Juicer vs Vitamix

A Vitamix is a high-powered blender. It does not remove fiber, and no amount of motor power changes that -- it just makes the fiber smaller. A juicer separates liquid from fiber mechanically, through a screen. These are different operations, and the confusion is worth clearing up because a Vitamix costs about as much as a premium juicer.

Why power does not turn a blender into a juicer

A blender's blades break produce into progressively smaller pieces suspended in liquid. A very powerful blender breaks them into very small pieces. At no point does anything leave the jug -- the fiber is still in the drink, just finer.

A juicer has a screen. Liquid passes through the perforations and fiber does not, which is a separation rather than a reduction. That is the operation you are buying when you buy a juicer, and it is why there is a pulp bin.

A very smooth blended drink can feel juice-like, which is where the confusion comes from. It is still a smoothie.

What each one is actually for

Note the versatility row. A high-powered blender does genuinely more different jobs than a juicer does -- soups, sauces, frozen desserts, grinding. If you are weighing one purchase against the other on breadth of use, the blender wins that comparison comfortably.

Blending and straining

The hybrid everybody eventually tries: blend with a little water, then strain through a nut-milk bag. With a powerful blender this gets genuinely close to juice on soft produce -- cucumber, watermelon, tomato, soft fruit.

It works poorly on celery, kale and carrots, which are the produce people buy juicers for, and it is messy and slow at volume. But if you already own a good blender, do this for a week before buying anything. It is the cheapest possible test of whether you want vegetable juice in your life.

If you want both

Plenty of people own both and use them for different things, which is a legitimate outcome rather than a failure of planning. If you are starting from nothing and can only buy one, the blender is more versatile and the juicer makes something the blender cannot. That is the whole trade.

If you land on a juicer, best juicers is the shortlist and masticating vs centrifugal is the type decision. Juicer vs blender covers the same ground for ordinary blenders.

If you already own one: the straining method, properly

This is the most useful thing on the page if a high-powered blender is already on your counter, because it tells you whether you want a juicer at all without spending anything.

1. 1.Chop roughly and add the minimum water that will let the blades catch -- usually a quarter to a half cup for a full jug. More water means a thinner result you then have to drink.
2. 2.Blend until completely smooth. This is where a powerful machine earns its place: the finer the puree, the more liquid releases when you strain.
3. 3.Pour into a nut-milk bag over a bowl. A fine sieve works but a bag lets you squeeze, which is where most of the yield comes from.
4. 4.Twist and squeeze hard. Keep going past the point it feels finished -- the last squeeze is a surprising amount of the total.
5. 5.Chill before drinking. Blending adds friction heat and the result tastes better cold.

What it does well: cucumber, watermelon, tomato, soft fruit, citrus. What it does badly: celery, kale, chard, carrots and ginger -- exactly the produce people buy juicers for. Fibrous material holds its liquid against a blade and only gives it up to crushing.

It is also messy and slow at volume, which is the honest reason people stop doing it. But do it for a week before buying a machine. It will tell you whether you actually enjoy drinking vegetable juice and whether you will do the daily work, and those are the two questions that decide whether a juicer gets used or stored.