Breville 800JEXL Juice Fountain Elite, Brushed Stainless Steel

I prefer the Vitamix, even though the Vitamix is not a juicer. This is the best juicer made for home use. Well made, and well constructed. It has two speeds. One for hard fruits and vegetables, the other for soft fruits and vegetable. The red button shuts it off. It is easy to clean. I highly recommend it.Okay, I am going to revise my review.Before you buy a product, the most important reviews to read are the ones that rate a product the lowest. I have only used my juicer a dozen times. Fruits and vegetables are expensive, so the real cost of a juicer is not the juicer but the cost of stuff you put into it.I personally had no problem using the this juicer. I thought it made juice quickly. I didn't have a problem with juicer leaking like others here have.After reading the one-star reviews, I conclude the following: Breville has poor customer service. This machine only has a one-year warranty compared to much longer warranties given by other manufacturers. Some people like the cheap $90 Jack Lalaine juicer better than than this one. Some people have a problem with the spinning, cutting disk getting dull after very short use.I bought this juicer to make a drink called "Happy's Special" sold at Julio's Juice Bar and Natural Foods Emporium. The drink is made from carrots, beets, apples, cucumbers, celery, spinach, ginger, and garlic. I would add parsley, a splash of lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. I juice the beet stalks. This juicer does a good job making this drink which I really can't make in the Vitamix. I add ice to the Vitamix when I make Happy's Special. Julio's adds no ice, and serves it warm.I learned you have to add the garlic and ginger in a shoot full of fruits and vegetable or they will shoot back up the shute or shoot into the pulp container without being juiced. I find that my pulp is relatively dry. I wouldn't use this juicer for juicing soft fruits like blueberries or tomatoes. I think the Vitamix does a much better job on these.Here are some other recipes from Julio's:Valencia: Carrots, beets, and orangesHappy's Special: Carrots, beets, ginger, garlic, celery, parsley, spinach, and apples, cucumberCucumber Summer: Cucumbers, pineapple, and celeryImmune Zoom: Carrots, beets, celery, ginger, garlic, lemons, and orangesClean Sweep: tomatoes, pepper, carrots, celery, and dash of tabasco sauceV-6: Carrots, beets, celery, spinach, tomatoes, and parsleyRuby Red Juice: Carrots, beets, and celeryGreen Goddess: Celery, parsley, spinach, cucumbers, cilantro, romaine lettuce, apples, and limesFantasy: Beets, carrots, kiwi, and blueberryHappy Days: Carrots, beets, and apples.Julio's use a centrifugal juicer to juice carrots, and maybe beets. I am not sure about the beets. He pours the carrot juice (or carrot-beet mixture) into a Vitamix. Then adds the rest of the fruits and vegetables. Whole oranges, apple quarters, pineapples, and blueberries should be "juiced" in the Vitamix. You can even juice a certain amount of carrot in a Vitamix. It is just that carrots (and most likely beets) have too great a ratio of fiber to juice.I would only juice the carrots and beets. You probably lose too much expensive fruit and vegatable in the Breville.I would "juice" the apples, pineapple, ginger, garlic, spinach, and cucumbers in the Vitamix. I think you can juice celery in either machine. I would chop the celery up into one-inch lengths before I added it to the Vitamix because it is stringy.I feed food into the Breville as slowly as I possibly can. The faster you feed food into a juicer, the less efficient it becomes. Just because you can juice a dozen carrots and a apple in a few seconds does not mean you have to do so. I wrap one of my hands around the Breville plunger to prevent my other hand from feeding food too quckly. I literially feed in food as slow as I possibly can, allow the blade of the juicer to do all the work. Remember slower feed means more juice, and less waste.Google Julio's Natural Food Emporium to get a list of their great smoothies. I especially recommend their: Tantra, Planet Energy, and Wai-kee-kee

This is my first juicer. I've been using it a month and a half, at least once daily and sometimes 3x daily. Smart and sturdy as an Apple product, I had my first juice within five minutes out of the box! And, it's elegant and heavy like a Kitchen Aid mixer so I leave it on the counter.I opted for a juicer over smoothie/combo and other options because I already have a blender that works fine for smoothies. I chose the Breville Elite because of the stainless components and from watching videos demos that confirmed written reviews around the web. Those videos gave me an honest simulation and the $300 price tag was in my budget.Typical recipe for me includes: carrot, beet, kale, celery, cabbage, ginger, apples, lemon, lime. I seem to get a little more juice when its on high than low (but I use both, depending on what's going into the feeder) and I like the foam, so don't mind a little more of that on high. Beets will stain things, so the no-drip juice catcher container is brilliant! I've only had a few drops escape and that was when I was disassembling for cleaning. Now, I tip it up into the container before unclipping the pieces. You'll understand that comment once you use it:)Prep and clean up are quick. Seriously, I'm done with prep, juice and clean up in 15 minutes. By using hot water and cleaning up immediately (usually while I'm drinking the juice) the unit is ready for my next meal. No dirty dishes in the sink. I love it. I put the non-motor parts through the dishwasher once a week with other dishes. Otherwise, just hot water and a little soap.The basket is the ONLY piece that takes some elbow and special tool. The brush that comes with it works great and I just throw it in the dishwasher too.Would & have highly recommended this specific Breville juicer to lots of people. From my experience so far, I'd absolutely look at Breville again for other products.... and I'm pretty sure the prices are the same as Amazon for new products.Lastly, I'm now among the converts to juicing. My energy and outlook is up, allergies down and weight dropping. Sorta like driving a hybrid - it also feels fantastic to contribute daily to a better, healthier planet.