Omega VRT350 Heavy Duty Review

In a recent BBC article, studies show that “eating seven or more portions of fruit and vegetables will prolong your life”.

This is two more than the previously recommended 5 portions.

But how in the world do you get all of these fruit and vegetables in your diet without stuffing yourself?

FYI, just in case you didn’t know how much is a portion.

A portion is around “150ml glass of unsweetened fruit or vegetable juice”, that’s according to the guidelines of NHS.

With the VRT350 from Omega, it will be easier to get enough fresh vegetable and fruit into your diet with its patented two-stage slow juicing system.

Features at a glance

• 10 year warranty on the whole juicer
• 150 watt motor
• Both auger and strainer are made from Ultem that make this suitable for everyday use
• Auger rotates at a slow 80 rpm, minimizing oxidation and foaming
• Comes with a cleaning brush
• Dual stage system extracts more from produce
• Three settings – on/off and reverse (just in case it gets clogged)
• 2.5″ x 1.5″ crescent shape feed chute
• 15.5″ tall
• BPA free

The good

• easy to clean
• 10 year warranty
• not very expensive
• self-feeding
• Ultem strainer and auger will last for years

The Bad

• no juice tap or strainer included
• there is a need to chop fibrous ingredients into shorter 1 inch chucks so it does not clog the pulp ejector
• Takes time to make juice
• No stopper that prevents drips when you turn this off

What to expect from the Omega VR350HD?

How does this work?

When you drop in an ingredient like carrot, it gets crushed with a blunt blade and juice is extracted, that’s the first stage.

Pulp then gets squeezed into a tighter and tighter space until the auger extracts most of the juice out. That’s the second stage.

Pulp that comes out is one of the driest I’ve seen among all the juicers in the market with the exception of a press juicer but those are really expensive.

This means that you’ll get more from the same amount of produce which will save you money in the long run.

The great part is you’ll get the most nutrition in your diet because it is done using a low rpm.

What does “heavy duty” mean?

This means that the screen and auger used is made from crack resistant ULTEM.

If you’re not familiar with ULTEM, it’s a grade of plastic that’s stronger. And would be able to withstand the grind of daily use.

This will work best on…

All sorts of vegetables and fruit like apple, cucumber, ginger, kale, spinach, etcetera, etcetera.

The …key to using this is preparation which I will discuss later on.

If you’re into juicing only green leafy stuff like collard greens or wheatgrass, then a horizontal masticating juicer like the Omega 8006 would suffice because you won’t need to pre-cut leafy greens.

Can I juice seeds?

Yup you can juice smallish seeds from apple, pineapple (yes it has seeds), and watermelon.

But don’t juice large pits like avocado or apricot pits because IT WILL damage the ULTEM screen and potentially void the warranty.

Can it juice wheatgrass?

Yes, you can juice wheatgrass, make sure to pre-cut it 1” to 2” long to avoid clogging the pulp ejector.

You may hear some squeaking sounds but that’s because of the friction.

If you’re a serious wheatgrass juicer then I’d recommend the Omega J8006 Nutrition Centre which will have slightly more yield.

Can I make peanut butter?

Yes, you can make peanut butter but you’ll need to follow these guidelines in this video.

While you can make peanut butter or almond butter or sorbet with this, the VRT is primarily designed for juicing fruit and vegetables.

The Omega 8006 would be better equipped to make nut butter and sorbets.

Omega will now honor the warranty even if you use this to make frozen banana sorbet and peanut butter.

Here’s how you make banana sorbet…

How long can you store juice?

Omega claims that you can store this for up to 3 days but you have to store it in a mason jar, filled to the brim and refrigerated.

For best results, drink your juice out of the juicer as soon as possible.

You’ll get the most nutrients, chlorophyll and all the other good stuff from greens if you drink it fresh.

How much preparation is needed?

If you’re juicing high fiber greens like collard greens or celery, you will need to chop them into thin pieces, around a quarter to half inch long pieces.

This is an added step because if you’d put a whole stem of celery. What happens is the fiber will clog the small pulp ejector and you’ll get a lot of backup in your juicer that’ll needs to be disassembled and cleaned which will take more time.

It only takes less than a minute to pre-cut greens but there will be very minimal fiber build up in the ejector and no clogging.

Clogging is one of the major complaints from this type of juicer and can be avoided by doing the pre-cutting technique I mentioned above.

How much juice can it extract?

Outside of a press juicer, vertical auger juicers like this one are pretty efficient in extracting juice particularly from vegetables.

It won’t do as good a job on fruit BUT I would not recommend juicing all fruit concoctions because it’s just like drinking liquid sugar.

