Single gear juicer, masticating juicer, single auger juicer, wheatgrass juicer… these are but different names for the same equipment. Basically designed for extracting juice of leafy green vegetables like wheatgrass, spinach and kale, these juicers can really be used to juice almost anything.

The working of this machine is very simple. You need to cut your chosen fruits and vegetables to a suitable size that can get into the chute at the top of the juicer. It’s not at all necessary to peel or remove the skin from the foodstuff. You should know that many fruits and vegetables contain live enzymes exclusively in the skin and you shouldn’t lose these nutrients by removing the skin and throwing it in the garbage.

While extracting juice of leafy vegetables or wheatgrass, you may need to slightly push these down into the main auger of the juicer. For juicing most other foodstuffs, the single gear juicers are usually designed to have an automatic feed that pulls the food down into the rotating gear by force of gravity, causing little effort on the part of the operator.

On entering the juicer, the produce is crushed or ‘chewed’ by the auger and then pushed through a fine sieve, with juice coming out from one side of the sieve and fills the provided chamber while the remaining pulp is discarded into another chamber.

The auger of a single gear juicer moves at a speed of just 80 rpm. Such low speed prevents the internal components from getting heated. And, that’s the main benefit of such juicers as heat kills live enzymes and destroys nutrients. Juicers with a single gear keep the enzymes intact, thus delivering healthier vitamin rich juice.

The low sped of such juicers also prevents oxidization of juices, essentially required for a healthy juice. Oxidization is the process of air getting added into juice, causing the juice to rot or spoil. Well, nobody would ever eat rotten or spoiled food, but many people continue drinking spoiled juice as they don’t realize that it is spoiled. This juice is not likely to cause any harm to the body, but it remains to be of poor quality and appears rather watery with a thick layer of foam on top. Non-oxidized juice would have very little foam with an even color through the juice. It may appear tasty, but lacks vitamins and nutrients, thus defeating the very purpose of having fresh juices.

Simple operation coupled with the convenience of simple assembling or dismantling makes these juicers a desirable accessory for any kitchen.