Can you use a Blender as a Juicer

If you’re someone who doesn’t own a juicer, but you do own a blender, you might wonder if you can use a blender to make juice.

Normal question, right. Well, it’s not as simple as a yes or no. So let’s break it down.

Can you use a Blender as a Juicer : And Why Would You?

Let’s get this out of the way first, since it is the point of this blog post. Yes, you can use a blender as a juicer.

A more complicated question, which we will tackle a bit later, is should you use a blender as a juicer.

But back on point. You can use a blender as a juicer if you’re dead set on juicing but don’t own a juicer.

It will be messy. The juice won’t be anywhere as good as what you get from a juicer, but you can do it.

It all comes down to filtering. If you use a blender as a juicer, you’re going to have to figure out how to strain the juice from the pulp.

But, first, why do it this way? Why bother using a blender as a juicer when a blender is deigned to do something completely different?

Is it a question of money? Well, I would suggest saving up and buying a juicer eventually (they’re not that expensive). Here’s a good write up on the best juicer for beginners.

If you’re just trying to do it once as an experiment, than have at it. But, if you’re planning on making juice on a semi-regular basis, I would strongly advise against using a blender as a juicer.

How to Make Juice with a Blender?

So know that I’ve said you can use a blender instead of a juicer to make juice, just how does that work?

Well, the first thing to understand is that you can’t really use a blender to juice leafy greens. They are too tough to juice in a blender. It’s because of their fiber. The same thing goes with carrots and beetroot and other hard vegetables.

However, I have seen people use a blender to make juice with berries, and apples, and even a turmeric juice.

The main process involves blending fruits or soft vegetables in the blending jar past the point of a smoothie and really trying to liquefy them.

Next, you pour the blended up fruits and veggies through a fine mesh strainer. What comes through is your juice.

Now, I will agree that this method is not the most productive, but if you don’t own a juicer and you want to make juice then it’s what you’ve got.

Some people take it an extra step and pour the liquid through cheesecloth. That’s an even finer method of straining the liquid out and getting a nice juice.

The way in which you use cheesecloth to make juice is really messy. Basically what you do is take the cheesecloth and place it over a glass and then slowly pour the liquid that you get from the strained blender juice through it. There are even videos of people doing this on YouTube.

Honestly, I don’t get why you’d go through all of the trouble. If it’s just a one time thing to do out of curiosity, then that’s fine. But if it’s something that you are going to do on a routine basis, well I can’t get behind that. It’s just too much effort for too little result, plus it’s super messy.

Can You Use a Ninja Blender as a Juicer

If you are planning on experimenting and trying to use a blender as a juicer, it helps to know what sort of blenders will work as juicers using the process described.

My personal go to blender for all around easy blending is the Ninja. So, obviously I wanted to discuss if you an use a Ninja blender as a juicer.

Yes. With the understanding that you have to go through the elaborate straining process described above. You can use a ninja blender as a juicer.

The catch with using any blender as a juicer relies on how well they blend up fruits and vegetables. The blender has to really be able to blend up the ingredients into a very liquidy like consistency. And the Ninja works pretty well at that.

My concern and my caution in using a Ninja blender (or any blender for that matter) to blend and juice is that you are going to have to over-blend.

Anytime you overblend, you’re creating unnecessary heart. That heat can and will destroy nutrients. That’s why a juicer is designed differently. The best juicers are slow press juicer that squeeze juice out using cold press technology.

So, it’s better to try making a juice with a blender as long as that blender is strong. The stronger the blender, the better. It will be able to blend up the fruits or soft vegetables easier and with less heat created.

The higher end Ninjas, as well as the  Vitamix and Blendtec blenders are capable of this. I’d avoid trying to blend up a juice with lower cost store models. You’ll just burn out your blender motor trying to get the stuff to liquefy.

 

Can You use a Blender to Juice Celery

Not really. As much as you might want to try it, I’d strongly advise you against attempting to juice celery with a blander.

The problem with juicing celery with a blender is that celery is just too fibrous and tough of a vegetable. It’s something that simply can’t be juiced adequately using a blender.

You really can’t even blend up celery in a smoothie unless you’re using a high end blender such as a Vitamix. And even then I would stronly advise against it.

If you want celery juice, then you’re going to have to get a juicer. There is nothing that will work besides a masticating juicer for celery. The reason is that celery is such a tough vegetable to breakdown.

So, no, you can’t use a blender to juice celery. Stick to soft vegetables and fruits. But better yet, buy a juicer.

What Can You Use If You don’t Have A Juicer?

If you don’t have a juicer, I would suggest you either buy your juice freshly made from a juice bar or else buy a juicer.

There is really no point in trying to make juice in a blender other than as a curiosity. It’s just too messy and the result will not be good.

And it’s not even going to approximate what real fresh juice will taste like if you do buy yourself a proper juicer. Even if you don’t have money for a cold press juicer, a regular juicer is going to be vastly superior to a blender when it comes to making juice.

My suggestion would be to get a small cold press juicer if you’re serious about juicing. They have come down in price in recent years.

You’ll never be able to get a proper juice from a blender, much like you’d not be able to get a smoothie from a juicer.

There is a time and a place for green juices, and turmeric juices, and straight lemon juice shots. And you’ll need a juicer to get them.