a few more comments on breville ikon juice fountain
I have not yet received my juicer because I did not order it from Amazon. I’m military stationed overseas, and Amazon will not deliver to me, despite the address being no more costly than any other destination (the military ships all mail from New York with no additional postal charges).
It seems like a great product, but I’m disappointed that Amazon can’t figure out how to ship it to me. People get tires and vacuum cleaners shipped here through good ole US Postal Service, but Amazon can’t ship me a juicer.
The JE-95XL is everything it is advertized to be, fast, easy to take apart and clean, efficient, and very well crafted. I was even impressed with its packaging. I compared it to another juicer on TV and some store bought juicers under $200.00. None of them compared in product quality or price to the Breville. I chose the late shipping method from Amazon.com and got the Breville for $104.99., brand new. Thank you Amazon.com, I will be back.
Sandy
I purchased this model and had it for 2 or 3 weeks. Used it 4 times and the motor burned while juicing apples on the 4th use. I purchased it from Caplan Duval in Montreal (buyer beware) and was led to believe since I’d had it such a short time, I could return it and pay for the upgraded 800JEXL. After talking to a different salesperson, I was told I would have to have it repaired or I could contact Breville and ask them to exchange it for a 800JEXL. I am waiting on their response but will not be holding my breath. Very very unhappy with Caplan Duval’s service as well as the poor quality of the Breville JE-95XL motor. I’ve since researched the internet and found this to be a recurring problem with this model.
The juicer is good. In most cases it extracts nearly all of the juice from fruit (as determined by how dry the pulp is). However, I recently juiced some citrus, and it left a significant amount of juice in the pulp. I admit that it might have been due to operator error, but I don’t know what I could have done to fix the problem since the speed was set according to the directions and I fet the fruit in slowly. Overall, we are pleased with the machine.
I’ve juiced for years, and have owned the Juiceman II practically since its introduction. It was simply time to ‘upgrade.’ So, while my experience is not extensive (among different machines) I do have a reference to a much less expensive juicer.
Noise: Centrifugal juicer’s are loud. If you have a problem with that, don’t buy one. Both the Ikon, and the Juiceman II are going to pre-empt your afternoon talk show playing on the countertop TV.
Aesthetics: If this is important to you, the Breville really does look regal sitting on the countertop. I would have liked the acrylic pieces to have been a darker smoke color (carrots are notorious for staining acrylic), however, I take pains to clean it, and the stainless sparkles. The Juiceman II is clear and white plastic.
Pulp: The Breville pulp “feels” about the same moisture content as the Juiceman II. This certainly isn’t a scientific approach, however, my fingers are handy — a moisture meter is not. However, I do notice that the pulp from the Breville is definitely not as consistent as the Juiceman II. The Breville’s pulp includes chunks of most dense vegetables/fruits I toss in there, while the Juiceman II never has had that issue.
Feeder: The Breville’s feeder is a round 3″ wide mouth. Very nice — less cutting prior to feeding. The Juiceman II has a smaller crescent shaped feed tube… more cutting prior to feeding. HOWEVER, that being said, the Breville’s feeder sits directly over the center of the strainer/pulper, whereas the Juiceman’s feeder is off to the side. Think about it: which will cut faster/more efficiently… the slower moving center of the strainer/pulper, or the outer edges which spin at a much higher rate than the center? It’s a no-brainer.
Function: Using the above feeder logic, we come to the essence of the review. Is it efficient? Does it charge through veggies and fruits? Does it do the job extracting maximum juice? The simple answer is eeehhh… kinda sorta. Now, I’m biased, since most of my juicing includes carrots, apples, pears, and chunks of ginger root. Due to the centrally located feeder on the Breville, you have to sometimes apply some serious pressure to get those multiple carrots through, and you can actually hear the motor struggle and slow down. The Juiceman II, with its side-feeder blows through carrots with NO effort, with a much less powerful motor than the Breville Ikon. Come on, Breville. It’s simple physics. Wake up! The Breville, with its powerful motor, does do a good job of centrifuging what juice is available from the pulp. However, again, it doesn’t seem to do any better a job than the much older, much less powerful, much cheaper, Juiceman II.
Finally, I gave the Breville 3 stars, even though I really, really wanted to like this machine. And, one of those stars is because it’s so pretty (but after a week, who really cares?).
Would I recommend it to a friend, or would I buy it again? Probably not.
Read the product info, purchased it, set it up and started juicing. It is a solid juicer. YOu have to peel oranges, and prep the mangos etc.. but very solid, heavy, of high quality. Very pleased. AND BONUS BYPRODUCT: I lost 5 pounds almost right away, I use the pulp, dont throw it away. Mix it with yogurt, smoothies, will fill you up in a hurry and it is good for you. You WILL NOT be hungry for a long time after gettingthru a bowl of yogurt mixed with the fruit pulp from the juicer.
Clean up is not so bad..overall, very pleased with the product.
This machine is powerful enough to mow through hard veggies like beets and carrots. It is easy to clean up (usually takes me about 3 or 4 minutes). It is attractive enough to leave out on the counter, and it seems very well designed. This is our first juicer so we don’t have others to compare it to, but it does exactly what we were hoping it would do. We have had it for about 3 weeks and have juiced every morning except once since receiving it. I look forward to it every morning!