Jack LaLanne JLPJB Power Juicer Juicing Machine
by Jack LaLanne
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List Price: Our Price: $78.92 You Save: $41.07 (34%) Availability: Usually ships in 2-3 business days Buy Used: from $49.90 (click here) Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Jack LaLanne JLPJB Power Juicer Juicing Machine
Customer Review: not perfect, but an excellent value (plus regular vs deluxe)
Summary: 4 Stars
Overall I think it's a great juicer, particularly for the budget conscious novice; the price is appealing and the quality is good. There is no need to buy disposable filters and the main source of labor lies in washing which is initially something to get used to. The amount of juice it extracts is good as far as I can tell, though the pulp is not perfectly dry*, but the juice is thick and not clear, so if you want very clear juice perhaps this juicer isn't for you.
*Now for my explanation on the pulp. Apples for example, frequently result in very thin slices being discarded into the pulp collector. That doesn't thrill me. Also in general, despite the pulp being dry, I discover on dismantling the juicer there's a good amount of wet juicy pulp that's stuck to the inside (think: apple sauce). The TV demonstration's somewhat misleading on their claim of this juicer's superiority in extracting juice completely from fruits and vegies.
As mentioned by others, the parts are plastic, so take care in washing well. For me the green side (scour pad) of the sponge will remove a great deal of the staining, especially if you clean it right after using, but be gentle, because you don't want to scratch it up and create more crevices for stains to seep.
By the way, you do still need to cut the fruit, like large apples and oranges which cannot be fed into the chute. But of course, the preparation process is lessened as peeling and de-seeding is an optional step. Be careful when you use this juicer on harder veggies like beets, though. The way I get around this is by cutting them down and alternating with another type of veg/fruit. Fortunately I haven't had any problems by following the suggestions outlined by the LaLannes, but I can definitely sense there's a limit.
REGULAR or DELUXE?
Soon after purchasing my regular model I found the deluxe at the local wharehouse store for the same price. I bought that one, too, and compared. I discovered there is absolutely no difference in the machine itself. The deluxe simply comes with extras, which boils down to figuring out whether you find the price difference (if there is any) worth paying for the following:
- an extra blade
- a brush (very useful in cleaning the strainer, but a very generic kitchen tool)
- large measurement cup (again, useful, but generic and superfluous if you juice directly into your glass)
- juicer platform and overflow platform (these would be better if they latched onto each other so there's some stability and utility)
- an extra blade-remover
- a bonus book entitled TOTAL JUICING
Customer Review: Well-made workhorse
Summary: 4 Stars
We got this juicer 2nd-hand from our son when he was moving. He'd used it for several years before us. We've had it a year now and use it constantly as we both have health problems that are helped with raw veg. juice.
My husband did all the work for the past year, but he recently had to work out of town. This means I've had to learn to use this for myself.
I'm normally a "reader" and read every manual before operating. Needless to say, being the 3rd person in the chain after two men, there was no manual.
This juicer is very easy to learn and use. The juicer is faster if you cut larger fruits like apples into quarters.
I wish I had read Joe the Engineer's review before using mine for the first time. I'd filled the chute, turned it on, and nothing happened except a burned-up motor smell. I pulled the plug, took everything out, and turned it back on. I was relieved and pleased to see it still worked. I put some veggies in, and they juiced right up! I can certainly see the quality of the motor from this. And it's still working fine with daily use.
My husband always rinsed this right away after juicing. However, he only scrubbed the blade and strainer with the included brush. I was shocked to see the fine filmy stain on the inside of the plastic parts. I've been working on scrubbing these off with the green plastic side of the sponge, but it's hard work. If you wipe all surfaces with a soapy sponge right after juicing, you can eliminate this. It won't take you much longer to clean it in this way, and you will keep your juicer from staining.
There is an orange handle that comes with the juicer that is used to spin off the blade. My husband warned me to not tighten the blade on too tightly--just a little. I have followed this warning with great results. The juicer juices just fine, and the disassembly for clean-up is easy.
