Breville BJE200XL 700-Watt Compact Juice Fountain Review.
"WOW - Way better than expected - XLNT daily juicer" 2007-08-24
By Ed Osworth (Lowell, Oregon Forest)
I juce at least once a day as I primarily eat raw foods.
My Jack LaLane juicer finally wore out after 2.5 years of daily use. I was tempted to buy another - but I liked the way everything including the pulp catcher is all in one unit. So glad I got the Breville.
This thing is POWERFUL, especially compared to "Jack LaLanne". It is so powerful I usually don't even use the pusher except to cover the top so your ceiling doesn't get covered with stuff. Other reviewers have mentioned that tendency. What wasn't mentioned is that the reason it does that is because the motor is so beefy that stuff will shoot straight up.
When juicing soft stuff I immediately cover the top with my hand.
The design of this thing is absolutely first rate. Even down to the plug, which has a moulded loop so that it is easy to unplug and plug in! No tool is required to remove the basket, as in most other juicers. Breville uses a combo of ingenious design and magnets to hold it in place!
Ease of use and fit and finish is perfect.
Clean up is really a 2 minute operation and I don't even own a dishwasher. It will stain eventually, as every juicer I have ever owned does. Carrot juice would make a great dye :-)
The pulp on this juicer is a bit wetter than the Jack LaLanne. The "Jack" had a much larger basket and a much slower rotation. I believe that may account for it. But it isn't much wetter - just very slightly.
This juicer makes much smaller pieces of pulp though - and my experience so far has been that it gets just as much juice from a pound of carrots.
Bottom line - I can't imagine anyone not loving this unit.
"Excellent juicer." 2007-04-18
By N. Marker (Edison, New Jersey, United States)
This juicer rocks!!
Been using it for two weeks, works better than advertised.
Solid piece of engineering, sturdy long lasting parts, excellent workmanship.
Best features are its simplicity and ease of cleaning.
Though named "Compact" the unit is pretty large.
The 700 HP motor is powerful and not too loud. Pulp container is of decent capacity. Do not expect to juice entire apples, unless you are using very small apples.
The pulp extract is pretty dry so you are getting almost all the juice out of the fruit/vegetables with this unit.
Nothing better than fresh juice and this juicer makes the whole experience a breeze.
Would highly recommend it to anyone looking for easy maintenance good long lasting juicer .
"Best of three" 2007-10-22
By Travis Bikel (Bellingham, WA)
This is my third juicing machine. My first was a Champion which served without problems for years. On the plus side it was powerful and durable. On the down side it was rather noisy, vibrated a lot and left a lot of juice in the pulp and was hard to clean. My second juicer was the omega screw machine which I still have. I bought it because it also did wheat grass. On the plus side it is quiet and juices anything, makes nut butter and extracts a lot of juice leaving very dry pulp. On the down side it is slow and worst of all the feed tube is really small. You have to do a lot of cutting to get things small enough to get into the feed tube. I pretty much only use it for wheatgrass now. The Breville is the best juicer I have had. It is an example of good product design in that it is simple, practical and attractive. It is powerful, has a feed tube large enough to take large whole carrots, beets and small apples. It is quiet, comes apart easy and cleans up quickly. The capture pitcher which nests into the machine has a nice cover so you can store the juice for later. If making juice is a hassle you're going to put off doing it. This juicer makes juicing easy and not a hassle.
"The perfect Juicer!" 2007-10-22
By californiamum
This was the best appliance purchase I have ever made! This juicer is very sharp looking. Looks great in any kitchen. It is compact but kinda tall. The best part is it's ability to juice in a second. Very powerful motor. It fact probably more powerful than I needed but it doesnt hurt to have the best. I bought this juicer so I can make fresh juice for my toddlers, myself and husband every day. Now my girls get fresh apple, pear, carrot, grape and strawberry juice. I absolutely love cucumber and apple juice. Cucumber juice is so refreshing and I could drink a ton a day. My husband loves the bloody mary juice. A tomato, celery and onion and then a dash of hot sauce. We can get 4 times as much fruits and veggies in a day by juicing then by eating alone. I dont want to sit around and eat 8 carrots or celery sticks but I can easily drink that in a day. I cant stand eating melons but I drink them with an apple in this juicer. I dont even have to chop up most of my veggies and fruit. The entry hole is so big, an apple, cucumber, tomato etc. fits great. As long as you buy your fruit organic you can dont have to peel most of your fruits and veggies. Get a good juicing book and it will tell you what fruits and veggies you can juice whole. The ultimate is the easy clean up with this juicer. It tastes less than a minute to clean the entire thing. Yes, the pieces are plastic, except for the base of the motor, but can you imagine how heavy this thing would be if it were glass?? And I have dropped it a few times in the sink and I would have broken the pieces if it were glass. I am now going to start a composting bin for all the scraps from my juicer. That is one of the benefits of juicing too. You can use the leftovers for compost or depending on the fruit or veggie can use for a loaf or bread. Like carrot, apple or zuccini pulp can be used to bake tasty loafs. I am just an average Mom who bought this juicer. For all the other Moms out there.........buy this!
