Centrifugal or Cold Press? How to Choose the Best Juicer

Walk past a Mexican juguería and you see the whole range of what a juicer can do: carrot and orange, beet with pineapple, a jugo verde that mixes cucumber, celery, pineapple and sometimes nopal. At home, a juicer gives you the same thing, a glass of juice pressed from whole fruit and vegetables a minute before you drink it, plus fresh pineapple or watermelon juice to stretch into an agua fresca.

The choice comes down to two kinds of machine. Centrifugal juicers spin fast, take whole apples and carrots, and fill a jug in under a minute. Masticating, or cold-press, juicers turn slowly, squeeze rather than shred, and handle leafy greens far better. This guide explains which kind suits the way you juice and names eight worth buying. For limes and oranges alone, you want a citrus press instead; we cover those separately.

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Quick verdict: which juicer to buy

If citrus is what you squeeze most, see the best citrus juicer and the best citrus juicer for orange juice. The machines on this page are for everything else.

Five juicers side by side

Our five standout picks, one for each kind of juicer, with the type, chute and motor each maker or listing states. All eight juicers are reviewed in full below.

Product images from Amazon. Types, chutes and motor figures are as stated by each maker or listing; check the listing before you buy.

Centrifugal or masticating: what actually differs

America’s Test Kitchen put four centrifugal and five masticating juicers side by side, and its findings make the choice clearer than any marketing does. Centrifugal machines were much faster, averaging about 39 seconds for a pound of carrots against about 1 minute 47 seconds for masticating ones, and they squeezed slightly more juice from carrots. Masticating machines got about twice as much juice from kale and a little more from grapes, and they were quieter, steadier and less messy.

On taste, ATK found “no differences in juice flavor or freshness between juicer styles.” Both types are work to clean; ATK says every juicer it reviewed “takes some elbow grease to clean thoroughly.” And whatever you buy, ATK found juice dulled and darkened over a few days, and does not recommend storing it for longer than two days.

So the short version: if you juice hard produce such as carrots, beets, apples and pineapple, and want it fast, buy centrifugal. If you juice greens, celery or nopal, or juice early while others sleep, buy masticating.

Our picks for the best juicer

Eight juicers, three centrifugal and five masticating, from established juicer makers. All were in stock on Amazon when we checked.

How to choose a juicer

Start with what you juice, then think about how much time you will give it each morning. These are the factors we would weigh.

1. What goes in the glass

Carrots, beets, apples, pineapple and cucumber suit a centrifugal juicer. Kale, spinach, celery, herbs and nopal suit a masticating one; ATK found slow juicers got about twice the juice from kale. Limes, lemons and oranges on their own are a job for a citrus press, which is faster and easier to clean than any extractor.

2. Prep time and the chute

A 3-inch or wider chute takes whole apples and carrots. Classic slow juicers have small chutes and need produce cut into pieces; self-feeding hopper models like the Nama, Kuvings and Hurom take larger loads but still have guidance on how to cut hard produce.

3. Cleanup

Every juicer needs washing straight after use, before pulp dries on the screen; ATK says all of them take some elbow grease. Look for dishwasher-safe parts, a cleaning brush, and fewer parts overall. Strainer-free designs like the Hurom H400 are built to make this easier.

4. Noise, space and speed

Centrifugal juicers are fast and loud; slow juicers are quiet and take a few minutes per glass. Vertical models stand upright and save counter space, while horizontal slow juicers are long.

5. Warranty and safety

Slow-juicer makers often give long warranties, 15 years on several picks here, while centrifugal models usually carry 1 to 3 years. Juicers have fast blades or strong augers and interlocks for a reason: always use the pusher, never your fingers, and check the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recall list before buying a used machine.

How we chose these eight juicers

We started with what a Mexican kitchen juices: carrot, beet, pineapple, orange and the green blends of a juguería, plus fruit juice for aguas frescas and drinks. We then looked at centrifugal and masticating juicers from established makers sold on Amazon in the United States and in stock when we checked, and took type, chute, motor, speed, pulp and cleaning features and warranty from the makers’ Amazon listings and websites, saying so where a figure is missing.

For performance we relied on America’s Test Kitchen’s electric juicer review, which named the Breville Juice Fountain Cold and the Omega VSJ843QS its winners. We left out models it did not recommend, including a Mueller centrifugal juicer it called dangerously unstable. We also checked the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recall notices for each brand; the juicer recalls we found were old, such as a Hamilton Beach recall of earlier models, and none covered the models listed here. We do not make health claims for juice, and we have not repeated makers’ claims about nutrients. We have not used these products ourselves; where we describe performance, we say whose findings those are.

Juicer questions, answered

What is the best juicer for home use?

For fast juice from hard produce, the Breville Juice Fountain Cold, ATK’s top centrifugal pick. For greens and quiet, steady juicing, the Omega VSJ843QS, ATK’s top masticating pick. If you want to load a whole recipe and walk away, look at the Nama J2.

Which juicer brands are best?

Breville makes ATK’s top centrifugal pick. Omega, Hurom, Kuvings, Nama and Tribest are the established slow-juicer makers, and Hamilton Beach and Cuisinart make budget centrifugal models. In ATK’s review, a Mueller centrifugal juicer and two Tribest slow juicers were not recommended.

Is a masticating juicer better than a centrifugal one?

It depends on what you juice. ATK found no difference in flavor or freshness between the two types. Masticating juicers got far more from kale and were quieter and less messy; centrifugal juicers were much faster and slightly better with carrots.

What does America’s Test Kitchen recommend?

ATK’s electric juicer review names the Breville Juice Fountain Cold best centrifugal and the Omega VSJ843QS best masticating, and recommends several others with reservations. We have not quoted Consumer Reports, Serious Eats or Wirecutter because we did not read their current juicer reviews for this guide.

Can I use a juicer for aguas frescas?

Yes for watermelon, pineapple, cucumber or melon juice that you then lengthen with water and lime. Most traditional aguas frescas are blended and strained instead, which keeps more body; see what aguas frescas are and the best fine-mesh strainer for that method.

How long does fresh juice keep?

ATK found carrot juice dulled and darkened over four days whichever juicer made it, and does not recommend storing juice for longer than two days. Keep it covered and cold, and drink it soon.

Our final pick for fresh juice

Buy the Breville Juice Fountain Cold for fast juice from carrots, beets, apples and pineapple, or the Omega VSJ843QS if greens are your main ingredient and you value quiet. Choose the Nama J2 or Kuvings AUTO10 for hands-free slow juicing, and the Hamilton Beach Big Mouth to try juicing on a budget.

For lime juice for margaritas and orange juice for breakfast, a citrus press is still the best tool; see the best citrus juicer. For a pitcher of horchata instead, see the best horchata mix, and for blended drinks and salsas, our separate best blender guide.

For full-size blending jobs, from salsas to horchata, see the best blender.

Juicing ginger shots? See our guide to the best juicers for ginger.

On a budget? See our guide to the best affordable juicers.

Want a slow, cold-press machine? See our guide to the best cold press juicers.

Related guide: Best steam juicer.

Related guide: Blender vs juicer.

And if you would rather someone else did the squeezing tonight, see our drinks and the menu, or call to order.