The Best Juicers You Can Buy, According to Our Test Kitchen

Juicing is serious business. If you own a juicer, you know it's an investment of time, money, and counter space. But if you prefer to drink your fruits and vegetables, it's worth it in the long run to invest in a juicer rather than spend money on expensive bottled juices from your health-food store.

And aside from saving you money in the long run, juicing at home allows you to control exactly what's going into your juices. Juicing is a delicious and easy way to get loads of nutrients from fruits and vegetables — far more than most people would get from eating whole fruits and vegetables (because who really eats that many whole fruits and veggies in a day?).

But there's one major caveat when it comes to juicing: You can lose a lot of the solid matter in fruits and vegetables. You know, all the solid matter that contains fiber. This is why we chose to test slow juicers, or masticating juicers, as opposed to centrifugal. Slow juicers squeeze out the juice with a pressing and grinding method, leaving the good stuff intact.

Ready to invest in a juicer? Here in our Test Kitchen, we put seven top-rated slow juicers to the test, and we think we've found the best. Keep reading to discover our picks for the best juicers you can buy.

Best Juicers at a Glance

• Best Overall Vertical Slow Juicer: SKG A10 Cold Press Masticating Juicer
• Best Overall Horizontal Slow Juicer: Tribest Green Star Elite

How We Tested Each Juicer

For our testing, we decided to focus on slow juicers (both vertical and horizontal) since they do the best job of maintaining the nutrients in the foods being juiced. We called on Test Kitchen Product Tester Adam Hickman to put seven of the top-rated juicers on the market through a series of rigorous testing.

Each juicer, unless it failed early, was tested on its ability to juice 6.5 pounds of whole fruits and vegetables including: 2 pounds carrots, 2 pounds golden beets, 1 pound kale, 1 pound apples, and 8 ounces of ginger. After testing, it was cleaned with standard dishwashing gear to see how easy the cleanup process was. Adam paid special attention to the following aspects:

• Overall Feel: Is the juicer made to last? Does it take up a lot of counter space?
• Efficiency: Was the juicer able to handle large quantities of fruits and vegetables? How much juice did the juicer yield? What was the juice-to-foam ratio?
• Cleanup: How much time was spent on cleanup after juicing? Were many special tools required?
• Overall Value: Is it worth the investment?

Adam's testing is complete. We've determined the best slow juicers on the market, both vertical and horizontal. Want to see what else we tested? Keep reading to see Adam's feedback on all of the juicers we tested.

Best Overall Vertical Slow Juicer: SKG A10 Cold Press Masticating Juicer

This juicer edged out all the competition, even the more expensive competition. The clean, modern design doesn't take up much space on the counter and would look nice in any kitchen. And for those of you who do your juicing in the morning, the motor on this juicer was quiet while still maintaining enough power to crunch through whole carrots.

There are two feeders on this juicer: the 1.75-inch chute (typical of most juicers) and the 3.15-inch chute that makes it easy to add bulk foods. Adam says, "The clear chute is a nice perk as it lets you see how everything is being processed so you can easily judge when to add more."

And you'll get the most from this juicer thanks to the strainer in the juice bowl that helps to minimize foam. Adam found this juicer to be easy to clean. The only downside was it didn't take as well to the kale leaves, but it got the job done. At a great value, this juicer from SKG would be great for both the beginner and advanced juicer.

(In case this juicer is out of stock, fellow juice enthusiasts have given the Hurom H-AA Slow Juicer their seals of approval. Like the SKG, this top-rated vertical slow juicer runs quietly and efficiently thanks to its 150-watt motor and innovative inner spinning brush, which ensures maximum juice yield and allows you to control the amount of pulp. It also works with frozen ingredients, so you can use it to make ice cream.)

Buy it: $312; amazon.com

Best Overall Horizontal Slow Juicer: Tribest Green Star Elite

Adam had high praise for this juicer from Tribest: "The components of this juicer and its general auger/juicing design is so much better than the other horizontal juicers," he says. "This is the type of juicer that will outlast all the others, including the vertical juicers because it's made with heavy-duty plastic and metal augers." This is the only juicer we tested with metal augers, or twin gears, rather than plastic.

