Table of Contents
Juicing has a reputation of being just for the rich because of the perceived notion that juicers are expensive.
Well, it is true to a certain extent when you consider that a lot of good quality slow juicers cost over $300.
The Fagor slow juicer, however, is different.
It costs under $100 and still comes with a 5-year warranty.
Update (9/21/2016): Fagor does not cost less than $100 as I had originally said in this review. Right now it costs just a little over $160, but it still comes with free shipping.
On the whole juicer! Crazy isn’t it?
This is the cheapest one I’ve reviewed thus far.
Let’s see how it fares based on consumer reviews.
Features at a glance
- Capable of juicing leafy greens, fruits, soy, almonds and much more
- Ultem auger and screen
- Comes with a pulp catcher, juice jug and cleaning brush
- 5-year warranty on the whole juicer
The good:
- Very affordable (possibly the cheapest slow juicer right now in the market)
- Reasonably quiet
- Equipped with an Ultem strainer and auger (8 times harder) which means you can use this everyday
- Has excellent warranty for the price
The Bad:
- Produces a pulpy juice
- You need to pre-cut fibrous ingredients like celery, so it does not clog
- No sieve or strainer included
- No juice tap that prevents messy drips
What to expect from the Fagor slow juicer?
At first glance, it seems to be solid. It comes with an Ultem strainer and auger, which means you can use this every day.
Also, it has a 5-year warranty on all the parts which at this price range is very good.
Fagor does not specify how big the feed chute size is but based on the video reviews; I’m guessing it’s around 3” x 2” with a half circle shape which is pretty decent considering that Omega’s is around 2.25” x 1.25.”
This will work best on…
…A mix of fruit and vegetable. Like all vertical auger juicers, you need to mix in hard fibrous ingredients with the softer ones so the hard ingredients will help push out the softer ones.
This is important to maximizing this juicer.
Some consumers complained about this not performing well on leafy greens, but you’ll need to remember that this isn’t designed to juice solely leafy greens but a mixture of leafy greens and harder produce.
For fibrous ingredients such as celery, you’ll need to chop it to 1/4 even 1/8 inch chunks, so it doesn’t clog the pulp ejector.
It shouldn’t take too much time plus the time you save de-clogging is worth it.
Here’s a Fagor video demonstrating how to make green juice…
It does not come with any blank plate attachment, so you can’t make homemade peanut butter or sorbets.
This is strictly a juicer.
How long can you store juice?
Since this only uses 80 to 90 rpm, there is very little oxidation so that you can store juice for a couple of days max.
If you don’t have the time to prepare every day, you can make a large batch and store it in a glass container, refrigerated for 48 hours, so this reduces the time needed to prep and wash.
How much preparation is needed?
Fagor says that you’ll need to pre-cut ingredients into 3-inch pieces, and based on the video reviews I see, feed chute is roughly 3” x 2” so you need to pre-cut fruit like apples and oranges.
Also, you’ll need to pre-cut stringy vegetables like celery because failing to do so will clog the ejector port and wrap around the auger which is a common problem for these types of juicers.
How much juice can be extracted?
Yield will be comparable to a Hurom HU-100 because it has a similar style strainer and auger.
This will extract more juice compared to a traditional centrifugal juice extractor, particularly with leafy greens.
Is it hard to clean up?
The most difficult part to clean up here is the juicing screen but it comes with an oversized toothbrush that will help in removing pulp from the strainer.
It will take less than 5 minutes to clean this under running water, a little bit more if you’re OC like me and clean it thoroughly with a sponge and dishwashing liquid.
Noise
Compared to a centrifugal extractor this is much, much quiet.
Check out this video on the difference in terms of noise…
Voltage
It’s only available in 110-volt variant so folks living outside North America will need to buy an AVR to use this.
Motor
The motor only uses 150 watts which does not consume too much electricity and rotates the auger at a slow 80 to 90 rpm.
Dimension
- 6.2” x 15.1” x 10.5” (width x height x depth)
- Weighs just 9 pounds
Warranty
It comes with 5-year warranty on the motor and parts. Pretty good at this price range.
Product specification
| Feed chute size and shape | Half circle approx. 3" width x 2" height |
| RPM (revolutions per minute) | 80-90 |
Ultem auger  |  |
| Ultem strainer | |
| Blank plate attachment |  |
| Sieve/strainer | |
| Type | Vertical auger juicer |
| Juice vegetables? | |
| Juice fruits? | |
| Cant it make nut butter? | |
| Can it make sorbet? | |
| Can it grind coffee | |
| Can it process food | |
| Warranty | 5 years on the whole juicer |
| Voltage | 110-volts 3-pronged |
| Motor | 150 watts |
The package includes
- Motor base with handle (On/Off/Reverse functions)
- BPA free juicing bowl
- Ultem juicing screen
- Ultem auger
- 35oz juice catch cup
- 35oz pulp catch cup
- Instruction manual
- Recipe booklet
- Cleaning brush
Where is this manufactured?
Fagor does not specify where this product is manufactured.
Consumer reviews
Despite some complaints which I’ll get to later on, consumers were quite happy with the performance of this juicer on a variety of produce items like apples, spinach, kale, carrots, etc.
They were able to extract a good amount of juice that is pulpy but remember that almost all vertical auger juicers will produce the most pulp.
This can be resolved by using a sieve that costs a few bucks. It would have been better though if Fagor would have included it in the package.
There were some complaints though about clogging, particularly with vegetables like spinach and kale.
You’ll have to pre-cut these ingredients into smaller chunks because these are quite stringy and fibrous which will clog the pulp ejection port. Also, avoid feeding too fast because it will clog the auger and jam the motor.
The biggest plus for consumers was the price.
A lot of them couldn’t afford the more expensive Omega VRT so they “settled” for this but they were pleasantly surprised with the performance. You just need to follow certain guidelines to maximize this.
Price
The best price I found online was in Amazon, which is a little over $115, around $40 cheaper than Walmart! It also comes with Free Shipping!
Conclusion
This juicer is great for folks looking for an inexpensive slow juicer that will be rugged enough to handle daily juicing.
Both the strainer and auger are made from the GE Ultem material which is 8 times harder and will be able to handle the wear and tear.
There is a learning curve that you’ll need to pick up in order to maximize and make the most out of this juicer.
That includes chopping fibrous vegetables into small eight-of-an-inch pieces, alternating hard and soft ingredients and making sure the last ingredient you put in is a hard one like a carrot so it pushes all the pulp down.
It comes with a 5-year warranty on all the parts!
So you don’t have to worry about the long term viability of owning this. Nice touch by Fagor, considering this is considered a “budget” juicer.