if you want a mixture of hard and soft fruit juice then it will take a little more time to make it, but it is easy to do.

There is also the help of a feature called the Patented micro-mesh filter which allows more fruit juice to get through the filter into the jug, often what you find with the Juicer is that when you put your fruit through, some of the wasted skin builds up and holds back some of the juice, whereas with the mesh filter the machine keeps essentially squeezing to allow the juice through.
Once you have assembled your machine together and chosen the fruits, vegetables or foods of your choice to make your drink, on the top of the machine, like with some blenders is what I call the fruit shoot and whilst it is juicing ensure your replace the lid to the shoot otherwise juice will fly out everywhere, this part of the machine works in everyway a blender would do, so if you are comfortable using a food blender then you should be okay using a juicing machine. The fruit goes into a container to be juiced and then the juice itself enters a 1.5 litre chamber which is see through so you can see your juice clearly and there is also a foam like separator so your juice doesn't have 'bits' in it. As I am not a fan of having bits in my juice this is ideal for me. As you finish making your juice, if you remove the lid you will see what is considered the waste in the container and you carefully scoop it out and put it into the bin or your compost bag.

Extracting the juice from the machine is also really easy to do and with this juicer comes a 750ml jug container and where the spout is at the front of the juicer is naturally where the juice comes out of and all you simply do is press the top of the spout for the juice to come out into your container and then press it again to stop when you have either filled the said container or have enough for your glass.

When it comes to cleaning this machine the one good thing is that all of the detachable parts are dishwasher safe and for the main base itself I always wash it using a damp cloth to ensure I have removed any food stuff that has been left behind and then wipe it dry with kitchen roll.

As with all good things there is usually something not so good to report and this machine is no exception. The only downside to be found with this machine is the noise it makes and again the noise can be compared to a blender when it is blending food because the noise is loud, even though it only houses a 500 watt motor but on the upside juicing fruit is often quicker than blending food, so you shouldn't have to put up with the noise for too long.
So should you now be thinking of buying yourself as Juicer and like myself wanted something simple to use to test and try then I really do recommend this machine, I do use it daily and have become more experimental with my fruit juices and vegetable juices over time. It also helps that this machine itself comes with a recipe book for ides which I found most helpful. I would also warn you to shop about because although this machine is currently on offer at Argos again for £24.99 it does retail up to £50 online, so if you want to make a saving definitely look around for better prices as in my own opinion anything above £25 would be a lot of money for such a simple machine.

Summary: Juicing machine

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