Juicing for Beginners

Juicing is a machine that converts money and about twelve minutes into a glass of juice. That is the honest description, and if that trade appeals then almost any machine will do. Most people who quit did not choose badly -- they were surprised by one of three things, and this page is about those three.

What a session actually looks like

1. 1.Wash and prep the produce. On a narrow-chute cold press machine this is the longest stage: cutting celery to 1-2 in lengths, quartering apples, bundling greens. Three to five minutes.
2. 2.Feed it. Slowly, alternating soft and firm produce. Two to four minutes on a slow juicer, under one on a centrifugal machine with a wide chute.
3. 3.Pour and drink. Stir it -- juice separates fast, which is normal.
4. 4.Clean, before you drink. Empty the pulp bin, run water through, take it apart, rinse, brush the screen from the outside. Ninety seconds if you do it now, four to six minutes if you wait.

That last point is the single most useful thing on this page. Pulp rinses off wet and has to be brushed out dry. The order matters more than the machine.

The three surprises

1. It takes more produce than you expect

This is the big one, and it is a cost problem rather than a machine problem. Juicing removes the fiber, which is most of the bulk, so a large volume of greens or celery becomes a modest glass. Over a year the produce bill comfortably exceeds the price of any machine on this site.

We are not going to quote you a figure, because it depends entirely on your produce and where you shop and we have not measured it. What we will say is: measure it yourself in week one. How much celery one cup takes shows how, and juicing on a budget covers what to do about the answer.

2. Cleanup is daily and non-negotiable

You cannot leave it until the weekend. Dried pulp in a mesh screen is dramatically harder to remove than wet pulp, so skipping today makes tomorrow worse rather than equal. The whole routine is in how to clean a juicer, and the short version is: do it immediately, before you drink.

3. It will jam, probably on celery

Long strands wrap the auger instead of being carried along it, the space ahead fills, and the motor stalls. This happens to everybody in the first week or two. It is not a fault and it does not mean you bought the wrong machine.

Two fixes: cut celery to 1-2 in lengths before it goes near the machine, and buy a machine with a reverse function. Juicer clogging fixes covers the rest.

Which machine, in one paragraph

If celery, kale, chard or spinach are in the plan, buy cold press. An auger crushes along a fiber; a spinning basket cuts across it and the fiber rides through to the pulp bin. No setting fixes that. If your list is apples, carrots, beets and peeled citrus, a centrifugal machine is faster and cheaper and completely adequate. If you are unsure, buy cold press in the $100-200 band -- it covers both and the only cost is time. Masticating vs centrifugal is the full comparison.

What to juice in the first fortnight

Start easy. Apple, carrot, cucumber and lemon is forgiving, tastes good, and teaches you how the machine behaves without fighting it. Add celery and greens once you have a feel for the feeding speed, because those are where jams happen.

• Cucumber is your best friend. It juices easily and acts as a plunger, pushing fiber through after greens. See juicers for cucumber.
• Apple makes everything drinkable. Green juice is an acquired taste and apple buys you time to acquire it.
• Lemon brightens and slows browning. Peel it -- the pith is bitter.
• Ginger is stronger than you think. A thumbnail-sized piece flavors a whole glass.
• Go easy on beets at first. They taste strongly of soil to a lot of people. See juicers for beets.

Storage, if mornings are tight

Batching is the standard answer to the time problem: make two or three days at once, which means one prep and one cleanup instead of three. Fill containers to the brim so there is minimal air above the liquid, use glass, and refrigerate immediately.

Omega claims juice from its 80 RPM machines can be stored up to 72 hours. That is the longest manufacturer claim we found and we report it as Omega's own. How long fresh juice lasts covers the published claims and their limits.

What we are not going to tell you

Before you spend anything

Two pages are worth ten minutes. Is a juicer worth it works through the real cost including produce, and sometimes talks people out of the purchase -- which is a good outcome if it is the right one. Juicer vs blender is worth reading too, because a meaningful number of people shopping for a juicer want a smoothie and already own the machine that makes one.

If you are past that and ready to choose, how to choose your first juicer turns all of this into a decision, and best juicers for beginners is the shortlist.

