There Are No Stupid Questions: So, Why Do Juicers Remove Pulp?

Simple questions sometimes go overlooked. But it’s important to understand why something works the way it does, especially if you’re planning on using the appliance in question for a long time.

So, why do juicers remove pulp? Let’s take a look.

Is Juice Pulp Bad For You?

Ok, is juice pulp bad for you? Is it something that you should always want to remove from your juice?

First, let’s take a look at just exactly what “juice pulp” is.

Essentially, when you discuss juice pulp, what you are talking about is the fiber from the fruits or vegetables that have been juiced as well as some extraneous liquid in the form of juice. The ammount of liquid will depend on how efficent your juicer is.

So, is this juice pulp bad for you? Absoultely not. In fact, fiber as everyone knows is good for you.

But if fiber is good, what’s the reason to remove the pulp in the first place? Good question. And we’ll look at that in more details below.

The main takeaway here is that juice pulp isn’t bad for you. So you don’t have to worry about a glass of juice with some pulp in it.

Why Do Juicers Remove Pulp?

Ok. Now that we’ve established that juice pulp isn’t bad for you, the next question is obviously why would do juicers remove pulp?

There are a few reasons that juicers remove pulp. Let’s look at them one by one.

 1. Juicers remove pulp because people like to drink pulp free juice.

That’s a simple reason, yet an important one. Not everyone likes the texture of pulp in their juicer. It can make drinking a juice an unpleasant experience. So, for that reason, juicers exist. They allow people to drink pulp free juice.

2. Juicers remove pulp so you can drink more juice!

That’s another reason that juciers remove pulp and it’s arguleably a more important reason. The reasoning behind this is that there are plenty of healthy nutrients in juice that people want to injest, but the fiber prevents them from getting big ammounts. Think of it this way. Could you eat 5 stalks of celery? Sure, but would you want to? The huge ammout of fiber in most frutis and vegetables makes it uncomfortable to eat large doses.

That’s the main reason, in my estimatation, that juicers are important. They allow you to maximize the ammount of nutrients you get from fruits and vegetables.

A small glass of celery juice and organic lemons is something you can easily drink in the morning before you go to work. Can you really say the same thing about a big bowl of raw celery and a whole lemon? You would feel sick if you ate the unjuiced food.

How Do Juicers Remove Pulp?

So, just how exactly do juicers remove pulp?

Well, it’s not magic. It’s quite simple. There are only two ways in which a juicer can remove pulp.

The method that the juicer uses to remove pulp depends upon the type of juicer you use.

There are two basic ways a juicer can remove pulp. The first is a squeeze method, the second is a cutting method.

The squeeze method is also called a crush juicer, a masticating juicer, or a cold press juicer.

These juicers press all of the liquid from the vegetables and fruit and then that liquid is screened and fills up your cup. The fiber and pulp is pressed out an exit chute.

The cutting method is used in traditional juicers that use a cutting wheel. These wheels chop up the fruit or vegatables into tiny little pieces. The liquid seperates during the cutting process. As long time readers of my blog will know, that’s not my favoriate way to go about making a juice.

As you might intuit, the cold press auger juicers are much more efficent at removing juice and also produce a much drier pulp. When you use an auger juicer, that pulp won’t be saturated with liquid juice that should be in your glass.

What Do Juicers Do With That Pulp?

Juicers will extrude, or set aside, the pulp. Unlike blenders, which blend everything together, a juicer is designed to seperate the juice from the pulp.

Juice is comprised of the liquid part of fruits and vegetables, and therefore you don’t want the pulp in your juice. At least not too much.

So, all juicers basically deal with pulp the same way: they empty it out into a side exit.

When you buy a juicer, it will normally come with a hopper that you can use to store the pulp. These might be plastic containers, or glass containers.

The hoppers are there to catch the pulp from the juicing process. What you do with that pulp is up to you.

I have some suggestions later on that go into a bit of details about what you can use that extra juice pulp for. Since I think it’s a bit of a waste to toss it out.

However, the juiers themselves don’t do anything with that pulp. Unlike blenders, juicers are designed to seperate juice from pulp, so what you do with the pulp is up to you. Your juicer will cleanly seperate the pulp and leave it in a single place.

Can You Salvage That Extra Pulp?

So what are you supposed to do with that excess pulp? After all, it’s healthy and it has flavor. And if you’re buying organic fruit or vegetables it can be expensive.

The truth of the matter is that there is quite a lot you can do with juice pulp. My favoriates include:

• Adding to a Smoothie
• Adding to Stews of Soups
• Thickening a Homemade Jam
• Baking Into Muffins

Think of fruit and vegetable juice pulp as another item you can cook with. I’d reccomend against using them to thicken your juice. You can, however, add them into a smoothie.

So, if you have a blender and you make smoothies, and you’re looking to incorpoarate some extra fiber, then fruit juice pulp or vegetable juice pulp is a great way to go about it.

Do Different Juicers Remove More or Less Pulp?

Yes, different juicers remove different ammounts of pulp.

Much like how different juicers can extract more or less juice, different juicers will remove more or less pulp.

If you are using an auger juicer, then you are going to be able to extract more liquid. This means that there will be more pulp extracted that is dry.

On the other hand, if you are using a centriugal juicer, then you are going to get more moist pulp. These juicers don’t press juice. The method of juice extraction is less efficent. So, a cold press juicer will be able to extract more liquid and produce a drier pulp.

 

Which Juicers Remove The Most Pulp?

 

When it’s all said and done, your best bet is to go with a cold press juicer. These are going to remove the most ammount of pulp from your juice and leave you with the better, juice that’s as pulp free as you can get without buying strained juice.

If you want to go that extra mile, then what you can do is buy a juicer strainer. I don’t feel the need to do so, but if you want to, they are certainly helpful.

Just make sure to buy a stainless steel screen. You don’t want to buy a plastic one as that will leach chemicals into your juice.

Also, make sure that you’re choosing a fine mesh strainer. A larger mesh strainer that might be fine with some purposes such as cooking dinner won’t be usable.