"Beer Replaced By JUICER?????????" 2009-01-07
By M. Cartwright (Oceanside, California)
OK, there are a million pro juicers here who can tell you all the reasons this type of juicer is best, another million who can tell you why a SLOW juicer like the Champion Brand are best if you want leafy greens juiced. My only experience until this week was with an OLD 15 year old juicer we paid about $70.00 for that took about a grocery CART full of fruits & veggies just to get a 12 oz. glass 1/2 full!
As a result, we used it one time and set it out in the garage until I finally sold it for $20.00 last month. But I saw a Jack La Lane infomercial and came to trusty old Amazon.com to see about trying again since these NEW juicers get more juice (or DO they?). I start reading and see so many more people liking this particular brand over Jacks model so then go to YouTube sniffing around. I take A MONTH DECIDING and bought this juicer from Amazon directly. Used it for just 2 days so I have no way to tell you about how it is best or worse, how it is changing my life, or anything earth shattering.
But I DO have something I CAN tell you. I don't even want a beer anymore. And I like beer. A LOT!!!! I haven't even tried any of the GREAT selection of included recipes that came included with the juicer. I just tossed in about 4 carrots, 1 small pear, 2 pieces of celery, 2 small red apples and it made over 16 ounces of juice! Blows my old mind (short trip). The weirdest thing of all to me at 60 years of age is I HATE carrots. HATE them. ANY form, hate them. Now, I can't get enough. And even weirder, I wasn't able to even eat any breakfast as I was too full. I don't remember anyone saying juice would fill me up. Usually if I had a V8 it just made me want a beer to go WITH it.
So all the expert juicers can decide which brand is best, which style is best. For my recreational use and for my being able to EASILY take it apart and fully clean in 10 minutes (and I am disabled, no, NOT from the beer!), I do a very rare thing. I give this a 5 star rating. As my experience with it grows, I will update this review as required as to reliability, stamina etc. My last and only prior juicer was such a nightmare to clean AND use, got NO juice, it makes this nothing less than shocking. To have so much juice, so much GREAT flavor, almost fun to operate and clean, who knows.....I may just end up skinny & healthy. But then after today's tomato. celery & zucchini with onion experiment, I can see myself wondering what a little Vodka might do for a little added flavor? Probably lucky for me that the only alcohol I ever liked was beer......
If I get into this in a big way and discover I like leafy green stuff juiced, and find this will NOT do that well, I will find someway to go the BIG bucks for a slow turning juicer that does that type juicing best. Heck, maybe I can recycle all my old beer cans to pay for it? Can't believe it took me 60 years to find a HEALTHY way to get juiced.
_______________________________________________________
2 week update. After using this twice a day some days, once per day everyday for over a week I have problems. One, we have now ruined MORE than the cost of our juicer is clothing stains from flying juice and "pieces" no matter how careful we are. It also has the dreaded "pulp trapped inside the seam between the clear part and the grey plastic" problem. I have tried to no end to contact the manufacturer. On hold with voice mail for over 1 HOUR, then instructed to leave my phone number to have them call me back=NEVER did. Sent email=NO response. Will SADLY now request a return from Amazon on this product I first loved but now is a problem as well as a health risk. I will also buy a juicer with a warranty LONGER than just ONE year. I tried to revise my 5 star rating but Amazon does NOT allow me to do this. I would drop it to 2 stars IF I knew it was not a serious health risk due to the hassle with NO customer service in my case. If I knew for sure it IS a serious health risk, I would drop it to NO stars. But then Amazon will not let me do this either.....
1/23/2009 UPDATE:
This juicer has been returned and I have now owned the new Omega 8006 for a few weeks. Did a FULL review at Epinions of it. What an amazing difference.
1 YEAR 2 week later update:
The Omega Model 8006 is still being used as well as a L Equip XL Wide Mouth Mini Juicer. Still lost over 50 pounds, STILL haven't had or even wanted a beer in over a year. And both of these models are easy to clean and trap no unhealthy food particulate in any crevices etc. Tried & true good solid juicers being used daily.
