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Auger & Pulp

Cold Press vs Masticating Juicer

There is no difference. They are two names for one machine, and knowing that saves you from a confused purchase.

By Brijon M. · Last reviewed October 2, 2026

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There is no difference. Cold press and masticating describe the same mechanism: a single auger turning slowly, crushing produce against a screen. If a product page uses both terms it is not listing two features. This page exists because the question is asked constantly, and because a confident-sounding fake distinction is exactly how people get sold the wrong machine.

Where the two words come from

  • Masticating is the mechanical description. To masticate is to chew, and that is what a tapered auger does: it drags produce forward and progressively crushes it.
  • Cold press is marketing language. It borrows from commercial cold-pressed juice, where a hydraulic press squeezes pulp without heat. A home juicer has no hydraulic press -- it has an auger. The phrase stuck because slow crushing generates less friction heat and less aeration than a high-speed basket.
  • Slow juicer is the honest plain-English version, and it is the most accurate of the three.

All three refer to the same machines. Omega's NC900HDC is sold as a cold press juicer and is a masticating juicer. Hurom's H400 is sold as a slow juicer and is the same mechanism again.

What to compare instead

Since the terms do not distinguish anything, here is what actually does -- and all of it is published, unlike yield:

What to compareWhy it mattersPublished example
Vertical or horizontalDecides counter space, parts count and wheatgrass capabilityOmega states 19.22 in width for the horizontal NC900HDC
Chute widthThe specification you feel every morningHurom states 45 mm; Kuvings states 3.5 in plus a 1.75 in auto-cut chute
Strainer or strainer-freeThe biggest single cleanup variableHurom's Easy Clean has no mesh strainer; Cuisinart's CSJ-300 is mesh-free
Adjustable back-pressureThe only documented extraction control anyone offersOmega states five end-cap pressure settings on the NC900HDC
Reverse functionTurns a jam from a disassembly into a five-second fixNutribullet and AMZCHEF both state one
WarrantyA company stating how long it expects its product to last15 years from Omega, Hurom and Kuvings; 1 year from Ninja and Nutribullet
Speed in RPMUseful context, not a performance ranking43 RPM (Omega VSJ843) to 110 RPM (Tribest twin gear)
CriterionOmega NC900HDCHurom H400 Easy CleanKuvings REVO830Nutribullet Slow Juicer
YieldOmega markets high juice yield and five pressure settings; no numeric yield figure is publishedManufacturer claim: Omega Juicers · checked 2026-10-02Hurom claims the highest yield and least pulp of any Easy Clean model; no numeric figure, and no independent verification we could findManufacturer claim: Hurom · checked 2026-10-02Not availableNot sourcedNot availableNot sourced
PulpFive adjustable pressure settings and two juicing screens, per OmegaManufacturer claim: Omega Juicers · checked 2026-10-02Hurom claims the least pulp of any Easy Clean model; no comparable figure publishedManufacturer claim: Hurom · checked 2026-10-02Not availableNot sourcedNot availableNot sourced
Cleanup timeNot available - no published cleanup time in minutesNot sourcedHurom markets it as Scrub-Free Cleaning; no cleanup time in minutes is publishedManufacturer claim: Hurom · checked 2026-10-02Not available - no published cleanup time in minutesNot sourcedNot available - no published cleanup time in minutesNot sourced
Price$200–400Band from retailer listings, checked 2026-10-02
Check price on Amazon
$400+Band from retailer listings, checked 2026-10-02
Check price on Amazon
$400+Band from retailer listings, checked 2026-10-02
Check price on Amazon
$100–200Band from retailer listings, checked 2026-10-02
Check price on Amazon
NoiseNot availableNot availableKuvings describes the motor as noise-reduction; no decibel figure publishedManufacturer claim: Kuvings USA · checked 2026-10-02Not available
SpeedOmega states 80 RPM and 150 W outputManufacturer claim: Omega Juicers · checked 2026-10-02Hurom states 90 RPM, 150 WManufacturer claim: Hurom · checked 2026-10-02Kuvings states 50 RPM, 240 WManufacturer claim: Kuvings USA · checked 2026-10-02Nutribullet states 65 RPM, 150 W, with a reverse functionManufacturer claim: Nutribullet · checked 2026-10-02
WarrantyOmega states a 15-year limited warrantyManufacturer claim: Omega Juicers · checked 2026-10-02Hurom states a 15-year warranty on motor and partsManufacturer claim: Hurom · checked 2026-10-02Kuvings USA states a 15-year limited warranty (regional sellers list shorter terms)Manufacturer claim: Kuvings USA · checked 2026-10-02Nutribullet states a 1-year limited warrantyManufacturer claim: Nutribullet · checked 2026-10-02
Scroll the table sideways on a narrow screen. Every figure above is labeled with where it came from; “Not available” means we could not find a published source, not that the machine performs badly. How we pick.

