Black & Decker CJ525 CitrusMate Plus Citrus Juicer
by Black & Decker
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List Price: Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Black & Decker CJ525 CitrusMate Plus Citrus Juicer
Customer Review: Have Citrus, Will Juice
Summary: 5 Stars
PROS: Two different sized reamers with sweepers, adjustable pulp basket, powerful motor, easy to clean
CONS: Can be unstable if you aren't careful during juicing.
DETAIL:
This is an incredible juicer for the price you pay. I bought this to replace the Cuisinart CCJ-100 Citrus Pro Juicer that I returned after 1 week of use.
For under $20, you get a generous sized pitcher with a nice wide spout, two reamers for different sized fruits, and a nice powerful motor to turn it with.
The reamer is self reversing, meaning it will change direction to squish as much of the fruit pulp as possible. The reamer also has "sweaper" blades on it that moves the pulp along the rim to ensure the juice flows into the pitcher and not over flow onto the counter.
you are able to select 3 different settings for pulp control. This is basically just selecting how large the holes in the juicing basket are to allow little to a lot of pulp to fall into the pitcher.
Clean up is easy if you do it quickly. You should rinse the reamer, the juicing basket and the pitcher as soon as you are finished or the pulp with dry out and clog the strainer. This will make it extremely difficult to clean after-wards, so do yourself a favor.
The only bad thing I can pick on this juicer for is that you need to use two hands. You will find that not holding onto the pitcher or base while juicing will make the entire appliance spin when you apply pressure with the fruit.
Otherwise, the Black & Decker is fast, effective, and a fantastic buy. I have had mine for more than a year now. The only problems that have manifested is the pulp indicator dye is starting to wear off. Mechanically, this machine is still going strong.
Customer Review: Juiced
Summary: 5 Stars
After much juicer research, I purchased the CJ525 with Cook's Illustrated's high marks being the deciding factor.
Unlike some reviews seen here, I've found this Juicer to have all the torque I need; whether it be grapefruit, various oranges, typical Meyer lemons or Persian limes- I've not had any issues.
My main concern was the ability to juice tiny Key Limes; would the reamers be too large to facilitate? Well, Yes and No... Yes, they are too large but using two hands to hold the Key Limes steady proved to work just fine. Not as comfortable as one-handed orange work but MUCH faster than a hand reamer which had become tiresome long ago. I wonder why I didn't buy this sooner, especially with all the time I've saved (zesting the Key Limes notwithstanding).
Regarding the pulp filter-- I typically do not rely on it and simply keep the filter wide open, which still filters the seeds. Afterward, depending on the context like Key Lime pies or Champagne Mimosas, I just pour the juice through a fine strainer and I'm good-to-go.
To sum up: This has provided much more torque than I expected, and I've pushed fairly hard. The price is lower than I was willing to pay and the juicer was a surprise considering I didn't expect Black & Decker to produce a decent kitchen appliance. Easy to clean too!
I've recommended this little guy to a good many food-friends.
Customer Review: Florida Girl with Citrus Trees Approved!
Summary: 5 Stars
This juicer is awesome. It is light and small in size which makes it not only easy to store but makes me willing use it all the time - no dread of lugging out some huge, heavy contraption. I live in South Florida and have a yard full of grapefruit, orange and key lime trees - this juicer does them all like a champ. With the two sizes of the juicing cone, one juicer takes care of all of my citrus. The strainer pops apart very easily and is a snap to clean with running water alone! You do not need to apply much pressure when using the juicer which allows you to juice many fruit in a row since your arm doesn't get tired. I love the adjustable pulp strainer - my husband likes lots of pulp, I like a little, and some friends just like the juice alone - no problem with this little workhorse. I also love that it gets all the juice out of the fruit - the fruit is dry after going on top of this machine! The juice flows right into the pitcher which makes it perfect for pouring right into your glass or into any other container - pitchers, plastic zip top bags, etc. I had looked and looked for a good juicer and most were expensive, bulky, hard to clean, etc. but not this great machine. I was skeptical since it is so cheap, but thought, "Well, what do I have to lose since I'm not spending much on it?" - now I'm in love with it. I'm such a fan that I just bought a second one to take to our vacation house!Customer Review: Great juicer - fantastic value
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great juicer, considering it's value, it's fantastic. It stands steadily on the counter while juicing any kind of citrus fruit, which it has 2 different size cones for. Other juicers I've tried failed to stand steady which is a major drag. It has 3 settings for pulp, little pulp and no pulp, assembles easily, cleans easily and quickly. It has a self-reversing reamer, that automatically changes direction upon to much pressure applied, and a stirrer, that circles to press down the pulp. This is a GREAT feature! I found myself holding the juicer while squeezing and stirring myself on other machines... wishing I had one more hand. With this B&D product, you'll juice 36 ounces in less than 2 minutes, which is what the container holds, an average of 5 full tumblers of juice. It also juices the fruit effortlessly and efficiently, leaving no flesh in the peal. The only downside I found is that the lid doesn't fit the jug once the strainer unit is removed. You would have to store it with strainer & lid in your fridge or cover it otherwise. Motor runs also steadily and quietly; I can only recommend this product. We use it every 2nd day, even our 2.5 year old daughter loves to juice, and I don't have to worry cause it's made harmlessly safe. 5 major stars!Customer Review: Black & Decker CJ525 CitrusMate Plus Citrus Juicer
Summary: 5 Stars
What a great little juicer! I've been using it daily for about a month.
PROs:
BLACK & DECKER: Always a good bet.
HEADS: It has two different sized heads. A small one for lemons and limes snaps into the strainer. It comes with a larger head that drops over the smaller one for use with oranges (I've also been doing 1/2 a grapefruit with it and it's functioned flawlessly!). The heads are serated at the top to help pull out all the juice.
STRAINER: The strainer consists of two parts. The top part holds the heads and has large slots for the juice to go through. The bottom part snaps under the top part and has three adjustments for the amount of pulp you want to allow through.
MAINTENANCE: Comes apart and cleans easily.
BOWL: is clear so you can see how much you've juiced. Handle is comfortable. Before you can start the motor, the bowl must be securely snapped in place on the base, keeping things from flying around the room. (In my kitchen, that's a big plus.)
CONs: The strainer and heads are made of light-weight plastic that doesn't feel very sturdy. The symbols indicating how much pulp you're letting through partially smeared off. Don't know what caused that.