Electrical juice press = good investment

[panacea]

the orange-x i'm getting is the olympus commercial size and it costs $140 online I believe,

http://www.discountjuicers.com/orangexcommercial.html

do you think this is the one that wasn't big enough??

olympusNSFcitrus.jpg

the 210 shouldn't be bigger than that one.. the ra chand 500 is supposed to be a monster so it might be but the 210? let me know!

[djkvan]

That's the site I visited too.

No, I'm guessing that one is big enough. That's a size up from the one I saw in the store. Apparently its the same size as the 210. You might want the 500 if you plan on juicing large citrus and grapefruit as it has a larger juicing tray. I read a review where someone who owned a 210 ordered the commercial Olympus because he thought it would be better for larger fruit, but it turned out to be the same size. OOPS!

I paid $105+ shipping for the 210 when i called the 800 number on this site:
http://www.rachand.com/. It looks sturdier to me, but having actually handled an Olympus I can honestly say it's a solid feeling unit too. The RaChand rep was a nice guy. Helpful and knowledgeable.

[panacea]

I read that review as well,

I own a medium sized Ra Chand juicer, the popular model J210. Although the fit and finish of the Ra Chand juicer is somewhat crude, it makes up for it in brute strength and straightforward design. It works excellent for limes, lemons, and small to medium sized oranges and it will last a lifetime, even with daily use. The problem with the J210 is that it does not juice large oranges and grapefruits very well. I needed a larger juicer because I have a grapefruit tree and an orange tree that produce larger than average fruit. I decided against the Ra Chand J500 because they were more expensive than the OrangeX juicer, and the reviews of the OrangeX juicer were for the most part favorable--most of the complaints were for paint chips (doesn't appear to be a problem here) and slow delivery (also not a problem). I was disappointed when my OrangeX large commercial juicer arrived because the top cone and lower "bowl" assembly of the juicer, where the fruit fits, is no larger than the Ra Chand medium sized J210 juicer. In fact, it appears to be smaller than the Ra Chand medium sized juicer. Also, they are thin stamped stainless steel where on the Ra Chand juicer they are polished cast aluminum. That being said, the OrangeX juicer is heavy duty and fairly well built. I have no doubt it will work fine for limes, lemons, and small to medium oranges, and that it too will last a lifetime. However, now I have two juicers that will do the same thing and I still have no juicer for larger grapefruits, unless I settle for squeezing some of the grapefruit and having the edge squirt all over the edge. In retrospect, I wish I had looked at the Ra Chand J500 and, given that it is truly larger than the J210, spent the extra $50 to get something that would not only work for larger fruit, but medium and smaller fruit as well.

Still, my research found a few very negative comments about the ra chand models, while none on the olympus except for size, and I saw a video on youtube for the olympus and could find no videos showing the ra chand models.

I ordered the RA Chand citrus juicer in late January 2009 for home use. Despite being advertised as having been designed for commercial use, it lasted less than four months under light (less than once a day) home use. During this period, I never squeezed anything harder than a juice orange. And in early May 2009 the handle/lever simply cracked in two. It was gone after less than four months and close to $200 expended (with shipping/tax). Whatever metal was used to fabricate the lever/handle, it was a shoddy composite because it cracked just like a piece of brittle plastic.

At the time I ordered this product, I was under the misunderstanding that it was made in the USA. While this was my error, I had had similar problems with Chinese made home grade juicers which I had bought for a quarter the price. (They, ironically, had each lasted six to eighteen months under similar usage before breaking.) The RA Chand juicer is made in Mexico, not the USA, and the quality that I experienced unfortunately lived up to my worst expectations.

If you want a juicer that looks sharp and don't expect to ever use it more than once a month, this product might be just right for you. But stay away if you want something you can actually use on a daily basis at home, much less in a commercial setting. This product is bad news.

and

I bought my jucer through a Amazon SPONSORED LINKS [...] which seems to be an improved model. The design of the handle (removes with screws) and the juicing bowl (stepped instead of curved) seems to be the difference.

