Abigail R. Gehring - The Complete Juicer

Many thanks to my parents, Donald and Martha Gehring, for the use of their beautiful garden,
and for all the years theyve fed the family from its bounty.

Copyright 2014 by Abigail R. Gehring

Photos copyright 2014 by Abigail R. Gehring except as noted below:

P. 32, iStockphoto/Thinkstock; P. 38, iStockphoto/Thinkstock; P. 42, Andy Sotiriou/Photodisc/Thinkstock; P. 48, Digital Vision/Thinkstock; P. 56, Ingram Publishing/Thinkstock; P. 139, iStockphoto/Thinkstock; P. 156. Hemera/Thinkstock

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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

eISBN: 978-1-62873-830-8

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Gehring, Abigail R.

The complete juicer : a healthy guide to making delicious, nutritious juice and growing your own fruits and vegetables / Abigail R. Gehring.

pages cm

ISBN 978-1-62636-393-9 (alk. paper)

eISBN: 9781628738308

1. Juicers. 2. Fruit juices. 3. Vegetable juices. 4. Vegetable gardening. I. Title.

TX840.J84G44 2014

641.34--dc23

2013033878

Printed in China

Contents

PART I:
ALL ABOUT JUICING

If youre buying this book, youre probably already enough of a juicing fan to know that drinking fresh-squeezed juice makes you feel great. But in case youre looking for ways to convince your friends and family to join the juicing revolution, here are some specific reasons:

• Weight Loss: Oftentimes we feel hungry not because we need more calories but because our bodies are craving more nutrients. One glass of juice can provide you with several servings of nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables, and its easier for your body to absorb nutrients from juice than it is from whole produce. When you drink fresh, raw juice, you may find that you dont need to eat nearly as often or as much.
• Digestive Health: Theres no doubt that digestive problems are on the rise, especially in America. Sometimes it seems like I everyone I know has some sort of digestive disorder, whether it be Crohns, collitis, ulcers, persistent heartburn, irritable bowl syndrome (IBS), or undiagnosed nausea, bloating, or abdominal pains. While these conditions can be caused by a range of issues, they have the common outcome that when youre suffering with any of them, its tough to get the nutrition your body needs to be healthy and whole. Juicing gives your digestive system a rest so that it can begin to heal. The vitamins, minerals, and enzymes packed in the juice are absorbed into your blood stream quickly, without taxing your digestive organs in the same way that the fibers in whole raw produce do.
• Increased Energy and Mental Clarity: When your digestive system has less work to do, you have more energy for other things, including thinking. Everyone knows that after eating a heavy meal youre likely to feel like taking a long nap. It takes a lot of energy to digest all that food, leaving little left over for anything else. Not only is a glass of juice less work for your body to process, but the intense concentration of nutrients will leave you feeling revitalized and mentally sharp.
• Taste: Okay, not all vegetable juices are created equal when it comes to flavor. You may have had a green juice from a juice stand that made you want to gag. But healthy juices can also be really delicious! Add some lemon and fresh ginger to any green juice to brighten up the flavor, or throw in an apple, pear, or a handful of grapes for more sweetness. Some vegetables, such as beets and carrots, are naturally sweet and are great for getting kids to appreciate vegetable juices.

There are two main types of automatic juicers (as opposed to manual juicers, which are mainly for hand squeezing citrus fruits): masticating juicers and centrifugal juicers. If you do a quick search online, the first thing youll notice is that masticating juicers are much more expensive, starting at around $200, whereas you can get a good quality centrifugal juicer for about $100. So whats the difference, other than price?

• Centrifugal juicers have an upright design, and function by spinning really fast while the produce is chewed up, causing the juice to spin to the edges of the container and drain into your cup while the pulp is caught in the bowl of the machine. Centrifugal juicers are easy to use, work quickly, and are just fine for most fruits and non-leafy vegetables. You can certainly juice your leafy greens in a centrifugal (I do all the time), but youll get less juice and more pulp than you would with a masticating juicer. One tip is to wrap your greens around a dense vegetable, such as a carrotthis will help feed the greens through the chute. Also, wheatgrass tends to clog up centrifugal juicers, so if youre a big fan of the grass, youll want to invest in a masticating juicer or a juicer specifically made for wheatgrass.
• Masticating juicers do just what they sound like they shouldthey chew up your produce by crushing it and squeezing it against the walls of the juicer. They then separate the juice from the pulp, generally leaving you with more juice and less pulp than a centrifugal juicer would. Masticating juicers do a great job juicing leafy greens. On the other hand, you have to chop up large produce into small pieces, since they tend to have smaller chutes, which requires a bit of extra time. There is some concern that a centrifugal juicer heats the produce up enough that some of the enzymes are destroyed, leaving you with less nutritious juice. However, produce has to be heated to 118F in order to lose its nutrition, which is unlikely to happen, especially if you start with cold produce. But if youre concerned about this, a masticating juicer does spin at a much slower speed and so will create less friction, and, thus, heat your produce less.