From my experience, soft vegetables like cucumber and zucchini have a pretty good yield.

You can check out my recipes section to give you an idea what type of vegetables and fruit has the most yield.

This makes pulpy juice

The juice that comes out of the VRT 350 is one the pulpy side, so if you want a less pulpy juice you may want to try another juicer OR place a strainer on top of the juice catcher to remove excess pulp.

Is it hard to clean up?

As long as you pre-cut fibrous greens, clean-up will only take around 3 to 5 minutes.

Before disassembling it, turn the machine on and run around a cup of water through the juicer to remove pulp.

Even though it is advertised as a self-cleaning juicer, you’ll need to manually scrub and rinse of excess pulp and use the chisel end of the brush to remove pulp that is collected in the ejector.

The self-cleaning is actually the two wiper blades that swipes pulp of the outer wall of the strainer.

This feature only makes it easier to clean.

Here’s a demo on how wash it…

What type of juicer is this?

This is a vertical auger masticating juicer that uses a masticating principle to “crush” ingredients against a mesh screen.

The auger (or crusher) rotates at a slow 80rpm which means little air is introduced to the juice. And there is less oxidation.

Less oxidation means you can store juice made from this type of juicer longer though I’d always recommend that you drink it right out of the juicer.

If you’re really busy, you can prepare a large batch of juice for a day or two, store it in mason jars (make sure to fill it to the brim) and refrigerate.

This is what juicers do whenever they do a juice cleanse.

How long is the warranty?

Omega has a 10-year warranty on both the motor and the parts like auger, strainer and bowl.

So even this is a bit more expensive than the Hurom HU-100, this more than makes up for it.

Is it BPA free?

Yes, it is.

Noise

All masticating juicers are quiet, how quiet? Quiet enough that you can have a conversation without yelling.

Just to give you an idea how quiet it is watch this video…

How loud was the Breville? It’s around 88 decibels, as loud as a blender.

The Omega came in at a docile 68 decibels.

Voltage

It uses 110-volts. If you live outside North America and need a 220-volt version, check out the VRT 352.

Motor

It uses a 2HP condenser motor that consumes only 150 watts so it won’t consume too much electricity.

Dimension

• 7” x 15-1/2 x 8-1/2 (width x height x depth)
• Weighs around 22 pounds

Product specifications

Model	VRT350HD
Feed chute size and shape	Oval/Crescent Size: 2.5” x 1.5”
RPM (revolutions per minute)	80
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	10 years on the whole juicer
Voltage	110-volts 3-pronged
Motor	2hp condenser motor 150 watts

The package includes

• Cleaning brush
• Motor base
• Bowl with built-in extraction plug
• Screen holder with 2 silicon wipers
• 2 stage GE Ultem screen
• 2 – 32 ounce juicing cups
• Instruction manual

Consumer Rating

Most consumers who bought this loved this machine because it was quiet compared to a centrifugal juicer, easy to clean, and it yielded a fair amount of juice that is sweeter and better tasting because there is much less air inside it.

The complaints I read about this were mostly related with the small pulp ejector which was prone to clogging if you don’t cut fibrous greens into smaller chunks.

That’s because pulp has to go through the ejector in a 90 degree angle in a small feed chute.

Like all products, there are pros and cons, and this is the con of this machine, you’ll need to pre-cut fibrous greens to small quarter to half inch chunks so that it won’t clog, if you want less pre-cutting and juice at light speed, then get a wide mouth centrifugal juicer that will be as loud as a blender and while it will yield nutrient rich juice, it won’t taste as good in my opinion.

Where can I buy this?

You can buy the Omega VRT350 for less than $250 in Amazon. Unfortunately Omega has discontinued it’s production so it’s out of stock when you check OmegaJuicers.com.

If you buy this in Amazon it’ll be eligible to their free 2-day shipping if you join Prime. Extended warranties are also available (up to 5 years!) if you want that extra peace of mind.

A certified refurbished juicer is also available in Amazon for around $100 less!

To Wrap Up

If you’re a serious juicer like me who wants something that will extract maximum nutrition and yield from greens and fruit, then the Omega VRT350HD is hands down, one of the best juicers to own.

It only uses 80rpm that does not suck in air which means less oxidation and a better tasting drink.

It will work best if you use variety of greens, soft vegetables and fruits in making your juice.

Take note that there is a learning curve involved when using this type of juicer.

One of those learning curves is pre-cutting fibrous greens like celery so it does not clog the pulp ejection port.

In order to get the most out of this juicer, you’ll have to follow these best practices.