DASH Juicer Review

• Chrome base
• 800 watt motor/ 120 volts
• Suction feet on base to eliminate sliding
• 2 Juicing Speeds
• 3-inch feed tube

It also comes with a small brush for cleaning  the mesh around the blade, which I love.

At first I was really intimated by this thing when I took it out of the box. So many parts! It’s so big! But after reading the manual for a few minutes to see how to put it together, it was so simple to figure out. It does take up a lot of counter space, but now I use it more than my blender, so I put the blender aside and made room for the juicer.

Now, how does it work? I suppose you could throw whole vegetables in it, but I’m careful and I don’t want to burn out the motor, so I chop my whole carrots in half, peel and slice my orange in half first before putting them in. So far, so good. I also discovered that juicing greens first (like spinach and kale) produces way more juice than putting them in last (not sure why?) so I’ve started doing that.

The only minor flaw I’ve found is that sometimes it leaves whole chunks of fruit in the pulp container–wet pieces. Which means they could have potentially been juiced, but I think the blade shoots the chunks up to fast they just fly in..maybe there’s a way to prevent this that I’ll discover soon.

Another thing I must mention is the cleaning process. Some people say cleaning is pain. But as long as you clean the parts right after you juice, you’ll be fine. Sometimes they just need a rinse with soapy water and its good to go. It takes me less than 10 minutes to clean it after I make my juice. Even the instructions tell you to clean the juicer before you drink the juice, as a reward. I have time to make a juice before work and that’s saying something!

I’m 100% happy with my juicer! Many would say juicing is expensive–all that fresh produce. But, I want to eat healthy anyway, and buying healthy food is expensive. I’ve come to accept that and adjust my budget accordingly. I find cheaper produce at Trader Joe’s (organic whole carrots, bags of organic spinach and kale) cheaper anywhere then I’ve seen. These don’t need to be organic of course, but they were decently priced so I went with it.

Now, what to do with all that extra pulp? It has a lot of healthy fiber and nutrients, so I don’t like to let it go to waste. I made pulp crackers first, but they didn’t turn out how I’d like. Next, I tried “compost muffins”. After googling what to do with leftover pulp, I came across a recipe for muffins made with it. I was a bit skeptical at first. But if you know me, then you know if it’s healthy, I’ll try it. They actually came out great!

So there you have it. My first experience with a juicer! I’m happy. I see this thing in my future for a long time.

Green Breakfast Juice

Ingredients

1/2 bag of spinach
2 large handfuls of kale
5 whole carrots, ends removed
1 apple, sliced
1 orange, peeled and halved
5 large strawberries

Instructions

Put ingredients into juicer–and enjoy this fresh, healthy and delicious juice. And yes, it kept me full until my mid-morning snack!