Juicing without a Juicer

So recently I dropped and broke my juicer, it was a very sad moment. I have had this juicer for about 8 years, but hadn't really used it. Finally when I realize how much I need to be using this machine to juice instead of collect dust I break it!

Not having the money to buy a new juicer immediately I had to find another option. I found a video on YouTube called juicing without a juicer, he uses a blender and then strains it through a paint strainer bag. A lot of 'professional' juicers would tell you this ruins the juice, since the blender heats it up. Since the juicer I dropped was a centrifugal juicer I didn't really see the difference. Plus I was using a Ninja blender, which means the motor is on top of the blender instead of underneath, and I thought maybe that would help keep everything cool and raw.

The first time I tried juicing with my blender I did it just as the video showed, I added water to the mix to help get things blended. I hated the extra water, it really ruined the flavor of the juice. So the next time I tried it, I added my veggies in a certain order and it minimized the need for extra water. I added the cucumber first, cucumbers are so full of liquid. Then I added the kale leaves that I had ripped into a smaller size. Next were the apples, to help weigh down any kale leaves that weren't blended yet. The result was a juice very similar to the juice that came out of my juicer. I didn't have a paint strainer bag or a nut milk bag so I decided to use an old t-shirt. It worked perfectly!

Norwalk Juicer

So I am still on the hunt for a new juicer. I want to make sure I am buying a juicer than can hold up to daily juicing, and multiple daily juicing. There are so many kinds of juicers and opinions on which ones are best. A friend of mine suggested getting the Norwalk juicer, which is recommended in the Gerson Therapy, but these juicers are $2,500.00!! A little bit out of my price range.

The Norwalk juicer did get me thinking though about looking at masticating juicers instead of a centrifugal juicers, my biggest reason is because they do a better job with leafy greens. I want my juices to consist of a large amount of leafy greens! I think I have finally decided on the Kuvings multi-purpose masticating juicer. It's at a reasonable cost, on Costco's website anyways, and it has great reviews.

The other upside of buying the juicer through Costco is that they make returns super easy. I don't want to drop a ton of money and have something go wrong, I think half of all the reviews I have read on any juicer show that all juicers have unexpected malfunctions! What were your deciding factors when you bought a juicer? Did you get a centrifugal or a masticating juicer?