estrattore

Juicer or centrifuge?

Estrattore o centrifuga?

Everything you need to know to choose the appliance that best suits your needs

Do you love fruit and vegetables, want to improve your diet and are thinking of starting to prepare homemade juices ?
So you've surely asked yourself the fateful question: is a juice extractor or a centrifuge better ?


There are now many models of both of these appliances, but so much variety can also lead to a bit of confusion and indecision. Let's clarify then, and try to understand what the main differences are between the functioning of the centrifuge and that of the extractor. You will see that then you will no longer be undecided about the purchase to make!

How a centrifuge works and how an extractor works: the differences

Both the extractor and the centrifuge can be used to obtain juice from almost all types of fruit and vegetables. However, the two appliances work in very different ways.

The centrifuge separates the liquid part from the solid part, that is, the juice from the pulp, thanks to the centrifugal force from which it takes its name: the fruit or vegetables cut into small pieces are inserted into the appliance, where a basket equipped with metal blades, rotating at a speed between 6,000 and 18,000 revolutions per minute, breaks the cells of the food and releases the juice. This is filtered by the basket itself, but depending on the model and the filter, some pulp residue may remain. To do all this, the centrifuge takes about 2 minutes, and is therefore quite fast .

The juice extractor, on the other hand, processes fruit and vegetables according to a different principle, with movements more similar to those of our chewing: it is the auger in fact, with its spiral shape, which by rotating helps the separation between juice and pulp, together with the filter.
The processing speed of the extractor is lower than that of the centrifuge : the motor usually has a speed between 80 and 40 revolutions per minute depending on the model, but this is a good thing because the slowness helps to keep all the nutrients present in the food intact .
Typically, a juicer can take 5 to 10 minutes to fully process the fruit or vegetables, but in this time, compared to a centrifuge, it actually manages to produce more juice and is therefore more efficient .

But beyond the differences in operation, what is the final result? What is the difference between a centrifuged juice and an extract? Are there additional functions of these appliances?

Extracts, smoothies and what else?

As we have said, both with the extractor and with the centrifuge it is possible to process many types of fruit or vegetables. But if with the centrifuge your options stop here, with the extractor you can instead indulge yourself !
Not only that, depending on the filter used, you can change the consistency of the juice produced; you can also make purees , sorbets , vegetable milk , ice cream or smoothies . There are so many possible recipes!
With the extractor you can also process seeds (for example pomegranate seeds or flax seeds), and obtain excellent performance even with all leafy vegetables .
In terms of the final result, the centrifuged juice normally tends to have a more foamy part on the surface and to have different levels of colour and consistency, while the extract appears full-bodied and uniform.
Juice made with a centrifuge should also be drunk immediately or at least as soon as possible, within the day, to ensure that the nutritional properties of the food are not lost, while juice made with an extractor can be kept for longer, generally a couple of days or even longer with the appropriate conservation kits .

In short, in conclusion the juice extractor lends itself to a much more versatile use than the centrifuge, giving you the possibility of making not only simple juices, but also other preparations and working with any type of fruit and vegetables.