My family (myself included) do not eat enough fruit. I buy the fruit, it sits in the fruit bowl until it is no longer edible and then I throw it away. So I had been looking for ways for us to eat more fruit. I looked at some juicers and decided I needed one that you could put the whole fruit in, without having to mess around peeling and chopping, but I found that this type were quite expensive (£80 upwards). Then I saw the TV ad for the JML Juice Booster for £49.99. So off I went to Woolies to purchase one. It is also available from other stores and the JML website.
It came with a very colourful recipe book, with a few basic recipes and some information about the health benefits of different juices. The instruction leaflet is just one sheet with a diagram of the parts, basic instructions and safety warnings.
First of all I had to take it apart to remove some cardboard packing that covered the blade, I took all the pieces apart just to make sure that there was no more packing (it does not mention that there is cardboard over the blade in the instructions). It was very easy to take apart and then reassemble.
I started off by juicing some carrots, it is surprising how much juice you can get out of a carrot. Then I added an apple or two. The juice is collected in container, which is provided. The pulp (or most of it) goes into a residue collecter (also provided). I was quite surprised by how dry the pulp was, I expected it to be wet, but I suppose that is down to the 600w motor. The machine is quite noisy and made some quite loud cracks, I assume this was when the apple pips went through it. The carrot and apple juice was quite nice. My husband came in and he 'wanted a go' . He decided that he would like pomegranate juice, before I could stop him, he had put in a whole pomegranate, which went easily into the 65mm chute. Big mistake, it was so bitter, he put some sugar in it (very healthy) and an apple, it was still undrinkable. Some fruits you do need to peel, like oranges, grapefruits, kiwis and mangoes, and of course pomegranates.
When it came to cleaning the machine, it comes apart very easily, the pulp gets everywhere though, not just in the residue collector, they suggest that you line the residue collector with a plastic bag, but to be honest I think this is more trouble than its worth, because you still have to wash it. The instructions say that you can rinse all the parts (except the base with the motor in it) with warm soapy water, sounds easy enough, but the pulp sticks to everything and you have to use a sponge or a brush to get it all off, it is particulaly difficult to clean the blade system (best not to use a sponge for this, as it shreds it). There is nowhere in the instruction leaflet where it tells you if these parts are dishwasher safe or not, so I dare not put them in the dishwasher.
I have a small kitchen with limited workspace, so I had to shuffle everything around to fit the Juice Booster in, but I knew that if I put it away in a cupboard it would never get used. My family are happy to use this everyday, probably because they know that it is me that will have to clean it when they have finished. But at least I know we are all getting our recommended five a day.