At long last, after a lot of soul-searching about how I could justify buying yet another juicer (see I’ve Been and Gone and Done It AGAIN!!), I decided to take one for the team and bought it so that I could review it on the blog and maybe help someone choose their first juicer.  Well, that’s my latest story anyway! (The previous one was that it was an early birthday present, but that didn’t wash as I had also said that of my new camera).

It only arrived yesterday, so we haven’t had chance to give it a thorough testing as I wanted to post the review before the discount price ends at the end of the current Juicemaster Free 7 Day Guided Juice Challenge.

NB This is a centrifugal or fast juicer not a cold press or masticating juicer. It won’t produce quite as much good quality juice as a cold press machine and you can’t keep the juices for as long. Cold Press juicers are heavier and much more expensive. However, this is one of the better fast juicers currently available.

The Positives: First, the Parts

• At 3.4 kg, the Super Fast is one of the lightest juicers we’ve tried! Some are so heavy, you’d risk a hernia or putting your back out every time you tried to move it. You can’t always place a juicer where you’re going to use it every day, so it needs to be easily manoeuvrable. We had to return one brand because we couldn’t even lift it out of the box!
• It is by far and away the easiest juicer to assemble and disassemble. Everything just slots together lightly. No twisting or turning or getting a spoon handle to prise out the basket. With some juicers, if you’re not tall enough or strong enough to get hold of it at the right angle, it can be a problem to pull it out without the assistance of a strongman/woman or resorting to utensils to lever it out (not recommended). This one is so easy. It has an indentation at either side of the unit where you can place your fingers to get leverage and more easily remove the basket.
• Two big pluses for us are that it has a central cord at the back and it is ambidextrous: the juicer can be placed anywhere within reach of a socket and the bowl goes onto the unit so that it can be used by both right-handed and left-handed people. As a family split down the middle in this respect, I applaud the designers of this machine. We also had to return a different juicer that wouldn’t sit on our counter top because the plug was to one side and we needed it at the other.
• The Super Fast has a sleek stainless steel bowl and basket.
• The chute is wide enough to take whole apples.
• It has a large 2L waste compartment.
• The switch is an easy to use, well-situated rotating knob at the front that goes from Off to Low to High, and that’s it. Couldn’t be simpler.
• Like the Cold Press, the spout on the Super Fast has a lid so that you can close the spout to prevent drips when not in action. When we had the Phillips 1861, we had to keep a small glass under it after we finished juicing as no matter how convinced you were that it was empty, there would always be a small pool of juice on the counter top when you’d finished cleaning up!
• Suction feet prevent it moving when working.
• It comes with its own cleaning brush.
• It couldn’t be easier to clean, though you may need to use a toothbrush for the inside of the spout.

Photos show how the Super Fast can be used left- or right-handed, and the cord at the centre back of the unit. 

Slight Minuses, but not deal-breakers:

• First off, the colour. I chose cream to go with the two other Retro machines, the Retro Cold Press and the Retro Super Blend (both available on the Juicemaster and Retro Juicer websites). The colour of the Super Fast unit doesn’t quite match the other two, although the waste basket is closer,  but this is just about the only real niggle so far. We’ve placed it next to the Cold Press in some of the photos so you can judge for yourself and also so that you can see the relative sizes. Apologies for the shadows, there was no natural light today, another very gloomy day.
• The locking arms are thick rigid plastic, rather than metal like the Phillips 1861 and although they are robust, I’m a little nervous about how long they will last with heavy use or if they get caught while moving the unit without the lid locked in place. There is, however, a 1 year warranty and Juicemaster customer service are among the best I’ve ever dealt with.
• None of the parts are dishwasher safe, but it really is so easy to rinse and clean and it is best to wash out juicers straightaway so that food doesn’t dry or build up causing bacteria to form or parts to stop functioning.

One last pointer: if you’re used to starting the Retro Cold Press with the stopper initially closed in order to optimise the complete juicing of all the mashed veggies or fruit in the bowl – then don’t with this one! If you do, it will leak through the bottom of the bowl when it overfills (you can’t see the amount of juice in the bowl like you can with the Cold Press).

Oh, and make sure you peel pineapple before juicing!

Overrall, on first use, we really like this juicer. It is so fast and we didn’t have any trouble either setting it up, using it or taking it apart, while cleaning was a doddle.

The bonus in ordering this product is that currently you also receive all this:

Since I already have some of these items – the Super Juice Me! Dvd, 28 Day Plan book and a Funky Fresh Juice recipe book, I will be offering these as a prize in a competition, see next post!

Ps. If you’re thinking of buying a juicer and want to compare this with some others, see Which Juicer?

Copyright: Chris McGowan