Black & Decker juice extractor Review

Okay, so I jumped on the health-nut bandwagon.  In support of my avowed new lifestyle, I went out and bought myself a juicer.  Not the super-heavy-duty Jack Lalainne type; but a good solid one from Black and Decker, a national brand with a good reputation. 

My Black and Decker juice extractor is powerful, and it makes very short work of things like carrots, cucumbers, green peppers, that sort of veggie.  These things need to be cut into portions that the rather small and narrow feed chute can handle, however.  With things like apples that have seeds, a bit more prep work is necessary.  You have to peel and core them and cut them into slices that, again, will fit into the chute without jamming. 

Any kind of citrus fruits require peeling, and they also need segmenting so they can be fed easily into the machine without jamming it.

Cleaning the sucker is a major chore, I must say.  I use a stiff toothbrush to clean out the mesh strainer and the other metal parts.  It takes TIME.  Just running them through the dishwasher won't do the trick.  You really have to scrub.

All that said, though, I must say I love the result.  Nothing like custom-blended fresh juice in the morning to get your motor running.  It's seriously better than caffeine!