Juicers / Blenders / Smoothie makers? Help?!

[nickymanley]

I am confused. I have a smoothie maker and a blender but some vegetable juice recipes I have read say I need a juicer! I appreciate that a juicer presumably just removes the juice from the veg/fruit but lots of people say they add the leftovers back into the juice as that has all the fibre in?! Do I really need a juicer as well or can I just use my Kenwood Smoothie maker?!

[Ausf-A]

Most juicers work by spinning the juice out of the fruit/veg and leaving the fibrous parts behind. A blender will only smash the food into smaller parts. For clear juice, a juicer will give you far better results than a blender. The only problem is that cheaper juicers do not last so long. They can be noisy and difficult to clean, although cheap, quiest and easy to clean models are becoming more readily available. HTH

[nickymanley]

Thank you, I understand that now but what is the difference between a blender and a smoothie maker then?! Am not sure why I have both now!! Can I make vegetable juices in a smoothie maker?! Sorry, this is all new to me!

[Ausf-A]

You will be able to blend the vegetable into a mush and then maybe put them through a sieve to extract some juice. It will not be the same as a juice from a juicer. Plus you will lose a lot of the veg as waste. The blender and smoothie makers work on the same principle, except smoothie makers tend to have higher power mototrs and tougher blades to help chop ice into tiny pieces.

[Kerplunk]

Im have am Anthony Worrel Thompson blender from Argos. �100 and is excellent....easy to clean and good juice yield.

[Kerplunk]

Sorry that should be an AWT JUICER.

[charliebaps]

Ausf is right. If you have a blender then you really don't need to pay out for a smoothie maker as it's essentially the same thing. Just an oppotunity for companies to re-brand and cash in.

A juicer is great for vegetables that don't mash up well in a blender. You can also use the juices for the base of your drink/soup in the blender.

[STEVEC-J]

Basically, if you want a juice then you need a juicer, Trying to get down a thick shake first thing in the morning doesn't work for me, to add fibre to a juice just add a couple of teaspoons of wheatgerm to the juice or blend a whole apple into the juice in a blender.

I suffer from IBS and a juice every morning replaces a lot of the lost nutrients in double quick time so that I can function for the day

I stared with an AWT juicer but it only lasted 12 months before the juice became noticeably inferior and that was with a new screen. I' ve now purchased a GreenStar twin gear juicer, expensive but excellent.

A smoothie maker is basically a glorified blender. Try www.thejuicemaster.com for excellent advise, tips and recipes.

[nickymanley]

Thanks guys, am a bit annoyed now that I bought a smoothie maker - if I had looked into it a bit better I would have opted for a juicer! Will have to save up now - and make extra room in my kitchen!!