Mike
By Ed Osworth (Lowell, Oregon Forest)
I juce at least once a day as I primarily eat raw foods.
My Jack LaLane juicer finally wore out after 2.5 years of daily use. I was tempted to buy another - but I liked the way everything including the pulp catcher is all in one unit. So glad I got the Breville.
This thing is POWERFUL, especially compared to "Jack LaLanne". It is so powerful I usually don't even use the pusher except to cover the top so your ceiling doesn't get covered with stuff. Other reviewers have mentioned that tendency. What wasn't mentioned is that the reason it does that is because the motor is so beefy that stuff will shoot straight up.
When juicing soft stuff I immediately cover the top with my hand.
The design of this thing is absolutely first rate. Even down to the plug, which has a moulded loop so that it is easy to unplug and plug in! No tool is required to remove the basket, as in most other juicers. Breville uses a combo of ingenious design and magnets to hold it in place!
Ease of use and fit and finish is perfect.
Clean up is really a 2 minute operation and I don't even own a dishwasher. It will stain eventually, as every juicer I have ever owned does. Carrot juice would make a great dye :-)
The pulp on this juicer is a bit wetter than the Jack LaLanne. The "Jack" had a much larger basket and a much slower rotation. I believe that may account for it. But it isn't much wetter - just very slightly.
This juicer makes much smaller pieces of pulp though - and my experience so far has been that it gets just as much juice from a pound of carrots.
Bottom line - I can't imagine anyone not loving this unit.
By N. Marker (Edison, New Jersey, United States)
This juicer rocks!!
Been using it for two weeks, works better than advertised.
Solid piece of engineering, sturdy long lasting parts, excellent workmanship.
Best features are its simplicity and ease of cleaning.
Though named "Compact" the unit is pretty large.
The 700 HP motor is powerful and not too loud. Pulp container is of decent capacity. Do not expect to juice entire apples, unless you are using very small apples.
The pulp extract is pretty dry so you are getting almost all the juice out of the fruit/vegetables with this unit.
Nothing better than fresh juice and this juicer makes the whole experience a breeze.
Would highly recommend it to anyone looking for easy maintenance good long lasting juicer .
By Travis Bikel (Bellingham, WA)
This is my third juicing machine. My first was a Champion which served without problems for years. On the plus side it was powerful and durable. On the down side it was rather noisy, vibrated a lot and left a lot of juice in the pulp and was hard to clean. My second juicer was the omega screw machine which I still have. I bought it because it also did wheat grass. On the plus side it is quiet and juices anything, makes nut butter and extracts a lot of juice leaving very dry pulp. On the down side it is slow and worst of all the feed tube is really small. You have to do a lot of cutting to get things small enough to get into the feed tube. I pretty much only use it for wheatgrass now. The Breville is the best juicer I have had. It is an example of good product design in that it is simple, practical and attractive. It is powerful, has a feed tube large enough to take large whole carrots, beets and small apples. It is quiet, comes apart easy and cleans up quickly. The capture pitcher which nests into the machine has a nice cover so you can store the juice for later. If making juice is a hassle you're going to put off doing it. This juicer makes juicing easy and not a hassle.
By californiamum
This was the best appliance purchase I have ever made! This juicer is very sharp looking. Looks great in any kitchen. It is compact but kinda tall. The best part is it's ability to juice in a second. Very powerful motor. It fact probably more powerful than I needed but it doesnt hurt to have the best. I bought this juicer so I can make fresh juice for my toddlers, myself and husband every day. Now my girls get fresh apple, pear, carrot, grape and strawberry juice. I absolutely love cucumber and apple juice. Cucumber juice is so refreshing and I could drink a ton a day. My husband loves the bloody mary juice. A tomato, celery and onion and then a dash of hot sauce. We can get 4 times as much fruits and veggies in a day by juicing then by eating alone. I dont want to sit around and eat 8 carrots or celery sticks but I can easily drink that in a day. I cant stand eating melons but I drink them with an apple in this juicer. I dont even have to chop up most of my veggies and fruit. The entry hole is so big, an apple, cucumber, tomato etc. fits great. As long as you buy your fruit organic you can dont have to peel most of your fruits and veggies. Get a good juicing book and it will tell you what fruits and veggies you can juice whole. The ultimate is the easy clean up with this juicer. It tastes less than a minute to clean the entire thing. Yes, the pieces are plastic, except for the base of the motor, but can you imagine how heavy this thing would be if it were glass?? And I have dropped it a few times in the sink and I would have broken the pieces if it were glass. I am now going to start a composting bin for all the scraps from my juicer. That is one of the benefits of juicing too. You can use the leftovers for compost or depending on the fruit or veggie can use for a loaf or bread. Like carrot, apple or zuccini pulp can be used to bake tasty loafs. I am just an average Mom who bought this juicer. For all the other Moms out there.........buy this!
