[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I have never used a juicer before and I was not really sure what to expect, but I am very surprised on how easy the Hamilton Beach Easy Clean Juice Extractor is to use and clean up.
Assembly is a breeze with very few parts. The wide mouth of the juicer allows you to put whole, large, or multiple pieces of produce I in; and that saves a lot of time from having to cut and peel them. The wide mouth also allows you to clean the interior part of the mouth with a brush or sponge. It juices produce quickly as long as you use the low setting for soft produce and use the high setting for more dense fruits and veggies (apples, cucumbers, etc.). The juice extractor went through the fruits and vegetables like butter and did a good job at extracting the juice. The pulp was relatively dry and there were some larger pieces of the denser produce, which was a little disappointing. Some people run their pulp through the machine again, but it was dry enough that I do not think that would have been very productive. The instructions say to put a plastic grocery bag in the pulp collection bin to help with cleanup and that is something I do every single time. The pulp does tend to collect in the top of the juice extractor and not as much in the pulp bin. The amount of juice you get really is going to depend on the produce that you are using and not the machine. I have found things like watermelon produce a lot of juice while apples do not produce a lot (surprising to me!).
Cleaning is easy if you clean the machine immediately. Juices tend to be high in natural sugars and the sweet stuff will adhere to the parts easily. Hand washing the entire juice extractor took less than 5 minutes and the easy sweep brush really does make the difference in cleaning the machine. Water and a quick brushing gets almost all of the pulp off the machine, but you do have to make sure you get all the food particles out so that you do not develop bacteria or mold. I have not had this issue as I clean my parts right away with soap and water. The machine has dishwasher safe parts so you can easily clean them with the dishwasher, but I do recommend cleaning the metal blade part with the easy sweep brush first. The manual says NOT to use the sanitation mode on your dishwasher as the high heat will warp the parts.
We use the machine frequently and sneak vegetables into our kids diets easily. Win for team mom! We place the machine on our counter and we make all of our juices at once to save on clean up and prepping. The juice is stored in a regular pitcher jar or we make popsicles, which the kids love (hidden veggies in those too!).
Save yourself time whenever and wherever you can and Hamilton Beach defiantly makes sure this process is fast and easy with the assembly, processing and cleanup.
I received this product in exchange for testing and providing an honest review. I rely on reviews by real users before purchasing products and I hope my review has assisted you.