Back in November at Dr. Furhman’s Weekend Immersion, I picked up an Omega J8006 masticating juicer. I had wanted to take my juicing to the next level, and replacing my old entry-level Juiceman with a more powerful machine was the step I needed to take, though I was afraid that I would be dropping a rather sizable amount of cash on a fancy dust collector if my enthusiasm for juicing waned. So far, it has not, and I owe it in large part to this magnificent machine.

The Omega J8006 doesn’t just make excellent juice. I have also used it to grind flax seeds and coffee (though not together!), make almond butter, and extrude pasta. This multi-tasker has earned a permanent place on my counter, which encourages me to use it almost daily. My favorite juice at the moment is a mixture of kale (5-6 leaves), ginger (a small hunk), cucumber (4-5″ piece of English cucumber), 1 apple, celery (3-4 stalks), carrots (2), and the juice of half a lemon. I credit this juice in combination with topical coconut oil for clearing up my skin.

Like all machines, this one has its good and bad points, so for those of you shopping for a juicer here’s a breakdown of each:

Pros

• Produces a high volume of juice. Seriously, the ejected pulp is practically dry, so I know I am getting the maximum juice for my produce.
• Easily cleaned. I keep the machine right next to the sink, which makes it easy to dump the dirty parts in a sink of hot suds at the end of my juicing session. The included brush is the perfect size for ensuring that any little bits of food leftover are removed from the screen. I find cleaning this machine to be much easier than cleaning my old Juiceman.
• Fairly quite. Since the machine slowly pulverizes the produce, it lacks that horribly loud grinding sound of other types of juicer.
• Multi-tasks. I love that it makes perfect ground flax-seed in addition to excellent juice.
• Looks good. Just look at it! Isn’t it a sexy thing?
• Telling people you have a masticating machine is always good for a few giggles.

Cons

• Produce must be cut before juicing. There’s no shoving whole apples and carrots into this puppy. To deal with the extra work, I set up a cutting board on the counter right in front of the machine, making the work slightly more streamlined.
• Making pasta is hard because it sticks together as it extrudes. A friend (Hi Chris!) recently suggested that I set up the juicer over a pot of boiling water to prevent this, but I have yet to try it.
• Making almonds into butter takes many passes. First you get almond meal. Then you put the almond meal through again and again and again. Eventually it turns into butter, but it takes a while.
• It can get stuck if overfed, especially with seeds. The machine has a reverse gear to help it get unstuck, and over time I have learned where its tolerances are for various substances, but initially I found it annoying.
• One last thing–it doesn’t do citrus. I don’t really see this as a “con”,  but if all you want is fresh OJ, the Omega J8006 is not your machine.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is serious about juicing. The Omega J8006 is worth the expense and can make juicing a simple part of your daily routine for a fraction of what it costs to have someone else juice for you.