Juicer vs. Blender – What’s the Difference?

Blenders and juicers are two of the most common kitchen appliances that one would expect to find in any home.

But while their names indicate what they are meant to do as the juicers are designed for juicing while blenders are for blending foods, the differences between the two are not always that obvious to everyone.

Also, these appliances will differ in much more than their intended use. In this piece, we compare them side by side to help you decide what to buy or what to use in different situations.

Juicer Overview

Photo: Borosil

The popularity of juicers has been on a steady rise over the years as more and more people embrace healthy living.

This simple kitchen appliance is designed for juice extraction which means it allows you to drink the good elements from your fruits and vegetables instead of having to cook or eat the whole vegetables and fruits.

Juicers deliver a nice and smooth juice with no pulp blended in unlike the blenders. Hence, with a juicer, you get a drink that is gentler on your digestive system. Also, it will be quick and easy to absorb which then makes, the juices perfect for an instant energy boost.

These appliances will come in various types such as the centrifugal and masticating juicers that operate using different mechanisms and are ideal for different uses.

Most top quality juicers can process even the most fibrous foods like carrots, ginger, and kale. Hence, with one around, you can extract juice from almost every kind of fruit and vegetable.

But, like any other appliance, juicers come with their fair set of drawbacks. Key among them is that most of the food is not processed, and so a lot of edible food is wasted. Also, the juices you get will not contain fiber and some antioxidants.

Pros:

• Makes easily digestible juice
• Delivers a high concentration of vitamins and nutrients
• Allows for easier nutrient absorption

Cons:

• Huge portion of the food is wasted
• Juices will not have fiber

Blender Overview

Photo: Betti Jane

Blenders are the more traditional way of getting fluid from fruits and vegetables and have been in use for much longer than both juicers and food processors.

As the name suggests, these kitchen appliances are designed to blend and mix everything you put in them, and they are great when you need to make some nice fruit smoothies. But they also work great for green leafy vegetables.

A typical blender will feature a fast-spinning blade that will achieve speeds of at least 10,000 rounds per minute. And with this sharp and fast-spinning blade, the blender can chop down everything which ensures there will be no waste.

Better yet, with a blender, you will get smoothies that not only have the important nutrients and vitamins but also the natural fiber and antioxidants. The fibrous smoothies will take relatively longer to absorb than the juice you get from a juicer which means you get sustained energy release for a long time.

Overall blenders are easier to clean and maintain since they are often just simple machines that have a more open design and fewer parts. But, with blenders, you will not always get consistently smooth food if you do not have the right settings. And overall many models and this is more, so the cheaper ones tend to burn out relatively faster.

Pros:

• No food wastage
• Preserves fiber to aid in digestion
• Blended food is rich in antioxidants
• Blenders tend to be easier to clean
• More affordable

Cons:

• Blended food is not always consistently smooth

Comparison Chart

Juicer vs. Blender

It is not uncommon to hear some people use the terms blender and juicer interchangeably. And this is often because the two machines serve a similar purpose which is to extract juices from fruits and vegetables.

But besides using different methods to bring out the juice or smoothie, these appliances also differ in several other aspects and below we explain them in more detail.

1. Common Types

As you try to decide whether to buy a juicer or blender, it is always good to start by understanding the different types of each available in the market. This way you can easily tell what to expect from either appliance.

Juicer Types

Juicers are the relatively newer appliance of the two, but they seem to be becoming more popular than the blenders. And there are now more types of juicers in the market than there are blender types.

You can get juicers in four main types which are the cold-press or masticating juicers, centrifugal juicers, twin-gear or triturating juicers and the hand-crank juicers.

The hand-crank juicers are the more basic type and can only juice particular vegetables and fruits while the centrifugal is the most common type. Cold-press juicers are famous for their high-quality and high-volume juice yields while twin-gear juicers are very effective at preventing juice oxidation.

Blender Types

Despite being the simpler appliance of the two, blenders are still available in different types to ensure that users also have options. And the two main types are the immersion and countertop blenders.

Immersion blenders are the small, handheld types that will require you to immerse them into a container with the ingredients to be blended. The countertop blenders are those that will have their jug and hence do not require immersion, and they also have relatively stronger motors.