By M. Cartwright (Oceanside, California)
OK, there are a million pro juicers here who can tell you all the reasons this type of juicer is best, another million who can tell you why a SLOW juicer like the Champion Brand are best if you want leafy greens juiced. My only experience until this week was with an OLD 15 year old juicer we paid about $70.00 for that took about a grocery CART full of fruits & veggies just to get a 12 oz. glass 1/2 full!
As a result, we used it one time and set it out in the garage until I finally sold it for $20.00 last month. But I saw a Jack La Lane infomercial and came to trusty old Amazon.com to see about trying again since these NEW juicers get more juice (or DO they?). I start reading and see so many more people liking this particular brand over Jacks model so then go to YouTube sniffing around. I take A MONTH DECIDING and bought this juicer from Amazon directly. Used it for just 2 days so I have no way to tell you about how it is best or worse, how it is changing my life, or anything earth shattering.
But I DO have something I CAN tell you. I don't even want a beer anymore. And I like beer. A LOT!!!! I haven't even tried any of the GREAT selection of included recipes that came included with the juicer. I just tossed in about 4 carrots, 1 small pear, 2 pieces of celery, 2 small red apples and it made over 16 ounces of juice! Blows my old mind (short trip). The weirdest thing of all to me at 60 years of age is I HATE carrots. HATE them. ANY form, hate them. Now, I can't get enough. And even weirder, I wasn't able to even eat any breakfast as I was too full. I don't remember anyone saying juice would fill me up. Usually if I had a V8 it just made me want a beer to go WITH it.
So all the expert juicers can decide which brand is best, which style is best. For my recreational use and for my being able to EASILY take it apart and fully clean in 10 minutes (and I am disabled, no, NOT from the beer!), I do a very rare thing. I give this a 5 star rating. As my experience with it grows, I will update this review as required as to reliability, stamina etc. My last and only prior juicer was such a nightmare to clean AND use, got NO juice, it makes this nothing less than shocking. To have so much juice, so much GREAT flavor, almost fun to operate and clean, who knows.....I may just end up skinny & healthy. But then after today's tomato. celery & zucchini with onion experiment, I can see myself wondering what a little Vodka might do for a little added flavor? Probably lucky for me that the only alcohol I ever liked was beer......
If I get into this in a big way and discover I like leafy green stuff juiced, and find this will NOT do that well, I will find someway to go the BIG bucks for a slow turning juicer that does that type juicing best. Heck, maybe I can recycle all my old beer cans to pay for it? Can't believe it took me 60 years to find a HEALTHY way to get juiced.
_______________________________________________________
2 week update. After using this twice a day some days, once per day everyday for over a week I have problems. One, we have now ruined MORE than the cost of our juicer is clothing stains from flying juice and "pieces" no matter how careful we are. It also has the dreaded "pulp trapped inside the seam between the clear part and the grey plastic" problem. I have tried to no end to contact the manufacturer. On hold with voice mail for over 1 HOUR, then instructed to leave my phone number to have them call me back=NEVER did. Sent email=NO response. Will SADLY now request a return from Amazon on this product I first loved but now is a problem as well as a health risk. I will also buy a juicer with a warranty LONGER than just ONE year. I tried to revise my 5 star rating but Amazon does NOT allow me to do this. I would drop it to 2 stars IF I knew it was not a serious health risk due to the hassle with NO customer service in my case. If I knew for sure it IS a serious health risk, I would drop it to NO stars. But then Amazon will not let me do this either.....
1/23/2009 UPDATE:
This juicer has been returned and I have now owned the new Omega 8006 for a few weeks. Did a FULL review at Epinions of it. What an amazing difference.
1 YEAR 2 week later update:
The Omega Model 8006 is still being used as well as a L Equip XL Wide Mouth Mini Juicer. Still lost over 50 pounds, STILL haven't had or even wanted a beer in over a year. And both of these models are easy to clean and trap no unhealthy food particulate in any crevices etc. Tried & true good solid juicers being used daily.
Mike