Out of all the juicers tested, this produced the highest yield, about 15 to 20 percent more than the other juicers on average. The pulp nozzle is adjustable, so you can fine-tune the pressure inside the auger to get the best yield from your foods.

The cons of this juicer include its size: it's very large and will take up a lot of counter and/or shelf space. It also has a small chute, which Adam found tedious and difficult to use. However, the outstanding juice yield and well-made design of this juicer make it well worth the high price tag, if you can swing it.

Buy it: $520 (originally $629); amazon.com

Other Juicers We Tested

While these juicers didn't bring home the gold, some of them still performed relatively well in Adam's testing.

• Breville The Big Squeeze Juicer
• Omega Juicers J8006HDS Slow Speed Masticating Juicer
• Mueller Austria Ultra Juicer Machine Extractor
• Kuvings Masticating Slow Juicer
• Tribest Slowstar Vertical Slow Juicer and Mincer

Curious about the competition? Read on for Adam's thoughts on these top-rated juicers.

Breville The Big Squeeze Juicer

Adam appreciated the large, clear feed chute on this juicer. However, he did have to stop and reverse several times while using this juicer to clear a jam. This was also the only juicer to require the use of a toothbrush in order to clean out the juicing screen.

Buy it: $389; amazon.com

Omega Juicers J8006HDS Slow Speed Masticating Juicer

This juicer is not the most efficient, especially for large batches. It can only feed a couple of small pieces at a time, and requires you to push each piece down. However, it does boast an adjustable nozzle so you can fine-tune the pressure if the machine is bogging down too much.

Buy it: $297 (originally $320); amazon.com

Mueller Austria Ultra Juicer Machine Extractor

At only $90, we were hoping this budget juicer would impress. But alas, it appears you get what you pay for when it comes to juicing. We weren't able to complete testing on this juicer as it started leaking juice out of the bottom mid-way through.

(If you're still enticed by the idea of a masticating juicer with a pulp-extracting feature, Amazon shoppers have deemed the Aicok Slow Masticating Juicer Extractor the best. In fact, it's currently the best-seller in the Masticating Juicer category.)

Buy it: $90; amazon.com

Kuvings Masticating Slow Juicer

This juicer from Kuvings has a small feed chute, requiring you to feed the food in one piece at a time. Adam says, "The plastic shifts a little too much under pressure, and I doubt the long-term durability of this one." This juicer also began to leak slightly during testing.

Buy it: $500; williams-sonoma.com

Tribest Slowstar Vertical Slow Juicer and Mincer

Unlike its horizontal counterpart from Tribest, this juicer didn't perform well in Adam's testing. For a vertical juicer, this one has a small feed chute, making it tedious to put food through it. "The feed tube jams much quicker than the other brands," says Adam.

Buy it: $354 (originally $380); amazon.com

What to Consider When Buying a Juicer

• Type of Juicer: There are two major types of juicers for juicing fruits and vegetables: slow (a.k.a. masticating) and centrifugal. While slow juicers tend to be more expensive, they're worth the investment if you can swing it. Don't let the name "slow" scare you away — it's actually a good thing! Slow juicers use a slower, gentle process to preserve nutrients better than high-speed juicers can. For this reason, we chose to focus on slow juicers in our testing.
• Style of Juicer: Once you've decided on a juicer type, there's still one more thing to decide: Do you want a horizontal or vertical juicer? You'll find that vertical juicers tend to have larger chutes than horizontal ones, decreasing your juicing time significantly. They also take up far less counter space than horizontal juicers. However, horizontal slow juicers tend to be better for juicing leafy greens, whereas vertical juicers tend to struggle with these.
• Noise Level: If you plan on juicing first thing in the morning, you'll need to consider the noise level: You don't want to wake up the neighbors with your morning juice. The good news is, slow juicers tend to be quieter than high-speed juicers.
• Ease of Use: The world of juicing can be overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be. If you're new to juicing, it's probably best to stick to a simpler juicer that doesn't have too many advanced features. But if you're a serious juicer, many modern juicers offer more advanced capabilities such as making nut milk, baby food, and more.

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