Looking for a new juicer? We've found a great choice from Braun

Juicer has been getting a bit of bad press of late, but so long as you don’t overload on super sweet, sugary juices, it’s still a great way to add nutrients into your diet, particularly if you’re not a fan of whole fruit and veg. The Braun J700 has an RRP at £190, but can often be found for below £150, which might still sound a lot, but with some of the best juicers costing several hundred pounds, I think it’s pretty reasonably priced.

This is a centrifugal juicer, so it uses a high-speed grater to chop up the fruits and vegetables, then the pulp and juice are separated by a spinning sieve. And unlike the big bulky plastic juicers, this one has sleek curves and a modern stainless-steel finish, for a more grown-up look.

I’ve been trying it out in my home for a week, so read on for my full lowdown on whether it’s easy to clean and easy to use. More importantly I’ve noted how much juice it can extract, how it tastes and whether the juice is smooth or pulpy. And I’ve been reviewing some other models at the same time to compare the results, so read on to see how this one fares.

Braun Identity Collection J700 Juicer product specs 

• Centrifugal or Masticating: Centrifugal
• Material: Stainless steel
• Capacity: 1.25 litre juice container, 2 litre pulp container
• Feeding tube: 75mm
• Power: 1000 Watts
• Weight: 4.54kg
• Dishwasher safe: Yes
• Other features: Two speeds, drip stop, froth separator

Who reviewed this juicer

Helen McCue

After completing a Home Economics degree, Helen went on to work for the Good Housekeeping Institute and has been reviewing home appliances ever since. She lives in a small village in Buckinghamshire in the UK and Braun loaned her the juicer for two weeks for the review. 

 Unboxing

Happily, this Braun juicer comes out of the box fully assembled and ready to go. I just had to remove a few protective plastic bags. And what’s more, all the rest of the packaging is cardboard that can go straight into my recycling.

I like the brushed stainless-steel finish, which looks more high-end than most juicers. And I’m happy to see a large feed chute, so I won’t have to do too much chopping before juicing, which is always a welcome realisation.

The waste pulp container is huge and it slots neatly into the back of the juicer so you barely notice it, but at the same time it’s easily removed for emptying without having to take the juicer to pieces. I also like the two big side clamps that hold all the juicer parts in place. They make assembly very simple and avoid the annoying twisting and turning that’s usually involved when trying to slot juicer parts together.

Pressing just above the spout tilts it backwards to stop drips while you’re not juicing. And there’s a two-in-one washing up brush and bottle brush included in the box to help with cleaning.

First impressions 

It’s not the biggest nor the smallest juicer I’ve reviewed, yet it simultaneously has a large capacity while retaining a beautifully sleek and streamlined appearance that‘ll look at home in contemporary kitchens. Before I’ve even handled it much though, I can already see that the stainless-steel exterior is starting to mark with smears and fingerprints.

There’s enough space beneath the spout to place a glass if you’d prefer not to juice into the jug. Though the advantage of the jug is that it has a built-in froth separator, so less of the foamy stuff will end up in your glass. Plus it’s lidded so what you don’t drink can go straight into the fridge for later.

A switch on the side offers two juicing speeds and a table in the manual gives some guidance on which speed to use for common fruits and vegetables. The instructions contain all the need-to-know basics, but this isn’t a manual jammed with recipes and juicing ideas.

It does have rubber feet to help keep it in place but the main body isn’t as weighty as some others I’ve reviewed. So when it’s first switched on, particularly when using the higher speed, it does jolt and move position slightly on the worktop, thankfully though I didn’t notice it moving during use.

Making apple juice 

I juiced four medium sized red apples, dropping them down the feed chute completely whole, stalks and all. I followed what the manual recommended and juiced them on the higher of the two speeds. I had to insert the pusher after each apple and push down gently to coax them through the juicer, but it still managed to juice all four apples in under a minute. At 82dB it was about as loud as a blender.

It produced a sweet, pink, cloudy apple juice, with a slight powdery mouthfeel from some tiny specs of apple that had made their way through the sieve. But all-in-all a very tasty glass of juice. The froth separator kept the worst of the foam in the jug, though some still made it into my glass.

