To Juice or Not to Juice?

Two months ago I received a massive box containing a Green Star Twin Blade Elite Juicer for review purposes— let’s place the emphasis on the word elite for the purposes of this post.

It sat on my floor untouched during those two months.

By the time I got the nerve to open the box, dust had started to form on the outside. My apprehension to opening this sought-after appliance was probably initially linked to its overwhelming size. The picture on the outside of the box prominently features the large, white appliance and also a laundry list of all its capabilities. I was also completely intimidated by the phrases: “triturating action,” “110 rpm speed,” “Magnetic and Bioceramic technology.”

I’m all about juicing. I consider myself a healthy person and have read myriad articles prosthelytizing all of the healthy/nutritious benefits associated with juicing including: better digestion, increase in energy, skin and complexion improvements, increase in your metabolic rate, lower blood pressure and reduce your risk of cancers….

But, I’ve only enjoyed buying these drinks -freshly-made- from the many juice stores that have popped up in the last 12 months. However, those juices are way too expensive; expensive enough for me to consider taking on juicing in the comforts of my own home.

So, I decided to confront my Green Star Twin Blade Elite juicer but, only when armed with the help of a friend, @beccasara. I did not have the confidence to juice on my own.

The retail cost of this juicer is approximately $629.00. It’s not cheap. We joked that a juicer that costs that much would probably have that many pieces to clean after usage (and we were right).

juicer parts

According to the press release, “The Green Star Twin Blade Elite is actually based on our body’s natural chewing process, and is the only juicer on the market that offers a complete mastication system that mirrors what our body does naturally. From hard roots (carrots, ginger) and fibrous stalks (celery, rhubarb) to even the toughest leafy greens (kale, wheat grass), this superior juicer extracts while protecting even the most delicate of vital nutrients”

Sounds intriguing right?

We hoisted the appliance out of the box, along with its book-sized operating manual and the many additional pieces and cleaning instruments. Believe it or not, this juicer also functions as a bread maker.

We could’ve sat and read through the entire instruction manual but, honestly, we were too eager to throw everything in the juicer to see what concoctions we could create.

If you are a serious juicer there are different screen settings for hard fruit and soft fruit and leafy greens – all to extract the most amount of nutrients humanly possible. Again, as novice at-home juicers, we were lazy, not interested, and much more focused on our juice output.

Our agreed-upon juice concoction: watermelon, lemon, pears, ginger and kale. If we had followed the directions, there’s an exact order to which you’re supposed to introduce your fruits and veggies to your juicer. Yet, like cowboys in the wild west, we simply input whatever was within arm’s reach.

I couldn’t believe how much fruit and veggies it took to produce such little output. I felt like I had inserted 2 whole heads of kale, only to witness a few small goopy green droplets slowly fall out at the other end of the machine. Geez.

After about 5 minutes shoving all the fruits and veggies into the twin blades (with a very phallic looking apparatus) we had only produced enough juice for three people to have small 6 ounce glasses.

Our concoction did taste pretty good and I mentally felt healthier for drinking it.

My initial thought was, while this tastes good, this is WAY-TOO-MUCH-WORK. I knew what was ahead: 20 minutes of disassembling and rinsing and soaking all of those wonderful pieces that render this particular blender superior to others. Remember that screen I mentioned above? It took forever to get out the little particles of kale were trapped inside.

This machine is clearly designed for true zen JUICE LOVERS: those who take solace in spending 30 minutes a day to properly juice and then happily clean after every use.

However, this machine is (in my opinion) not ideal for poser juicers (like me) who want a quick hit of fresh juice in the morning before running out the door to work– investing little to no time. Not to mention, if you live in an apartment like I do, you’ll need lots of counter or storage space for this mac daddy machine.

While one would be saving money juicing with the Green Start Twin Blade Elite juicer, one would not be saving juice time and cleaning aggravation.

I should be clear, I’m just an inexperienced juicer newbie. Those who’ve fully adopted the juicing lifestyle would probably be thrilled with this juicer. After all, it was modeled after our own mouths: the world’s best juicer. We use our front teeth for cutting large pieces, canines for tearing and molars for grinding and the Twin-Gear Juicing Technology uses a similar 3-stage process that mimics this (crushing, mixing, and pressing).

Regardless, it’s a darn good thing there’s an amazing 12-year manufacturers warranty. I know I’d definitely break some of the parts cleaning them…

If you’re zen about juice making, then check out the juicer and more details here.

 

Disclaimer: I received a Green Star Twin Blade Elite Juicer for review purposes. All opinions expressed in this post are mine (as always).