Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

*Need to put this at the top* Folks..if you have this juicer, and are having problems with the auger getting stuck...clean the little white gear inside of the juicing bowl. Juice will get underneath the little gear, and make the gear not move freely. The gear is held in with a screw..take it out and clean the gear and the bowl where it sits. When you put it back, don't tighten the screw too tight..allow the gear to spin easily. The auger will not get stuck on anymore. At the most, you will have to hold onto the auger and wiggle it a little. It and the bowl will come up easily. I have had this juicer over a year..and it is still going strong. I cut up my veggies so they are not too thick, which can make it jam. I can put in whole celery stalks..but I cut up hard veggies such as carrot into strips. Just a little bit of preparation and you will have problem-free juicing. Clean-up time is not an issue. I can take it apart and clean it in the same time it took me to clean the Breville centrifugal juicer I had previously. So..keep the gear in the juicing bowl clean and moving freely. Cut up your hard veggies so it won't jam. Doing these things will keep your happily juicing! I had the Breville centrifugal juicer, and wanted to upgrade to a masticating type. This juicer is wonderful! I like that it's vertical, which allows me to fill a larger pitcher making two glasses at once if needed. It's easy enough to clean, even though there are more parts than the centrifugal juicer. No problems with it being too noisy, and cutting the veggies into smaller pieces to accommodate the smaller chute, doesn't take much more time than cutting the veggies for the other juicer. The pulp waste is less, especially less weight since there is more juice extracted. We don't have a use for the pulp, so it's thrown away, but the trash bags are lighter in weight after a week's worth of juicing which is a plus! I highly recommend this Breville juicer. I use it twice, sometimes three times a day, and I love it! Added comments: We have had the juicer for a week, now. Like it so much more than the centrifugal juicer. It's easier to clean, because the screen where the juice is pushed through has larger holes than the fine screen in the centrifugal type juicer. Plus, no more worry about scraping knuckles on blades. The quality of juice is much improved...giving you some pulp and not just liquid. If you are looking for a juicer for the first time, I highly recommend you get a masticating juicer from the get-go, so you won't have to upgrade later on. There is enough of a difference between the two types, to make it worth your while to get this one from the start. Just the fact that the juicer is healthier for you, from this type of juicer...should be a factor in the decision. When using a centrifugal juicer, the basket with blades spins at a high speed, creating heat. The heat will kill enzymes in the juice, something you don't want to happen..plus it forces air into the juice, which you don't want to happen as well. If you are saving an extra glass for later, oxygenated juice won't last as long in the fridge. Juice from a masticating type lasts longer when stored in an airtight container. One last thing...if you want to juice leafy greens, a masticating juicer can't be beat. The other kind will mostly throw the leafy greens into the pulp bin, forcing you to "re-juice" the pulp in an attempt to get some juice out of them. It can be a huge money-waster to push the greens into the chute only to have them spit right back out again. The masticating juicer will get the juice out, and you never need to re-juice the pulp. A tip: when you are juicing celery, the "strings" can cause problems with plugging up the works. Juice some cut up celery, then put in a harder veggie like carrot or squash. It helps to clear out the stringy parts of the celery, before you add more of it. If you are looking to improve your health through green juicing, using a juicer such as the Breville Fountain Crush Masticating Slwo Juicer is a great way to start! Aug. 19,2013 More added comments: Having had this juicer for awhile, I would still buy it again. The only new issue that has come up is that the small white gear inside the bowl of the juicer which is held in by a small screw, can cause the auger to become stuck on if the gear gets juice underneath it making it difficult to turn. I have found, that if I take the small gear out and clean it and underneath it in the bowl every so often, that the auger/bowl/basket can be removed without a problem. If the white plastic gear is kept clean so it can move freely, there is no longer an issue of the auger part getting stuck on the juicer. I have used this juicer every week since we bought it...sometimes two or more times a week. It has always worked just fine. One last thing, if you get an auger type juicer like this one, one thing you will find is that when you are finished juicing, and you take the juicer apart to clean it...you will see that there will be ground up vegetables in the deep ridges of the auger left behind. The only way to clear out the auger is by running water alone thru the machine, which can help in the cleaning process.