2. Main Functions

To make sure that you know which appliance between the juice and blender will work best for you, it is important to know the main functions of each.

Juicer

For the juicers, things are more straightforward because there is nothing much you can do with most models besides extracting the juice from fruits and vegetables.

Hence, these are not very versatile appliances. But, they make up for what they lack in versatility with efficiency as they will extract almost every ounce of liquid from the fruits and vegetables.

But, all hope is not lost for juicers when it comes to versatility as some models will also double up as blenders which makes them more versatile.

Blenders

Blenders, on the other hand, are the more versatile appliance of the two and can be very resourceful in and around the house.

You can use one to blend your ingredients to make a nice smoothie or even just mix different liquid ingredients to form the smoothie. Also, blenders are great for making coarse and chunky pastes, pureeing and some models can even be used to crush ice.

Read More: The Best Blenders for Ice

3. How it Works

Another crucial element that you need to know about these appliances is how they work because this determines how easy they will be to use and whether they will give you the results you are looking for.

Juicers will include mechanisms for both crushing and squeezing out the ingredients. When you add fruits or vegetables to your juicer, they will be directed to a chamber where they are crushed into smaller pieces before being squeezed to extract the juice. The juice is then passed through a sieve that separates it from the pulp.

With blenders, the ingredients will be added to the jug or container if you are using the immersion types. Once you power the blender or immerse it into the container with the ingredients, a single blade will then rotate at high speeds to chop and mix the ingredients into a nice smoothie, and there will be no pulp to separate here.

4. Typical Capacity

The capacity that you get on your blender or juicer will depend on the specific model you are buying as both are available in small and large sizes to suit different kinds of users.

For blenders, most models will have a capacity of anything between 4 and 8 cups, but there are still many models out there with a smaller or larger capacity than this. And with the immersion types, there is almost no limit to the quantity you can blend at a go provided you have a large enough container.

When using a juicer, the capacity will only be limited by the size of the cup that you are extracting the juice into and how fast you can load up the ingredients on the other end.

5. Waste

If wasting food is a big issue for you, it will be better to stick with the traditional blenders as they can blend food without wasting anything.

With blenders, the ingredients that you add to the jug will all be chopped down and mixed into the smoothie. And because there is no pulp to remove, there will hardly ever be no waste at all.

Juicers, on the other hand, tend to be very wasteful as they always leave behind pulp since they only remove the liquid in the ingredients. Worst yet, this pulp will contain important antioxidants and fiber which means your body will miss out on them.

6. Ease of Cleaning

Cleaning is part of owning most appliances, and so as much as you might hate it, you cannot avoid it. Hence, the best you can do is to make sure the appliance you buy makes cleanup after use easier.

Between these two appliances, the blenders will give you a much easier time since most will have removable and dishwasher-safe parts. Also, there are relatively fewer parts on the blender which means they will generally give you an easy time.

Juicers, on the other hand, will often give you a harder time as they do not always have dishwasher safe components. Also, juicers will typically have narrower chambers that will need keener cleaning than blenders.

7. Cost

Both blenders and juicers are available in budget and high-end prices. And given the wide variety of options for both on the market, you can get either for almost any budget you might have.

With that said, juicers tend to be the more expensive appliances of the two with typical models averaging at around $70 to $150. However, it is still possible to get some inexpensive and basic hand-crank models for as little as $40. But some high capacity juicer models with more advanced features will cost thousands of dollars.

Blenders are more basic appliances that are even more widely available than juicers and are hence generally also more affordable. You can get one for as little as $20, and even if you prefer the fancier models with some amazing features and greater versatility, you will hardly still ever spend more than $300 on one.

Conclusion

Blenders and juicers are both great kitchen appliances to have around, and you will even find both in many homes given that they are ideal for different uses.

But, if you find yourself in a situation where you can only choose one, you will be better off if you keep their key differences in mind like how they work, what each is best for and their prices.

For recommendations, the juicer will be perfect if you are looking for something to help you make some nice juices full of minerals and vitamins and the capacity to give you an instant energy boost.

Blenders will be perfect for anyone that wants to add some extra fiber to their diet with some nutritious smoothies and are also looking for a more versatile kitchen appliance. And for those that want the best of both, a dual-purpose or blender-juicer combo machine is perfect.