"Don't I Need a Special Juicer?"

by Ellen McGlynn

The number one question customers have asked me over the years as they’ve begun to contemplate their use of wheatgrass is, “Don’t I need a special juicer?”  Yes, it’s true, not all juicers are created equal, and wheatgrass does require a special kind of juicer—one with a smooth auger as opposed to a serrated one, and definitely not a centrifugal juicer.  The good news is that your options today are far greater than they were 10 years ago, and I personally found my dream juicer about four years ago.  I will not bog you down with all the finer points of the many juicers available on the market today; that’s all been done a thousand times over on professional juicing websites.  My purpose here is to tell you which product I have recommended to my customers for years with the assurance that I have personally only heard positive things about this juicer’s performance.

The all-purpose Omega 8005 Nutrition Center (sleek in black and chrome but also available in white) has been my ideal kitchen companion in so many ways and has also served me on a commercial level for rigorous juicing events.  It is still ticking, I am still in love with it, and I am still finding new uses for it.  If this were not a machine, I would marry it!   It operates quietly in comparison to other juicers on the market, cleans most easily (a HUGE selling point for me), and assembles/disassembles quickly.  When I’m done juicing (which can be up to several times a day), I just rinse the parts and set them to dry in an attractive colander near my sink.  When I run my dishwasher, the parts are right there for the grabbing.  Cleanup could not be easier!

The 8005 model has now been upgraded to an 8006, though I cannot see any difference in features other than a heavier duty auger and an upgraded warranty (and from what I have read, Omega truly honors their warranties).  The downside of the Omega 8005, and now the 8006, is its upscale price.  Because of its all-purpose abilities (it can juice fruits, hard vegetables, fibrous greens including wheatgrass, and even make spaghetti), you will be making an investment in a mid-priced juicer (roughly about $250-$300) rather than throwing out cash for a less durable machine with limited capabilities and perhaps even annoying qualities.  Trust me; spend the extra money on the Omega Nutrition Center because this gentle workhorse is well worth the price.  My other juicers have been banished to the closet ever since this handsome package arrived.
 

For those of you who are willing to spend above and beyond the middling range, I urge you to seriously consider whether or not bigger is really better.  I have had customers who were deeply satisfied and even amazed by their more expensive Green Star products, reporting  greater juice extraction than what I was experiencing with my Omega, but the differences were just not enough to make me want to spend a couple hundred dollars more, even for my commercial needs.

So there you have it:  the Omega 8005 Nutrition Center.

I hope you have found this endorsement helpful.  Good luck and happy juicing!