For years I have tried unsuccessfully to get my now 10 year old son to eat fruit and vegetables. He will eat the odd apple every now and again but that’s it. Not a single vegetable will pass his lips and god forbid any citrus fruit or berries. Like many parents in worry and have tried many ways to get vegetables into him such as hiding them in sauce etc. Nothing works. Until now that is!
Philips sent over a Compact Viva Collection juicer for us to try out and hopefully make some healthier juice.
The first thing that impressed me about the juicer was that when I opened the box it was all assembled and ready to use. No fussing around with instructions trying to assemble and work out which part goes where. No it can simply be taken out of the box, plugged in and away we go. Secondly it was black, which is a good thing because all of my other kitchen appliances and even utensils are also black so it fits in quite well. I think they may come in other color choices too but I’m happy with my black one.
The juicer is small enough to simply sit on a kitchen unit without taking up much space. It could also be placed on top of a microwave when not in use. It consists of several parts which include the power base, large pulp collector, blade, dispenser. There is a juice jug included too.
Operation is very easy with just one on/off switch labelled 0 and 1.
I have used the juicer several times now. I find it very easy to use. Many fruits and vegetables can be juiced. The majority of them can even be juiced without peeling such as apples (which don’t need coring either), pears, peaches, cucumber, berries. Citrus fruits do need peel removing or they taste quite bitter otherwise.
The fruit funnel part is quite large. I find I can put large chunks of fruit in meaning apples only need cutting in half or quarters depending on size.
Small oranges can usually be popped in whole or again in half.
The juicing process is rapid. I put the fruit/veg in, push down with the plunger and the juice appears within seconds.
This little juicer can make up to 1.5 litres of juice before the pulp container becomes full. The included jug holds 500ml meaning the juicer can fill 3 of these before it needs emptying.
Once full the pulp is collected in the pulp container and no where else.
The window of the juicer is even transparent so I can clearly see all the fruit being juiced.
There are so many juice combinations that can be made. If I get stuck for ideas there are even websites and apps especially for juice recipes.
The best thing is that Ryan and my girls will happily drink the juice. I can add sneaky things such as cucumber with apple juice and they won’t know. It’s a great way to get more fruit and vegetables into all the family.
I was sent some juice recipes with the juicer to start me off. One of them named Beat the Bloat looked very easy and I just happened to have the ingredients needed to make it too.
All I needed to make this is a pineapple, Granny Smiths apples and a lime.
The recipe card suggested the addition of mint leaves too but I’m not a fan of mint so I left this out. I used more fruit than suggested as there are 4 of us who wanted some.
Here is how it went!
The result was delicious and nutritious real fruit juice with no added sugar or nasties. I did have to peel the pineapple which was like peeling a crocodile but didn’t take too long. The apples were large so I chopped into quarters and I used a full lime peeled.
I filled two jugs and we all loved it. I then made a little more and this tins added raspberries as they needed using. Again another delicious drink.
The juicer is pretty much mess free as all the pulp goes to the pulp container and the detachable drip spout can even be turned to prevent drips.
Once juicing is finished, the whole thing simply pulls apart for very easy cleaning. The juicer and it’s parts are all circular which makes wiping and cleaning much easier.
The fruit pulp can simply be scooped out of the container and ideally placed in one those food waste bins. The parts all separate and can be washed with soap and water. They are also dishwasher safe but I don’t own one so wash in the sink. The sieve/blade features innovative QuickClean technology, all surfaces of the sieve are smooth, which helps me wipe away the fibres with a standard kitchen sponge.
It takes only a minute to wash all the parts and it can then be easily put back together ready to use again.
It can take quite a lot of fruit to make a glass of juice for all of us. For my children’s juice I add water to increase the volume. I enjoy using the juicer it is very compact and so easy to use as well as being very fast. It means I can now get more fruit and vegetables into my children without them even realising and I don’t need to worry about messy hard to use appliances.
This juicer can be purchased from Currys for £69.99 and more information and specifications can be viewed on the Philips website.
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