I weighed the apples before juicing as well as the amount of juice extracted, so I was able to work out that it turned 72% of the apples into juice, meaning only 28% ended up as waste pulp. This is a very good yield and puts it amongst the top yielding juicers for apples.

Making orange juice 

The guidance in the manual says that citrus should be juiced on the lower speed, so I peeled my oranges, left them whole and popped them in one-by-one. They were all juiced in just 20 seconds but I think the speed may be the reason for the low 54% juice yield - that’s 46% waste -  which is a lot, especially when you consider that the oranges were already peeled.

Although foamy, the juice was very smooth, with no pulp at all and it had a vibrant, tart orange flavour. It wasn’t quite as noisy as juicing apples, but still around 78dB, though since the process was so quick the noise really didn’t bother me.

Making a vegetable juice 

I juiced up a mixed vegetable juice consisting of carrot, celery, spinach, and ginger. Thankfully there was very little prep to do, just top and tailing the carrot and cutting a chunk of ginger in 1cm thick slices. I juiced it all on the higher speed setting directly into my glass which took around 30 seconds.

It was a murky brown juice with some orange foam on top, the yield was 51% which is pretty average in comparison to other juicers I’ve reviewed. The juice itself was quite sweet, indicating that it was probably mostly carrot, though it did have a punchy ginger kick. The texture was enjoyably clear and smooth, without too much froth and it made it into my glass without splashing everywhere.

Upon inspection of the pulp container, I could see whole spinach leaves and a couple of big chunks of ginger, so it clearly didn’t cope with these ingredients as effectively as the carrot and celery, wasting quite a bit.

Juicing raspberries 

The instructions say berries are only suitable in mixed juices, however raspberries are listed next to tomatoes and cucumber as suitable for juicing on speed 1, so I thought it was worth a try. I had a 300g pack of raspberries, so I poured in the lot.

It took about 45 seconds but really it was a complete disaster. I only got 62g juice which is a pitiful 20% and considering the cost of raspberries these days, it’s not something I would repeat in this particular juicer.

Cleaning 

As I mentioned at the start of this review, the sides do mark with fingerprint smears, especially around the control knob and the clamps. But I found buffing it with a lightly damp tea towel was a fast and effective way to rid it of the smears.

All the parts are dishwasher safe, which is a relief, though I’d advise hand washing the fine mesh filter to remove the fibers, because if your dishwasher’s anything like mine it won’t come out fully clean.

It does all take up a fair bit of space in the dishwasher though and if you’ve only made a small amount of juice, running it through the dishwasher might not be necessary. I washed it all by hand several times and the brush included in the box is useful for getting into any hard-to-reach spots.

It’s also worth mentioning that it’s been designed to make cleaning relatively easy. For example, the froth separator is removable for easy cleaning of the jug and similarly the juice spout disassembles so you can give that a thorough clean.

Comparisons 

If you want a juicer that can cope well with all fruits and vegetables, the Magimix Juice Expert 3 is a great all-rounder. It has a citrus press attachment and can cope much better with berries, it can even puree banana for smoothies. But at £250 it’s more of an investment so if you’re not going to be using it frequently, it might be hard to justify the higher price tag.

Alternatively, the Philips Viva Centrifugal Juicer offers better juice yields, plus at under £80, it’s much cheaper and it’s super compact too. But it looks and feels like a budget model in comparison to the Braun, which has a sturdier and more sophisticated appearance.

Should you buy the Braun J700 Juicer?

This is a juicer that works best for harder foods like carrot and apple. It’s not the ideal choice if you’re looking to juice citrus, leaves, and berries, so if you’re looking for an all-rounder, I’d say there are better options out there.

However, if you want a juicer for occasional juicing and having a neat, streamlined appearance is high up on your priority list, then the Braun J700 with its curvy stainless-steel exterior will probably fit the bill. What’s more, it appears to be well made and it’s not a bad price either – just stick to those hard fruits and veggies for best results.

About this review, and the reviewer: 

As part of our commitment to how we test, Helen reviewed this juicer alongside three others for Ideal Home, so she could make informed comparisons on speed of juicing as well as juice yields and ease of use. She’s consumed more than her fair share of juice for this review, but don’t worry, she made sure she supplemented the juice diet with plenty of pasta and cheese to keep things in balance!