Three sensible first juicers

1. Best first juicer

Nutribullet Slow Juicer

Nutribullet NBJ50300 · $100–200 · Our score 7.4/10

Nutribullet states 65 RPM, 150 W and a reverse function -- the feature that turns your first inevitable celery jam into a five-second fix rather than a mid-glass disassembly. At 17 x 6.25 x 7 in it is small enough to live on the counter, which is the strongest predictor of whether a juicer keeps getting used. A 24 oz cup and a 1-year warranty are the honest limits.

Yield

Not availableNot sourced

Pulp

Not availableNot sourced

Cleanup time

Not available - no published cleanup time in minutesNot sourced

Speed

Nutribullet states 65 RPM, 150 W, with a reverse functionManufacturer claim: Nutribullet · checked 2026-10-02

What works

• Cold press mechanics at a centrifugal-adjacent price
• Reverse function, which is how you clear a celery jam
• Small footprint at 17 in tall and 6.25 in wide

What does not

• 1-year warranty against 15 years on the premium verticals
• 24 oz catch cup forces breaks on bigger batches
• No published yield, pulp or cleanup figures

Skip this if: You juice for more than one person. A 24 oz container means stopping and emptying mid-session.

Representative photo. We have no manufacturer image library, so this is a licensed stock photo of the category, not a photo of this unit.

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• Yield7/10
• Pulp7/10
• Cleanup7/10
• Value9/10
• Quiet8/10

Read the full Nutribullet Slow Juicer review

2. Best if cleanup is your worry

Cuisinart Easy Clean Slow Juicer

Cuisinart CSJ-300 · $100–200 · Our score 7.7/10

Cuisinart states a mesh-free easy-clean filter, which removes the part of cleanup that genuinely takes time, plus a limited 3-year warranty -- triple what most machines in this band offer. Cuisinart publishes no RPM for it, which is a real gap when comparing.

Yield

Not availableNot sourced

Pulp

Cuisinart states a mesh-free easy-clean filterManufacturer claim: Cuisinart · checked 2026-10-02

Cleanup time

Marketed as easy clean on the strength of the mesh-free filter; no cleanup time publishedManufacturer claim: Cuisinart · checked 2026-10-02

Speed

Not available - Cuisinart publishes 200 W but no RPM for this modelNot sourced

What works

• No mesh screen, so the part most people hate washing is simply absent
• 3-year warranty, triple what Ninja and Nutribullet quote
• 1.5 L capacity is generous for the price

What does not

• Cuisinart publishes no RPM, so you cannot compare its speed to anything
• No yield figure of any kind
• Mesh-free filters generally trade some fine extraction for easier washing

Skip this if: You want a published speed figure before you buy. Cuisinart does not state an RPM for this model anywhere we could find.

Representative photo. We have no manufacturer image library, so this is a licensed stock photo of the category, not a photo of this unit.

Check price on Amazon

#ad How we are funded

• Yield7/10
• Pulp7/10
• Cleanup9/10
• Value8/10
• Quiet7/10

Read the full Cuisinart Easy Clean Slow Juicer review

3. Best cheap start, if greens are not the plan

Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Juice Extractor

Hamilton Beach 67601A · Under $100 · Our score 6.7/10

If your list is apples, carrots and beets, there is no reason to spend cold-press money. Hamilton Beach states 800 W, a 3 in chute that takes a whole apple, dishwasher-safe parts and a 3-year warranty for under $100. It cannot do celery or kale, which we would rather tell you now.

Yield

Not availableNot sourced

Pulp

Not availableNot sourced

Cleanup time

Hamilton Beach states the food pusher, cover, strainer, pulp bin and strainer bowl are dishwasher safeManufacturer claim: Hamilton Beach · checked 2026-10-02

Speed

Hamilton Beach states an 800 W motor; no RPM publishedManufacturer claim: Hamilton Beach · checked 2026-10-02

What works

• 3-year warranty, which is unusual under $100
• Every part that touches juice is dishwasher safe, per Hamilton Beach
• 3 in chute at a budget price

What does not

• Centrifugal, so it is poor at celery and greens
• No RPM published
• Loud, as all high-speed spinning juicers are

Skip this if: Celery juice is the plan. This is the wrong mechanism for it at any price.

Representative photo. We have no manufacturer image library, so this is a licensed stock photo of the category, not a photo of this unit.

Check price on Amazon

#ad How we are funded

• Yield6/10
• Pulp5/10
• Cleanup8/10
• Value9/10
• Quiet4/10

Read the full Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Juice Extractor review