Breville, Oscar and Philips: we put three juicers to the test

You’re inspired to juice. Maybe it’s because it’s the only way you can get in all your greens. Or you like a little detox whenever the fancy strikes you, or maybe you just like to have a juice in the fridge that no-one else will touch because you’ve labelled it swamp juice (we do that too). There are many great reasons to juice, but before you can begin you must pick the machine best suited to your lifestyle and needs. So we had ourselves a little test, and the results are awesome.

the-juice-test-ingredients

What did we want to test?

Putting three of our favourite juicers up against each other was a bit like making our children compete for our affections (or worse, their pocket money) but it had to be done. We chose the Philips Avance Electric Juicer, the Breville Juice and Blend and the Oscar Juicer DA900, mainly because they live in our kitchen and have been popular purchases in the past. Here’s what we were looking to test:

  • Which juicer makes the most volume of juice?
  • Which juice oxidises (starts to turn brown in response to exposure to oxygen) fastest?
  • Which juice separates the quickest?
  • Which juicers takes the longest to make the juice?
  • Which one tastes best?
  • What does the leftover pulp look like and how much is there?

The green juice test

In order to put our three contenders up against the same challenge, we decided to put the exact same juice recipe through each juicer. This is what went in:

  • 1 handful of baby spinach leaves
  • 3 Golden Delicious apples
  • ½ a big lemon

the-juicer-test

The juice test results

Here’s how the juicers performed and what our conclusions were on each.

Breville Juice and Blend

  • The Breville juicer blitzed the ingredients fairly quickly, requiring a bit of force to push the apples through.
  • This juicer extracted the smallest amount of juice, compared to the other two.
  • This juice was the sweetest of all three, tasting mostly like apple.
  • The Breville produced the smoothest juice with no pithy bits in at all and a nice mouthfeel.
  • It separated the quickest of the three juices made, into three quite distinct layers.
  • The leftover pulp was quite wet, which is great for those wanting to bake with the carrot or beetroot pulp.

Conclusion: The Breville is your juicer if you’re new to juicing, don’t have the palate for the earthiness yet and want juice on the go. It’s quick to make, yields a sweeter, smooth juice and doesn’t require much prep. It is a bit hefty to clean, so better suited to larger kitchens and sinks.

Oscar Juicer DA900

  • This juicer took the longest to make the juice because the feeding tube is narrow so the apples had to be sliced up first.
  • The Oscar extracted the most juice out of these three juicers.
  • Lemon was the overarching flavour from this juicer.
  • There was a fair bit of pith that came out in the actual juice, so depending on ingredients, straining the juice might be worthwhile (if you don’t like a bit of texture).
  • The juice extracted by the Oscar oxidised the slowest of the 3 juices and also took the longest amount of time to separate. Plenty of time to drink up the goodness.
  • The pulp that comes out of the Oscar was very stringy and dry, so a good indication that a lot of juice is pressed out. Great for composting, but not so good for baking.

Conclusion: The Oscar is your juicer if you’re a serious health enthusiast. You have the time to dedicate to making your morning juice and you’ll do it patiently knowing that the quality of juice is worth it. The Oscar does have quite a few parts and pieces to clean and also requires a fair bit of storage space, preferably not in a high cupboard because it’s quite heavy.

Philips Avance Electric Juicer

  • The Philips juicer also made quick work of the ingredients with a wide feed tube and no prep work needed.
  • This juicer yielded more than the Breville, but less than the Oscar as depicted.
  • This juice had a well rounded flavour, more on the earthy side, with all three ingredient flavours coming through.
  • This juice had a medium level smoothness, again falling between the Breville and the Oscar. Not requiring straining, but not quite as smooth as the Breville.
  • The juice from this juicer did begin to show signs of oxidation before the other two, so it should be drunk immediately after making.
  • The pulp from the Phillips juicer is very fine, sometimes even rolled into tiny balls, not overly dry but not wet either. Would make a great baking addition.

Conclusion: The Phillips is the juicer for you if you want a quick and effortless juicing experience and enjoy the full spectrum of veggie flavours. The circular, stacking design makes it easy to assemble and clean and it’s suitable for smaller sinks too.

juice-test-juices

Depending on your lifestyle, time constraints and juicing preferences, we think this test should give you a little more insight into choosing the juicer that works best for you.