A Beginner’s Juicer Review of the Juiceman Jr

After reading a lot about the health benefits of vegetable and fruit juice I decided to go out and purchase a juicer from the local Kohl’s store. I was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time as I had a 30% off coupon and the Juiceman Jr JM400 was on sale so I got a steal on this model. My only worry was that I would get what I paid for but honestly I was pleasantly surprised by this juicer.

First let’s go through some of the features of the Juiceman Jr JM400. It’s a 700-watt electric juicer that has two settings for speed, low and high. The low setting is mainly used for softer vegetables and fruits like berries, lettuce and grapes while the high setting is used for harder vegetables and fruits like carrots, apples and beets. This particular model has a stainless steel mesh filter and a safety interlock switch which prevents the filter and blades from spinning if left in the unlocked position. A very nice safety feature which keeps all the parts locked in place to prevent injury. The entire unit (at least this JM400 model I purchased) is chrome plated with a see through lid, removeable pulp container and non-skid feet. It’s not a very big unit and is about the size of a Kitchen Aid type mixer fitting nicely on our counter. It includes a 3/4 quart juice container to catch the juice as well as a handy filter cleaning brush that makes cleaning the filter very easy if you run it under hot water while cleaning.

Overall I would say the unit is very well constructed and is not really an eyesore as it sits on your counter. There are a bunch of parts that make it easy to store in a cabinet if need be so that’s not an issue either. Only problem with so many parts is that you end up having to clean up quite a bit after juicing. I find that it takes me just as long to juice a handful of carrots and some pineapple as it does to clean the unit after I’m finished. One little tip is that I picked up is that in order to make clean up a bit easier you line the inside of the pulp container with a plastic grocery bag and that way you’re not emptying and cleaning the container each and every time. You just lift out the bag and done! I’ve found that the container is just small enough that you can use plastic grocery bags or save the bag that your bread comes in from the supermarket as that fits nicely as well.

Outside of that cleaning tip there’s not much else I can say about cleaning besides it’s not the easiest thing in the world. This is mainly due to so many parts you have to clean but it’s by no means overwhelming. If you think of the benefits your body will reap because of the vitamins and minerals you’ll be getting from the juice, it’s a small price to pay. Plus you definitely will not have as high a quality of juice if you buy bottled at the store so this is by far the best way to drink juice in a healthy way.

Overall I would highly recommend this juicer as long as you get it for a decent price. It’s a great starter unit if you’re new to juicing (like me) and are experimenting with different things. I’ve found my absolute favorite juice to be a very simple one. I just take 5-7 medium to large size carrots and about a quarter of a pineapple and that’s it. Start up the juicer on low setting and throw in the pineapple. After that switch the speed up to high and juice all of the carrots and there you have it. Carrot juice is very good for you but by itself it can be a little to much so the pineapple makes it taste absolutely great. Give it a try and have fun juicing!