BRAUN CITRUS JUICER CJ 3000 EDITOR’S RAVE
$35, from major electrical stores
JUG CAPACITY 350ml
CORD LENGTH 1.2m
JUICING WITH IT It juiced grapefruits, oranges and lemons pretty well. Its wide reamer held large fruits best – grapefruit halves were the driest after five seconds of juicing. The reamer had the deepest grooves in the line-up too, so oranges and lemons were well squeezed. It was the second quietest, and kept countertop splatter to just a few stray drops.
USING IT It was less tedious juicing five oranges at a go with this gadget than others – I didn’t have to apply much pressure on the reamer. But because it had the smallest jug, juicing large quantities was a little inconvenient – the jug filled up quickly, after three and a half oranges.
PULP CONTROL The strainer had an adjustable pulp control that also kept seeds out best when turned to the lowest setting for the least pulp.
CLEANING IT It needed a longer rinse to get all the pulp off, as the holes of the strainer were the smallest.
VERDICT The best performer, it gave lots of juice.
SCORE 7.5/10
PHILIPS DAILY COLLECTION CITRUS PRESS HR2738 BEST VALUE
$32, from major electrical stores
JUG CAPACITY 500ml
CORD LENGTH 75cm
JUICING WITH IT This gadget left my oranges drier than the others did after five seconds of juicing. It did a decent job with lemons and grapefruits too. The quietest in the line-up, it was let down by a shallow strainer – pulp built up more quickly – and created the most splatter.
USING IT I had a mild cramp in my hand after juicing five oranges as I had to apply slightly more pressure on the reamer than I did when using the Braun juicer.
PULP CONTROL The only one with no adjustable pulp control, it’s a good choice for those who like their juice pulpy. The strainer kept big seeds out of the juice but let smaller ones through.
CLEANING IT It was the easiest to clean – the pulp rinsed out of the strainer’s long slits effortlessly.
VERDICT A no-frills juicer that’s best for oranges.
SCORE 7/10
FUMIYAMA POWER CITRUS JUICER FCJ 63
$39, from www.fumiyama.com
JUG CAPACITY 1.2 litres
CORD LENGTH 85cm
JUICING WITH IT This was the only juicer with two reamers, for small and large citrus fruits. Grapefruits were still moist after five seconds of juicing, but oranges and lemons were well-squeezed and dry. It was a tad noisier than the other two, but had a deep strainer and hardly created any splatter on my countertop.
USING IT I had to exert the most pressure on this reamer, so my hand felt cramped after juicing five oranges.
PULP CONTROL The adjustable pulp control held back big seeds, but wasn’t as effective as the Braun juicer with smaller seeds.
CLEANING IT The pulp didn’t rinse off cleanly – it was the only juicer with double strainers, which I had to detach to get smaller bits of pulp off.
VERDICT A fairly productive family-sized juicer for OJ and lemonade; if only it were more ergonomic.
SCORE 6.5/10
This article was originally published in Simply Her January 2015.