A review of juicer designs and the latest Torus Slow Juicers

Which Juicer Should You Buy?

Benefits of Juicing

The best 3 ways of gaining nutrition from fruit and vegetables are juices, smoothies and wholefoods. Nutritionist’s and advocates of natural healing call fresh fruit and vegetable juices “liquid gold” because they make bio-available nutrients, enzymes and phytochemicals, which are normally destroyed in store bought juice by the cooking, pasteurisation and extraction processes.

Juice is a perfect detox and dietary health food to have any time of day. It can substitute a regular meal provided the right ingredients are used. Fresh juices have become the cornerstone of many health, fitness and natural disease therapy programmes.

Choosing between Centrifugal, Masticating and Slow Juicers

Traditional Juicers: Centrifugal and Masticating 

There are two types of traditional juicers: centrifugal and horizontal masticating juicers. As the name implies, centrifugal juicers use centrifugal force to separate juice from grated pulp via high speed spinning. This method tends to produce a lower juice yield, higher oxidization (due to the high speed grating basket introducing friction and air) and lower nutritional values. Centrifugal juicing is the least effective method of juicing.

A masticating juicer extracts more nutritional value from ingredients releasing more flavour, vitamins and nutrients. Masticating juicers use a auger to crush fruits and vegetables, then squeeze the juice out separating it from the pulp. These juicers are slower than centrifugal juicers but are twice as efficient, chewing through greens, soft vegetables and fruits. The term masticating juicer has traditionally been associated with horizontal juicers.

Enter the Slow Juicer

A new design of juicer has recently entered the market: the slow or cold press juicer. These juicers have an upright design (like centrifugal juicers) but like horizontal masticating juicers, slow juicers use single augers that grind, mash and chew through fruits and vegetables and squeeze every last drop of juice out, separating it from the pulp. As might be expected, a slow juicer auger rotates much more slowly than centrifugal or masticating juicers such as the Champion, reducing oxidization and heat. The term slow juicer doesn’t refer to how long juicing takes, just the process.

Slow juicers excel at juicing mixed produce and are considered to extract more nutrients and juice than either centrifugal or masticating juicers – with the added advantage of taking up less counter space than horizontal juicers. Juice from a traditional juicer’s oxidises more quickly. Modern slow juicers eliminate this with low speed operation. This equals more nutrients, better tasting juice and longer storage times (up to 72 hours sealed in the fridge).

In summary

• Traditional Centrifugal Juicers – good for speed but has lower quality and lower Juice yields for the amount of fruit and vegetables processed.
• Traditional Horizontal, high speed masticating juicers are best for those who primarily want to juice leafy greens with less preparation time (stringy greens do not need cutting).
• Modern Slowor Cold Press juicers are perfect for all types of produce making high quality, high yields juicers that taste better and have more nutrition.

About the Torus Slow Juicer Range

Health, taste and versatility are the traits I require from a juicer so a cold press slow juicer is the machine I choose for my kitchen. As I use an OmniBlend blender, I decided to test drive and review the new Torus Slow Juicer range of slow juicers distributed by OmniBlend Australia, just released to the Australian market.

Torus slow juicer machines have been developed and tested over two years, taking advantage of the most experienced and best slow juicer manufacturers. Unlike most brands, Torus is not shy in declaring which factories make their machines and encourage consumers to verify factory credentials.

The Torus Slow Juicer Motor

Torus slow juicers have chosen to exclusively use AC induction motors. Some slow juicers use DC motors. I don’t pretend to fully understand all the technical differences between the two kinds of motors. DC motors are reputed not to last as long as AC but due to the lower cost many companies use DC. I would recommend making sure the slow juicer you choose has an AC motor.

Handy Inclusions

All Torus slow juicer machines include a straining sieve that fits perfectly into the juice jug, I found this great for small batches. Also included, a reusable straining bag allows you to filter larger quantities, a special brush to make cleaning easy and a juice tap to stop annoying drips on your bench! I personally feel that all companies should include these items but many don’t.

Noise  

Slow juicers are quiet appliances because of the slow rotation speed. The sound level is comfortable for all three machines. You hear a mashing, grinding and squishing as it devours your produce.

Assembly and Cleaning

A drawback of any vertical slow or cold press juicers is that they can take longer to assemble and clean than traditional centrifugal juicers. Torus have done a good job minimising this with good design and the inclusion of the special cleaning tool. The truth is, you are going to have to spend some time cleaning any juicer, but if you do it immediately after use it only takes a few minutes. Once you become familiar with the machine, cleaning and assembly becomes second nature. This is not something that should stop anyone from enjoying the benefits of a slow juicer.