For the price the finish should be better. The outside of the juicing bowl is polished but the inside is rough and unpolished with what seemed to be a lot of black/grey machineing/grinding residue left in the bowl and when washing this residue out the roughness of the interior snaged on the dish sponge I was using. Since this is the surface the juice runs across I think it should be more polished allowing it to be cleaned easier. But can be washed in a dish washer.

Easy to use, but need to be careful not to apply to much pressure at end of handle as it does tend to tip forward. The bottom bowl and funnel just sits in the metal ring and is easy to remove to clean and drops right back in place. Still need to strain the juice to remove seeds and pulp.

I bought this for squeezing grapefruit and needed the extra large bowl for the fit. So far every grapefruit I've tried has fit without any problem. Does make juicing quick and easy.

Also it's easy to over squeeze fruit because of the force that can be generated, then you get that taste from the oils in the skin into the juice. First glass of orange juice I made was very noticable but the second glass I used less force and that taste was almost gone, third glass of juice (grapefruit this time) I pretty much had the amount of force correct. I used to slice up grapefruits and with my hand press the slices against a perforated metal bowl (strainer) to juice them and if I pressed too hard I would get that same taste, so that citrus oil taste isn't something unique to this juicer.

However!

The rachand.com website and this site: http://www.dvorsons.com/RACHAND/Juicers.html

say they have redesigned the j210 and j500 models in 2010 for more strength and durability. you will note that the most negative review, the first one, was stated to be in 2009. SO ra chand juicer may indeed be the best buy. I will look into getting a good price like you did for the j500, how exactly did you do it though?

[djkvan]

Phew! I'm glad they redesigned it. The guy I talked to (at 1-(800)624-2128) said I'd probably be handing the unit down to my grandkids. It hasn't been shipped yet, so I will be sure to call them on Tuesday to ask about that.

Thanks, panacea.

[djkvan]

Hey, everyone! Well I got my RaChand 210 citrus press a couple of days ago and have juiced with it for the last two days. Here are my observations:

- I was unimpressed with the packaging. It came in an unmarked box filled with hard styrofoam shards. This definitely seemed a little weird to me and screamed warehouse.

- Out of the box my first impression was that the unit was solidly built, although there seem to be some less than perfect angles on it which give it an artisanal quality.

- I am used to different equipment, but on its maiden voyage I found it to be only slightly awkward to use. The unit can tend to fall a little towards you as you press (I was warned of this by the vendor), but adjusting your technique slightly to compensate easily corrects this. The orange can fall off center resulting in "chunking" of the skin on the press cup when you press (perhaps one cause of any bitterness that RRM mentioned is possible with press units) but this can, for the most part, be avoided if you lightly press the orange down into the press cup by hand to "set" its position before pressing (takes a fraction of a second).

- The press arm although solid could use a bit of padding as it makes the palm of the hand a little sore after repeated use, but there is no blistering or carryover of the soreness that can be perceived when you go to use the unit the following day. Perhaps a biking glove or a dishtowel held in the palm of the hand would remedy any discomfort if you feel that you can't tough it out.

- When pressing, the unit remains stationary on your counter because of the chunky, medium soft, rubber feet on the base (well thought out there).

- Once pressing is completed the remaining orange husk is quite dry if you press down sufficiently (you can actually hear the extraction stop when there is no juice left in the orange). The juice it seems tastes fine with no (noticeable) bitterness. I imagine with this unit that it would take quite a bit of force to extract from the peel and get bitter juice. As mentioned, centering the orange to avoid chunking into the peel when pressing will certainly help to avoid any bitterness that could result from peel extraction. I do chunk a few along the way but it doesn't seem to affect the overall juice in the end.

- When you develop a rhythm, the unit is easy to use and cleans up in less than a minute.