We had a Vita-Mix juicer years ago, and this is much easier to clean.
Customer Review: Happy overall
Summary: 4 Stars
Overall I'm very happy with my new juicer. I have made a new juice every day since I received my juicer (2 weeks now). I only have 2 mild complaints: 1) wish it were less of a hassle to clean (I clean after every single use-it takes up my entire counter when it's apart, and I worry that pulling apart so many pieces so frequently will put too much wear and tear on it quickly) and 2) I wish the spout was higher on the machine (as it sits right now it's really low on the machine, leaving you to use about a 6 -8 oz. glass under it-the recipes given are almost all larger than that, so you either have to figure out how much juice each plant provides and divide to make smaller portions or do what I do and use your hip to hold a larger cup up at an angle underneath the spout and pray it doesn't slip).
I love the recipes that come with the juicer, and I love how this machine is helping me get more fruits and veggies in my diet. I'm excited to try something new every day, and already have quite a few favorites. The juices leave me full long through the day, so I'm cutting back on "bad" calories and replacing with healthier calories. Now if only they would publish a book with recipes JUST for the pulp left behind so I would consume those important fibers as well (or maybe a book that gives a recipe for juice followed by a recipe for the pulp left behind from that particular juice).
I'm willing to bet that most of the complaints I've read are from people who didn't read and/or follow the directions given in the beginning of the book. I do worry about there being so many all-plastic components though....here's to hoping my plastic screw doesn't crack.
P.S. yes you can buy the accessories separately from Jack Lalanne Power Juicer web site.
Customer Review: It dose what is says it can do.
Summary: 4 Stars
It will do anything that has a consistency even remotely close to an apple. Any of your solid fruits veggies, carrot, cucumber, beat, kohlrabi, potato, fennel anything like that. Now it dose have some draw backs, the screen gets clogged on a regular bases, the entrance mouth thoe nice for hole things dose not like small stuff. Parsley for example needs to be put in densely or waded up, even then there is still a good about of pulp from small stuff you put it. The pulp that comes out if farley dry, but when the screen gets full the pulp is typical of low end centrifugal juicers.
Now here is what I like, IT'S QUIET!!!, no really you can actually use an "inside voice" while juicing (a vary pleasant surprise that, that was true), POWER it's got power to spare the base IS the motor, one big induction motor. It has not slowed down excessively yet, not one time. From what I've used in the past it's short comings are made up buy how easy and fast it is to clean. I only juice about a glass at a time so this may not apply to you... but for me it takes every bit of 8 minutes to clean AND dry after juicing total. All you got to do is use the sprayer before it dries up. Also it seems to be holding up to stains, but again I fully clean it soon after juicing.
I've seen many juicers and had a few my self, this is not the best one but for around $100 it not a bad deal for moderate home use.
Customer Review: Surprisingly, it is as advertised
Summary: 4 Stars
Joe-South Carolina
I purchased this unit for our house to make juices,smoothies etc. for the family.
Being an engineer, I am immediately skeptical of EVERY product on an infomercial but decided to order this one ONLY because of the sentence in the comercial where Jack states that "if it is made by man- don't eat it".
With that said, I was expecting something "cheap" and junk and was pleasantly surprised.So far, mine has had almost daily marathon usage and been washed, steam cleaned and put thru the dishwasher in excess of 100 times now.
The unit is very well made, and really does make a lot of juice.
There ARE some "things" the prospective purchaser does need to know.
This unit has several safety interlocks on it- you MUST assemble it correctly and aligned or it will NOT power up or the cutter will bind.
you need to clean the cutter with a toothbrush because water does not always get all the pulp from the small holes( if they clog, it will simply pulverize the object and not juice it)
Do NOT put over-ripe fruit or banannas in it( see above-it is in the manual- but I didnt read it until after I did it)
Lastly, you MUST start the unit and let it come to speed before inserting any fruit- this normal because any high RPM low voltage motor sacrifices torque for RPM's