There are two main types of automatic juicers (as opposed to manual juicers, which are mainly for hand squeezing citrus fruits): masticating juicers and centrifugal juicers. If you do a quick search online, the first thing you’ll notice is that masticating juicers are much more expensive, starting at around $200, whereas you can get a good quality centrifugal juicer for about $100. So what’s the difference, other than price?
Centrifugal juicers have an upright design and function by spinning really fast while the produce is chewed up, causing the juice to spin to the edges of the container and drain into your cup while the pulp is caught in the bowl of the machine. Centrifugal juicers are easy to use, work quickly, and are just fine for most fruits and non-leafy vegetables. You can certainly juice your leafy greens in a centrifugal (I do all the time), but you’ll get less juice and more pulp than you would with a masticating juicer. One tip is to wrap your greens around a dense vegetable, such as a carrot—this will help feed the greens through the chute. Also, wheatgrass tends to clog up centrifugal juicers, so if you’re a big fan of the grass, you’ll want to invest in a masticating juicer or a juicer specifically made for wheatgrass.
Masticating juicers do just what they sound like they should—they chew up your produce by crushing it and squeezing it against the walls of the juicer. They then separate the juice from the pulp, generally leaving you with more juice and less pulp than a centrifugal juicer would. Masticating juicers do a great job juicing leafy greens. On the other hand, you have to chop up large produce into small pieces, since they tend to have smaller chutes, which requires a bit of extra time. There is some concern that a centrifugal juicer heats the produce up enough that some of the enzymes are destroyed, leaving you with less nutritious juice. However, produce has to be heated to 118°F in order to lose its nutrition, which is unlikely to happen, especially if you start with cold produce. But if you’re concerned about this, a masticating juicer does spin at a much slower speed and so will create less friction, and, thus, heat your produce less.
In short, here’s my juicer advice: If you want a juicer that works quickly and requires minimal prep time and less initial investment, get yourself a centrifugal juicer for around $100–$150. If you plan to juice a lot of sprouts and/or wheatgrass, are willing to take a few more minutes on prep time, and have the money to put down now, get a masticating juicer in the $200–$300 range (you may end up saving money in the long run, as you’ll get more juice from your produce). If an upfront investment is of no concern, a masticating juicer in the $500–$600 range will suck even more juice out of your produce and yield highly nutritious juice.
I recommend browsing online and reading various juicer reviews before making a purchase. Not all brands are created equal, but you also don’t need to spend a fortune to get a perfectly good juicer.