Omega J8006 may be the best bang for the buck in home juicers
Bought new at BB&B for $255 including tax with 20% off coupon and free delivery to my door. After two days, I can say it does well with "Mean Green" juice as seen in the movie "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead". There is more foam on the juice than I expected when I made the Mean Green, but the juice is a higher quality then the centrifugal type juicer makes, and certainly no more foam produced than the newer Omega VERT 350 or Breville juicers produce. It does kale, apples celery, lemon, cucumber and ginger with no issues at all.
I also made carrot>apple>pear which was far superior to any store/commercial juice I've ever had. The slow 80 rpm auger speed is good about keeping the temperature low but I did find when I ran the pulp from the first pass through two more times just to see if I could get more juice out of it that there was a detectable warmth from the vegetable pulp on the third pass, but I doubt if it was enough heat to destroy enzymes. As for over-working the motor, I came close to running it up to the recommended 30 minute max limitation the first day, and while the thermal protection never shut it down to protect the motor, there was detectable warmth in the chrome plated plastic housing. Even though Omega's marketing copy says "powerful commercial motor", this is no commercial machine, which is also emphasized on the box which reads "Household Use Only" just in case anyone thought it could handle the workload of a juice bar environment. You may or may not have noticed that the equally strong 1/3 hp Champion commercial, home use juicers say nothing about limiting continuous use to any length of time, so I would have been more impressed if they had made the motor windings that heavy-duty, so if I wanted to juice 20 lbs of carrots at one time, or do all my juicing for the next three days for two people, I'd have the option at least.
The biggest frustration is with the narrow 1.5-inch feeding chute and having to chop up everything small enough to fit. You'll need to roll up large kale or collard greens to get them in it but at least you won't have to break celery or your stringy veggies into 2-inch pieces like one does for the VERT 350. According to demo vids on YouTube, the long fibers can clog the VERT 350's screen if you don't. I can see why the faster Breville centrifugal ejection type used in the movie with the 3-inch feeding chute is faster, but I'm not willing to trade off speed for a machine that does not extract the maximum nutrients from leafy greens or wheat grass, nor makes nut butters or frozen desserts. If money was not a consideration, I'd probably own both, but it is so I chose the Omega 8006 over any centrifugal ejection brands and even the VERT 350 HD with it's larger feeding chute. I think that design still has to prove itself and it's too early to tell if it will go for the long haul, i.e., 10 years or more. It speaks well of Omega to offer 15 years for the 8006 models. Clean up is quick and easy, with no mold or food getting caught in obscure places, and no silicone wipers to wear out. The new GE Ultem auger is showing no signs of rubbing or wear just yet, but it's only been two days.
Overall, I feel the extra prep is worth it for the end result. Also made sorbets with frozen bananas + mango and just strawberries with a bit of Stevia on two separate occasions. Yum! Good stuff! The banana sorbet is almost as rich and dense as any gelato I've had, (and without the fat, sugar and guilt!)Read full review
