How Does a Cold Press Juicer Work?

How does a cold press juicer work and just why is it something that gets so much attention?

Odds are if you are someone who has taken any sort of interst in juicing, then you are likely aware that everyone tells you to buy a cold press juicer.

But why is that? Why is it that cold press juicers, and by extension cold press juice, is so popular?

Well, those are the questions that I set out to answer in a simple and easy to follow blog post.

Many of my longtime readers will know that I advocate for two things:

1- Juicing Leafy Greens

2- Using a Cold Press Juicer

And these two topics tend to converge. Because if you’re juicing leafy greens, you should be using a cold press juicer. And if you’re in the market for a cold press juicer, then you should learn about juicing leafy greens!

 

What is the difference between a cold press juicer and a normal juicer?

Ok. Let’s tackle the big question first. What’s the difference between a cold press juicer and a normal juicer?

How does a cold press juicer work? Does it use ice cubes? No.

Is it designed to be cold like a refridgerator? No.

Well then smart guy, why is it called a cold press juicer?

Because they are designed to have as little heat as possible. The design of a cold press juicer is what seperates it from regular juicers.

Normal juicers are not cold because they use high stress heat producing blades to juice fruit and vegetables.

Cold press juicers, on the other hand, use a cold press design. They implement an auger to slowly press and squeeze all of the juice from out of the fruit and vegetables.

It’s a completely different design and function.

One uses a cold press and auger.  The other uses a heat produicing cuttinc disc.

 

How Does A Cold Press Juicer Work Compared To A Regular Juicer?

Let’s look in a bit more detail as to how exactly the two juicers operate.

A cold press juicer will use an auger, as we’ve said. Whereas a regular normal juicer will use blades.

But how exactly does each work?

First, let’s take a look at the cold press juicers auger design.

The auger is a large piece, normally hard BPA free plastic or metal, and it is inserted into the juicer. It then slowly crushes the fruit using incredibly power. It turns slowly. That’s why cold press juicers are often called slow press juicers. I also think that they make for the best juicers for beginners, which is why I included them in the list I created.

You will often times see juicers advertised with verbiage such as “slow RPM”. This means slow revloutions per minute. The slower aka lower the RMPs, the better the juicer.

The cutting wheel on the other hand has to move fast. The baldes have to spin as fast as possible to slice and dice up the fruit and let any liquid fall into the collecting hopper.

The slow speed of a cold press juicer, when combined with the pressing motion, is what makes for a superior juice. More is extracted and it’s not hot.

Now For An Interlude: My Reccomendations for Cold Press Juicers

 

What Does Cold Pressed Mean?

Cold pressed means that the juice is extracted without any excess heat. A regular juicer doesn’t press, it cuts. This cutting motion requires an enormous ammount of speed. Speed equals heat. Not only is the “engine” of the juicer going to create heat. But the cutting motion itself produces heat.

A press, on the other hand, is super slow and does not create any heat. Ergo, a pressing, masticating, squeeze juicer is by nature a cold press juicer.

Why is cold pressed juice so expensive?

So, why is cold pressed juice so expensive? Well, because of how it’s made.

You don’t buy cold pressed juice from the supermarket shelves. It’s something you need to buy from a cold press juice specilty store.

If you’re going to buy cold pressed juice, then you’re going to be buying it freshly made. Or at least from a store that makes it fresh daily and bottles it.

The reason that you buy cold pressed juice fresh is because it does not undergo a pasturaziation process. This process kills off any harmful bacteria, but it also kills off any of the good stuff that you might want!

If you’re going to go to a store like Pressed, then expect to pay a bit. That’s because you’re paying for premium packaging, a store that has overhead, marketing, employees that are trained and a lot of other unseens costs.

It’s not unreasonable to pay that much for fresh cold pressed juice. You don’t want cold pressed juice to be really cheap because then  something isn’t right. There is no way a store can sell real cold pressed juice cheaply, so if you see one I would be suspect.

The only way to get cheap or rather affordable cold pressed juice would be to make it at home. This way you cut out the middleman and simply buy your fruits and veggies and then press them at home in your juicer when you want.

Are All Juicers Cold Press?

No, and you really need to understand that if you are in the market to buy a juicer. Not all juicers are cold press. In fact, many of the juicers that are for sale are not.

When you see a juicer on the market, odds are it’s just a regular jucier and not a cold press juicer. These juicers work differently, and while you can make juice with them, it’s not going to be cold pressed juice.

My tip on how to quickly tell if the juicer is cold press is to look on the box (or in the product description if you are buying it online) and see if it mentions an auger.

If the juicer has an auger, then it is a cold press juicer.

How long can cold pressed juice last?

A lot of people want to know how long they can keep cold pressed juice after they make it. Is cold pressed juice someting that you need to drink right away? Or can you store it in your fridge?

It makes sense to wonder since you don’t want to go through the trouble of making cold pressed juice and then have it denature in value.

One of the reasons you would want to use a masticating cold press juice is that they simple make a more nutrient dense juice. It goes hand in hand with how they work.

My general suggestion is to make a juice and drink it relatively right away. That doesn’t mean that you can’t make a juice and save it for later. What it does mean is that I’m not a big fan of making a juice and then letting it sit in your fridge for several days. Honestly, why bother?

If you are using a cold press juicer, one of the biggest benefits is that they are so easy to clean and easy to use.

I wrote an entire article on the topic of are juicers hard easy to clean. As I mentioned in that article, and also in my list of the easiest to clean juicers, the cold press juicers always win out.

You really don’t have to make a lot of juice and store it. The prep and clean up time for a cold press juicer is almost nothing, and so it should be simple to make juice, wash the machine, and then put it away. It will take max a couple of minutes.

 

Sources:

Heat and How It Destroys Vitamins