Philips HR1861

INTRODUCTION

I came across a hugely inspiring documentary earlier in the year which focussed on the impressive benefits of drinking fresh fruit and vegetable juice. I purchased this juicer a few weeks after watching it as I felt that juicing would benefit me. I gathered up lots of recipes and so on and started to research juicers. I initially wanted a cheap one, but invested in this one as I knew that I'd get plenty of use out of it. I bought this in early February and have been using it almost daily as it's so simple to use. It makes juicing even the most awkward-to-juice food (eg spinach, cucumber etc) quick and efficient and although it does obviously need cleaning after each use, I find this quicker than using manual citrus juicers or blenders, as you simply drop the whole fruit in and the fresh, vitamin rich juice is ready within seconds! It also allows me to effortlessly juice vegetables and fruits such as kale and carrots that without a whole fruit juicer would be pretty impossible to juice!

PRICE, VALUE FOR MONEY & AVAILABILITY

This juicer is widely available both online and offline, and a variety of shops including Argos, Curry's and Debenhams sell it. I bought mine from Amazon as it was signifficantly cheaper on there than it was in the shops - I got mine for £60 and the RRP is around £79.99. This is mid-range for a juicer - it's certianly not top of the range and all singing all dancing like some of the more expensive £200+ juicers are, however as I wanted a basic juicer I am quite happy with the price I paid. The cheapest juicer that I came across when I was looking into buying one was thirty pounds, but I decided to pay a little extra to ensure that it would be a durable, sturdy and long lasting/good value for money product. Although this is a pretty basic machine compared to some, it does what I need it to do effeciently. It's good quality, durable and it produces smooth, pulp free juice. I've had mine since February and it looks as good as new, so I really do think that sixty pounds was a bargain!

THE BENEFITS OF JUICING

- Increases your consumption of fruit & veggies considerably. I often juice 6 carrots and a whole cucumber and drink the lot within 20-30 minutes. Can you imagine how long it would take to EAT that lot?!

- Gives your body a hit of nutrients, minerals, antioxidants and enzymes that are easily absorbed, resulting in better overall health

- Helps rebuild and regenerate healthy cells and tissue, resulting in clearer, softer skin, shinier hair, clearer eyes and so on

- You can introduce a wider variety of fruit and vegetables into your diet

THE JUICER & MY OPINION

This is a whole fruit juicer meaning that the food preperation time is minimal - I don't need to peel or chop a majorty of the food that I use this to juice, however with fruit such as plums and dates, it's important to de-stone them so that the stone does not block up the mesh filter. I don't worry about de-seeding or peeling most fruit/veg as it has a filter that prevents seeds etc from coming out the other end. I do always peel fruit with a thick skin such as bananas, oranges, lemons, mangos and so on, but this is mainly because I don't want the taste of the skin in my juice, not because the juicer can't cope with it. The juicer has a 700 watt motor and two speed settings. It is quite basic in design but because it's made of shiny silver stainless steel it has a kind of 'sleek' and 'modern' look to it. The colour scheme is versatile and simple enough not to clash with kitchen decor - it's silver with black detailing, and as far as I am aware this is the only colour scheme available. I was a little concerned about it being silver, as scratches, finger prints and dirt show up easily on pale colours, however this is actually made from anodised aluminium which won't mark or stain, which I think is great and I can confirm that there are no visible marks or scratches on mine even after so much use! The juicer looks fine on my kitchen worktop and you can tell that it is good quality just from looking at it.

The juicer is pretty neat as it is quite tall rather than being overlly wide, so it doesn't take up too much counter space. I was a little concerned that it would be too tall to fit on my kitchen worktop as we have wall cupboards directly above the work top, but luckily it is quite a compact machine. I keep mine in one place so don't need to worry about the weight of it/how easy it is to move about etc, but it is worth noting that at around 5kg (unboxed) in weight, it's not the most lightweight of machines, however if you did need to move it around frequently for whatever reason, it wouldn't take too much effort either. The juicer comes packaged securely in a cardboard box. An information/instruction manual is included, which is very in-depth and easy to understand. It covers everything that the owner needs to know, such as how to set it up, the features, basic health and safety warnings, information on the various attatchments, information on how to clean it and so on. A free recipe book (RRP £13) is also included. I wasn't expecting the book to be much good with it being free, but it's actually really informative with some fabulous tips and recipes.

I was initially quite overwhelmed by the number of different parts when it came to setting up the juicer, however by following the simple instructions, I soon figured it out. After owning the juicer for a number of months and getting used to it, I find that it is very simple to set up, it's just a matter of attaching the different parts which takes me no more than a few minutes. There is a micro mesh filter which is easy to fit and remove, an extra large feeding tube, a filter and a pulp container which holds up to 2 litres of pulp. A cleaning brush is also included, which I find very handy when it comes to cleaning the gunk off of the walls of the juicer and the feeding tube. There's also a 1.5 litre plastic jug which slots under the juice dispenser spout perfectly meaning no spills or waste. The jug has a foam seperator which goes on top of it (like a lid) once you have a full jug of juice, which comes in handy with watermelon as it foams/frothes up a ridiculous amount for whatever reason! I usually drink the juice straight out of the jug which is handy and it obviously reduces washing up as I don't need to pour it into a glass. All of the parts are dishwasher safe which is always an advantage and they wash well - no issues with staining etc. I've found that a good way to reduce the amount of cleaning after use is to line the pulp collector with a plastic food bag.

Once the juicer is set up, it is simple to use. Make sure that your juice collecting jug is below the dispenser spout, turn the juicer on, choose the speed (1 for soft fruit/veg, 2 for hard fruit/veg) and then insert the fruit into the feeding tube, pushing it down with the plastic cylindar tube. The juice will almost immedietly begin pouring out into the jug. The juicer is pretty loud, but it never sounds like it is struggling or like it might explode at any second! Unlike a blender, this does not vibrate noticeably, although if I put my hands on either side while it's on, you can feel that it's working. The juicer will only work when the two bits on either side are pushed down securely, which is good as obviously this prevents it from being turned on by accident and therefor avoiding any accidents. Once you've juiced your fruit and veg, simply remove the detatchable parts, eg the filter and pulp collector. This takes no time at all as the parts aren't fiddly. Once removed, simply pop them into the dishwasher.

The juice that comes out of the juicer is always smooth in consistency; no bits of pulp or anything like that. If you juice more than one fruit/vegetable, like I often do, then the juice will layer, which does not look particulary appetising however a quick stir soon fixes this. The juicer copes well with whole oranges, whole carrots etc but I usually cut apples in half to avoid 'over working' the juicer, as I am paranoid that hard fruit could damage it, even though that is highly unlikely. The juicer does well at getting every last drop of juice out and the pulp left behind is always bone dry. I can extract around 350ml of juice from two large oranges which I think is a decent amount - much more than I'd get if I was using a citrus juicer. You will be suprised how much pulp you are left with if you juice regulary and if you have a garden I'd reccomend composting it to avoid waste.

OVERALL

I love this juicer! It is so easy to use and it juices fruit and vegetables perfectly; the juice is always lovely and smooth and I find that this is a great way of getting plenty of fruit and vegetable juice into my diet. My current favourite juice is cucumber, carrott and spinach juice - it tastes nicer than it sounds! I overall reccomend this juicer - it's brilliant value for money, efficient and it's very durable too. It looks good, does what it's supposed to do well due to the strong motor and it is easy to clean as the parts are dishwasher safe. Five out of five stars from me!