Juicing Strainers

All 3 machines come with small and large hole strainer attachments for producing thicker or thinner juices. I recommend playing around with these depending what you are juicing. Get this, the T5000 & T5500 pro series both include a hole-less strainer or blank-plate for making frozen fruit sorbets, nut butters and other healthy snacks! Simply drop frozen fruits or nuts into the top after attaching the supplied blank plate and you’re in business. Remember to activate your nuts by soaking them overnight first. Juicing wheat grass is also possible. You need to pre-cut to 3-4cm long pieces so it won’t clog the shoot. Have fun!

Non Leaching Materials

All Torus Slow Juicer machines use non leaching BPA free plastic. Thank you OmniBlend Australia!

Colors 

There are 3 color options for all models: Black (my personal favourite), Red and Silver. Due to the process used in the factory the finish is vibrant and scratch resistant.

Slow Juicer Tips

Remember, when slow juicing fibrous veggies like celery, you’ll have to pre-cut it to quarter to half inch pieces so that it does not clog the pulp ejector port. When slow juicing leafy greens, turmeric or ginger it helps to follow up with a vegetable like a carrot or beetroot to ensure maximum extraction from the less juicy pulp.

Torus Models Overview

All 3 Torus slow juicer machines feel well built and all parts snugly lock together and are not loose or flimsy. I tried all machines with combinations of carrots, greens, beetroot, celery, berries, apple, lemon, oranges, pears, watermelon, lots of leafy greens and nuts!

Review of Torus T1000 Slow Juicers

The Torus 1000 is a budget conscious choice and I have to say a very good option if price is a factor. A more traditional but still pleasing design, the T1000 has a larger footprint on the bench than the T5000 or the T5500. This is the latest model of a machine that has been sold worldwide under various brands and proven itself reliable, efficient and popular. Until very recently It was the flagship model of slow juicers. Torus say they have negotiated a very good price at the factory enabling them to pass this on to the consumer and I understand the same machine continues to be sold in other countries for up to twice the price. Well-built and excellent value for money!

Review of Torus T5000 Pro & Torus T5500 Pro Big Mouth Series Slow Juicers

At present there are two pro models The T5000 Pro slow juicer and The T5500 Pro Big Mouth slow juicer.

The T5000 appears to produce the same high quality juice as the T5500 but because of the smaller hopper, takes a bit more preparation time. The T5000 has a small footprint on the bench and the hopper is small taking up less space than the T5500. For anyone who wants the latest design and the best quality juice, but doesn’t mind spending a little more time on preparation, the T5000 midrange machine is an excellent option.

The Torus T5500 Pro Big Mouth is the top of the line in modern slow juicing and the large dual hopper system puts this machine in high demand. A great performer, its big mouth chute – the widest on the market – fits most fruits and vegetables without cutting, saving you preparation time. The Torus T5500 is fast and powerful; its AC induction motor makes light work of anything you throw in – even hard vegetables like carrots, celery and apples go through at a decent speed. Though it takes full size fruit the T5500 maintains the same small footprint as the T5000.

The specially designed hopper on the T5500 has some innovative features new to the market, including integrated ridges on the auger and hopper that more efficiently feed the auger, limiting the need for use of the plunger/tamper. Unlike the Kuvings and other big mouth juicers on the market, there is no internal cutting blade required in this design. Other reviewers have described needing to use a lot of effort to push produce through machines using internal blades with a tamper and I have experienced this myself previously also. On the T5500 this is not necessary. It devours produce effortlessly! The T5500 has a trap door design that acts as a safety feature, so that even though the machine swallows fruit whole, hands and fingers are prevented from following.

The up to date design of these models are modern and sexy while taking up less counter space than previous designs.

Both the T5000 and T5500 come with a blank plate allowing you to make nut butters, sorbets and ice creams. Both pro series machines operate at 60 RPM – slightly slower speed than the T1000 at 65 RPM – but once you get down to these speeds I don’t believe it makes that much difference. There is no temperature increase on juices produced by any Torus juicers.

A good juice has many flavors and subtle tones. Juice from each of the Torus slow juicer models is delicious and satisfying. However I did notice subtle differences. Side by side taste tests convince me the pro series produces a slightly more rich and tasty juice than the T1000.

A nice feature: the juice jug on the 5000 series fits inside the pulp jug which is great for storage.

Conclusion

All 3 Torus slow juicer machines are competitively priced compared to equivalent models in the Australian market and I believe a bargain is to be had. With its range of prices and colours most juice lovers can find a Torus machine to fit their budget and needs. All machines have long warranties: 3 years on the T1000 and 7 years on the T5000 and T5500. OmniBlend Australia (the Torus distributor) has a reputation for looking after their customers and has been looking after me as a customer for almost two years now. Torus has delivered a cutting edge range of well built and industry leading juicers. I highly recommend any one of these machines and I am so happy with my Torus T5500 Pro Big Mouth Slow Juicer.

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Donna