Joining the Juicing Revolution

After just a couple of days playing with my new toy, I'm well on my way to becoming a juice junkie.  Quick; easy; delicious and good for you - what's not to like?

I've been sent the Philips Avance 800w to test out, and trust me, this bad boy puts my old puny juicer to shame.  He used to hide, neglected at the back of my kitchen cupboard, unloved and barely used.  It was such a hassle to take it apart, juice would seep into parts of the machinery it shouldn't.  Scrubbing it clean was a nightmare, I could never get those annoying bits of pith and pulp out of the blade and worse of all, I lost most of the juice it did make as it dribbled out the spout, by-passing the glass completely and pooling in a sorry, sticky puddle on the work-top.

Well not anymore!  So far, I have to say, my Philips Avance is living up to every claim on the box.  It's easy and intuitive to put together and take apart.  All the sections (apart from the motor obviously) go in the dishwasher and come out sparkly clean every time.  Juice doesn't go anywhere it's not supposed to, it all collects in the large 1.5 litre jug.

I love the extra wide chute, which will take apples whole meaning a huge reduction in prep time.  I was always put off juicing before, thinking I'd have to spend ages peeling and chopping fruit and veg, but with this machine you can chuck in whole fruits (citrus fruits have to be peeled first and fruits with hard stones need to be pitted such as plums and cherries, but still it's a massive improvement on my old one).

There are 2 speeds depending on the hardness of the fruit or vegetable, meaning you get maximum efficiency. I have read some reports of motor problems with this model, so I'll be keeping an eye on that and reporting back, but so far so good.  The pulp all collects neatly in the container, ready to scoop out into the compost, and what I noticed was how dry it is, which really shows that every last drop has been squeezed out.

Depending on what you're juicing, you can get a froth on your end result, quite a lot of froth sometimes!  However, the clever separator on the lid filters most of it off as you pour it into your glass for serving.

It's also quiet for such a large capacity, and stable on the worktop - no jumping about as it does the biz.  The size of the machine is ok - I did freak out a little at the size of the box which is mahoosive, but to be honest, it sits on my worktop and I intend it to stay there so I can use it daily.

Included in the package is a Jason Vale recipe book packed with over 100 juice and smoothie combos.  I can't wait to try some of these out and I love that my family has already massively increased our fruit and veg intake.

I've also spotted that Stephanie over at I'm Counting UFOs runs a Juicy Tuesday slot, so I'll be checking out her concoctions.   In the meantime, here are some snaps of what I've whizzed up so far...

Beetroot; carrot and apple juice AKA Beetlejuice - sweet, vibrant and earthy, I LOVED it, but then I love beetroot.  The Old Man was less keen, but then he hates beetroot.  He liked it a little more when I reminded him of the health benefits of the root of the beet, particularly for umm athletes and sportsmen.  Then he went all macho about his reduction in oxygen uptake and post work-out recovery time. Yawn.

Tangerine and green grapes AKA Tangerine dream -  I kept this fruity little number all to myself.  It was light and zesty, deliciously sweet and fresh. Could be improved by using slightly less manky bottom-of-the-fruit-bowl-fruit.

Watercress, celery, apple and watermelon AKA The Cresst of a Wave (I'm enjoying myself a little too much making these names up). This had the peppery hit of the watercress and the distinctive taste of the celery, but with the fresh summery flavour of summer from the cucumber and watermelon. Definitely felt like it was doing me good!

Come back and see more concoctions, and if you have any favourite juice combos I'd love you to let me know in a comment below.

Disclosure: I was sent this juicer for the purposes of this review.  All views and opinions are my own.