How to Make Your Slow Juicer Last Longer: 7 Mistakes to Avoid

This is the biggest mistake you can make—and one that's entirely avoidable.   Never use a knife, fork, spoon, chopsticks, or any other kitchen utensil to push produce into the feed chute. If the object slips around the produce, it can be pulled into the juicer, potentially damaging the auger, juicing screen, or housing. More importantly, it creates a serious safety hazard.  Always use the pusher supplied with your juicer. 

Cleaning your juicer immediately after use keeps it like new. Pulp that dries inside the juicing screen becomes much harder to remove. Regular cleaning also helps prevent buildup around seals and moving parts. A few minutes of cleaning after each use can save you hours of frustration later. 

Many people believe frozen fruit should never go into a slow juicer, but that's only partly true. Many horizontal juicers include a homogenizing screen, and many vertical juicers offer a sorbet screen specifically designed for processing frozen fruit. The important part is preparation. Frozen fruit needs to thaw for at least five minutes before processing, and should be fed slowly in small amounts. Trying to force large frozen chunks through the juicer places unnecessary stress on the motor and auger. Always follow the recommendations for your particular model.

Many horizontal slow juicers can make excellent nut butters using a homogenizing screen. This is a great feature of these types of juicers, but it's also one of the most demanding jobs you can ask the machine to perform. Nut butter creates significant resistance. Work in small batches, feed the nuts gradually, and avoid overloading the juicer. If your model isn't designed for homogenizing, don't attempt to make nut butter.

Ginger is one of the healthiest ingredients you can juice, but it's also one of the easiest ways to clog a juicer if prepared incorrectly. The long, stringy fibers can wrap around the auger and restrict pulp flow. For best results, cut ginger into small pieces before feeding it into the juicer. This is especially important with vertical slow juicers. Because all vertical juicers have relatively narrow pulp outlets, long ginger fibers can bridge across the outlet and cause clogging much more easily than in horizontal designs. Taking a few extra seconds to chop the ginger can make a huge difference.

Fresh, crisp carrots are easy to juice and produce excellent yields. Older carrots, however, often become rubbery and dehydrated. These carrots require much more force to process and place additional strain on the juicer while producing less juice. The small amount of juice you get isn't worth the strain on the juicer.

Coffee beans are extremely hard and abrasive. Although some juicers can technically grind them, repeatedly doing so creates wear that most slow juicers aren't designed to handle.  If you have a juicer like the Sana 707 rated to grind coffee, be sure to feed the coffee beans slowly.