Best Blender For Juicing Greens

If you’ve searched around online for the best blender for juicing, then you’ve probally stumbled upon a ton of articles claiming to answer the question. Well, I have some bad news for you. They are all full of nonsense.

The good news is that I’m here to set you straight.

The worst thing you can do when you are looking to buy a good blender or a good juicer is to go out and buy something that just won’t work.

You’ll end up wasting money, wasting time, and the final result will be that you’ve got something that is no good to anyone!

 

Can You Blend Greens?

Let’s start with the basics. Can you blend greens in a blender? That’s an easy answer: Yes.

Greens are a great thing to blend up and make into a smoothie. Provided that you have the right type of blender. A good blender will be capable of blending up spinach, kale, and even herbs such as parsley.

While most people are probally more famalair with blending up fruits or other things such as maybe tomatos, it’s certainly possible to blend up greens.

The important thing to remember is that you need to have a blender that has a strong enough motor. Some cheaply made blenders simply cannot blend up greens. So I suggest sticking with a well known and well reviewed brand and model (the Vitamix, for instnace).

The problem with blending greens is that they are tougher than fruit. Most blenders can blend up berries and bananas, but not all blenders can handle spinach or kale.

I’ll include some of my personal recomendations at the bottom of the page.

Can You Blend Greens In A Juicer?

Unfortunately you cannot blend greens in a juicer. You can juice greens in a juicer, but you cannot blend them.

End of story!

If you read elsewhere and find a big list that doubles as the “Best Blenders for Juicing” you know it’s hogwash.

Blenders cannot juice. They are not desinged to. There are no blenders with a juicing option. It just doesn’t exist.

When you buy a blender, be it a Vitamix, or a Ninja, or any other blender, what you are getting is a machine that is designed to blend.

Blending is different than juicing. I wrote a whole in-depth article that covered the difference between blending and juicing.

The reason that you cannot blend greens in a juicer is that the juicer seperates the fiber from the juice. Which is what you want it to do.

Of course, if you have a blender, it’s going to keep everything together.

And it’s not just greens that you can’t blend in a juicer, you can’t really blend anything.

There are some work arounds, mainly involving berries. But it’s too messy to really do more than out of curoisity.

What blending with a juicer involves is using a puree attachment (like the type that comes with the Omega Juicer) and then reconstituting the juice puree with water in some sort of shaker bottle of jar.

It’s a messy task and one that honestly is only done as an experiment.

Are There Blenders That Double As Juicers?

 

No. Again, this falls under the catagory of make some b.s. up and tell people. Blenders can’t by nature double as a juicer.

You might, really dont try this, but you might be able to use a cold press juicer as a blender. It will be messy, but if you really must try and use one machine to do the task of the other, then this is the only method. But take my advice and just avoid it.

The reason that blenders do not double and work as juicers is that the machinary and parts needed for blending are much different than the parts required to make a juice.

When you are blending something, there are large blades (blending blades) that pulverize the fruits and vegetables and mix them all together into a smoothie with whatever else you put into the blending jar. It might include peanut butter, milk, yogurt, or nut butters.

However, at no point can the blender remove the pulp from the liquid. This seperate of fiber and pulp and other solids is what a juicer does.

I’ve seen some crazy videos online where people take a blender and pulse everyhing to a super liquidy consistency, and then they attempt to strain it thoguh mesh screens or cheese cloth. It’s a mess!

A juicer has a built in screen that diverts the liquid. And if you are buying a cold press masticating juicer, then you will be getting the juice pressed out.

Pressed juice is superior to juice that is made with a centrifugal juicer because it’s squeezed or pressed and not cut or pulverized.

In summation, there are no blenders that can juice. If you see this claim, simply ignore it. Choose the best blender for making smoothies, but buy a juicer to make juices.

What Should You Do If You Want To Juice Greens?

 

So, if you do want to juice, my advice would be to buy a juicer. It’s that simple. You won’t get juice from a blender even if you practice some of the strange work around hacks advised on youtube.

If you are looking to juice greens, you need to get a stand alone juicer. End of Story.

My entire website and blog is geared around offering advice on which juicer you should get if you are looking to juice leafy greens (kale spinach etc).

The reason I focus so much on greens is that they are particuarly difficult to juice. Unlike apples, and citrus fruits, greens require special juicers.

If you run greens through a regular juicer, you’re not going to get muhc juice from them. So, you should make sure you get a cold press juicer.

Cold press juicers squeeze the juice using high pressure augers. This is how you are able to juice greens such as kale, spinach and wheatgrass.

Here’s a sample of my favoriate juicers for juicing greens.

These juicers are all cold press. They are all slow press (important because there is less heat produced). And they are all well built machines.

Is There A Juicer That Can Function As A Blender?

Not really. But in this case it’s not as cut and dry as with the question about a blender that can juice.

Whereas there is no blender that can juice, and there are no juicers that are sold with the design feature of a blender, there are some work arounds.

If you get a juicer such as the Omega that have been designed to also make nut butters and puree.

There is a cone attachment that you can simply slide on when you want to puree fruit. However, I don’t think it’s a good idea to try and “blend” or puree anything besides soft fruit. You won’t have any success using a juicer as a blender with greens. Greens are simply too fiberous and tough to use that way.

I know that there are lots of people who advertise one product does it all, but unfortunatly that’s not the case when it comes to most things.

You can’t get something to do two things great. If engineers designed such an appliance, then what they would end up with is something that barely did either sufficently well.

What Advice Do I Have For People Who Don’t Own A Juicer or Blender?

My advice is simple. Choose the appliance for what you think you’re going to use it for.

Are you someone who loves to get berry smoothies? Or green health smoothies? If so, then you will want to get a blender.

Are you looking to make nut butter, green juices, fruit juices, and frozen fruit sorbet? Then you should get a cold press juicer.

Whatever choice you decide to make, it’s important that you choose a brand that is well made, has a good rep, and stands by their product.

My personal favoriates include:

Good Juicer Brands

1. Omega
2. Kuvings
3. Hurom
4. Green Star

Good Blender Brands

1. Ninja
2. Vitamix
3. Blendtec
4. Nutribullet