- Right now I am reluctant to recommend the unit as I have only used it twice. All parts are solid, thick, cast metal (steel?), and at 12Lbs this press certainly inspires confidence. At this point I am still unsure about the strength of the base. It is also cast metal, but being hollowed out and lighter I am worried that it might break at some point. I am probably worrying needlessly. There doesn't appear to be any way that the rest of the unit will fail structurally and if the base does fail, I'm pretty sure that RaChand will replace it either free or at minimal cost. It comes apart by removing two bolts, so it would be an easy fix. I just don't want to recommend something to people at such an early point in my ownership and have it break on them. That would make me feel and look bad.

- Overall after two days, I am happy with my new press and actually experienced increased yields today. On my first day I wasn't pressing as hard as I could as I hadn't developed a solid technique yet, but today I yielded about 2250mL of OJ from the same amount of oranges that usually yield 2000mL. That is a 12.5% increase in yield if not a fluke. I'll have to see if that gain is repeatable on a consistent basis.

Well there you have it (panacea). I'll keep posting periodically for anyone who is interested to hear about the ongoing performance of this juicer.

[panacea]

Thanks djkvan!!
That really helps me make a decision finally I can buy a juicer (:
I think I'm going to go with the olympus just to compare, so like in 5 years we will know which one to buy, assuming they don't come out with a competitor d:
I'd be very interested to know if anything breaks or not, especially the handle, is it sturdy? other sites complained about the handle snapping but they also mightve re-designed it remember so idk. The olympus doesn't look as industrial grade more like plastic but it might be better planned out because it's by a popular brand idk.

[djkvan]

The handle is sturdy cast steel or aluminum I think. I seems very solid. The Olympus that I actually handled was very solid too. The handle is metal as well (just painted so it might look like plastic). I just didn't want to pay the ripoff William Sonoma price. For $70 less I had the RaChand sent to me in Canada. Fingers crossed it's a goodun. Five years, then.

[djkvan]

I just realized that the unit is cast aluminum. I was guessing that it was. Anyway I don't think that this is anything to fret about as rumors of the dangers of aluminum utensils are debunked. I've read that the Oylmpus juicer is a bitch to clean, though. This unit is just a quick rinse from good to go again.

[Pontoonrider]

Hey djkvan
what CDN site did you get your RaChand juicer from? RaChand direct or another one?

[djkvan]

Hey, panacea/everyone. I've had the RaChand for about three weeks now and I can honestly say that it is one solid machine. Easy to use, easy to clean. Did you buy the Olympus yet?

[Kasper]

I've got a very simple electric one from my parents at the moment.
But it takes me a long time to make juice, 2L in an hour I think.
And in that I can't even listen to music or tv... because of the noise

I'm thinking about taking the same kind of juicer as you dkjvan, how long does it take you to make the orange juice with your hand press ?

[djkvan]

I can press 2L in about six minutes, but with rinsing the oranges, then cutting and straining them as well as adding OO and sugar it takes about 30-40 minutes if I am going at a reasonable (not rushing) pace.

[Oscar]

15-20 mins per 1.25L, including everything

[Kasper]

I've bought the same kind of juicer you have (other brand tough).

It works perfect. I also do 2L in 30-40 minutes.

[djkvan]

I think I'm going to go back to juicing with my electric for a while. While juicing with the press I observed what looked like fluid being squeezed out of the outer surface of the orange. RRM said that he finds juice made with a press to be a little bitter. If liquid is being pressed out of the skin, then antinutrients and pesticide residues are definitely making their way into my OJ in quantity on a daily basis. I don't like this idea, especially when it seems like I can't take a sip of OJ these days without feeling pressure increase under my eyes. I juiced a little with the electric and compared the taste to the pressed juice. The juice from the electric did seem to have a clean and sweet flavor compared to the pressed. I don't know if this was imagined or not, but the logic is sound nonetheless.