The distinction that does exist

Within the cold press category there is one genuine mechanical division, and it is not cold press versus masticating. It is single auger versus twin gear. A twin gear machine has no auger at all: two interlocking gears crush produce between them. Tribest states 110 RPM for the Greenstar series.

That is a real difference in mechanism, extraction and cleanup, and it is the comparison worth reading if you are looking for one. Twin gear vs masticating covers it.

A vertical slow juicer on a bright kitchen counter
One auger, one screen, three marketing names. The machine does not change.

So what should you buy?

Start from shape and cleanup rather than terminology. Vertical for most kitchens; horizontal if you want wheatgrass or adjustable extraction. Strainer-free if cleanup is what would stop you. Best masticating juicers ranks the field, and the cold press hub orients you in the category.

What to do when a listing only says cold press

A practical problem, because plenty of retail listings use the marketing term and nothing else. If all you have is "cold press", the information you actually need is still usually on the page, under different names. Look for these four, in this order:

  1. 1.A speed in RPM. Anything from roughly 40 to 110 is a single-auger cold press machine. Anything in the thousands is centrifugal being mislabelled, which does happen. Our registry runs 43 RPM (Omega VSJ843) to 110 RPM (Tribest twin gear) for genuine cold press.
  2. 2.The shape in the photo. A tall machine with a chute on top is a vertical. A long machine you push produce into from the side is a horizontal. Two visible gears rather than a screw means twin gear.
  3. 3.A chute measurement. This tells you how much chopping you are in for, and it is published far more often than yield. 45 mm (Hurom H400) means real prep; 3.5 in (Kuvings REVO830) means whole fruit.
  4. 4.Whether a strainer is mentioned at all. "Mesh-free" or "no strainer" is a structural cleanup claim you can verify in the product photo. Silence means there is a conventional mesh screen.

If a listing gives you none of those four, that is itself informative -- and the manufacturer's own product page almost always does. Every product on this site links to it in the sources.

Questions people ask

What is the difference between cold press and masticating juicers?
There is none. Both terms describe a single auger turning slowly and crushing produce against a screen. Masticating is the mechanical description; cold press is marketing language borrowed from commercial hydraulic pressing.
Is a slow juicer the same as a cold press juicer?
Yes, and slow juicer is the most accurate of the three common terms. Our registry of these machines runs from 43 to 110 RPM.
Why do brands use both terms on the same product?
Because both are searched, and listing both captures more traffic. It is not a feature list -- it is the same machine described twice.
What is the real mechanical division within cold press juicers?
Single auger versus twin gear. A twin gear machine crushes produce between two interlocking gears instead of against a screen, which is a genuine difference in extraction and in cleanup.
What should I compare when buying a cold press juicer?
Vertical or horizontal, chute width, whether there is a mesh strainer, whether back-pressure is adjustable, whether there is a reverse function, and the warranty. All of those are published, unlike yield figures.
A listing says cold press but gives no RPM. Is it really a slow juicer?
Check the photo for the mechanism. A screw-shaped auger inside a drum is a genuine cold press machine; a flat spinning disc with a conical mesh basket is centrifugal regardless of what the listing calls it. The manufacturer's own product page usually states the speed even when the retailer does not.

Sources

Every figure on this page traces to one of these. Where a source does not publish a number, the page says “Not available” rather than estimating one.