This juicer’s substandard quality leaves me scratching my head and wondering, “Is this really a Jack Lalanne juicer, or is this an impostor?”
The late Jack Lalanne was a professional body builder and health advocate. He is known in many healthy-eating circles as the “Godfather of Juicing.” If you are old enough, you may remember watching his infomercials late at night. If you are young enough, you have no idea who I am talking about. Either way, suffice to say that Jack Lalanne was a big name in the world of juicing for many years and worked hard at bringing the benefits of juicing to the general public.
It is actually quite surprising that this is the only Jack Lalanne juicer I have posted on this website. After all, the man was the Godfather of Juicing. Still, my reviews are based on current popularity and the Jack Lalanne brand has been moving downhill since his death in 2011. Even more surprising than this being the only Jack Lalanne juicer on my list is the fact that I am currently questioning whether this is actually a Jack Lalanne juicer at all.
I will quickly preface this entire article by letting you know ahead of time that, despite its popularity, I do not recommend purchasing this juicer. I believe its popularity is based, at least partially, on the brand name attached to it. Still, this is not your cue to stop reading. I believe it is important to learn about substandard products and compare their specifications to great products, so that you can make educated decisions in the future. If you were to assume from the hefty price tag and celebrity brand name attached to this juicer that it would be a great and powerful juicer, you would be wrong.
In this article, I intend to walk you through the positive and negative qualities of the Jack Lalanne 100th Anniversary Juicer to help you understand how I came to my conclusions.
Only An Adequate Motor
The motor is, arguably, one of the very most important parts of a centrifugal juicer. If the motor is not strong enough to move the blades or powerful enough to run for long periods, it more or less renders the entire machine useless.
The 800-watt motor included in this machine is adequate. It hovers around the average level of motor strength for centrifugal juicers, which tend to range from 600 watts to 1000 watts or, rarely, 1200 watts. I have never trusted any motor less than 800 watts. Though you can easily find a cheap juicer with a 600 or 700-watt motor, I really do consider the lower threshold of quality to be 800 watts. Therefore, I never recommend anything under 800 watts, and it is with hesitation that I even recommend 800 watts.
I would expect that running this 800-watt motor in this two-speed juicer would allow you to juice two to three glasses of soft foods at a time, or produce one glass of hard foods, before it would be necessary to take a break and allow the motor to cool. Unlike juicers created by some competing companies, this one does not appear to include a safety system which will shut the juicer down if it is in danger of overheating. Therefore, you will want to be very careful to take breaks during your juicing process.
The Extras
The extras included with this juicer are definitely appealing; to the untrained eye they may be enough to convince someone to purchase this particular machine. Extras are useless, though, if the machine itself is not run by a sufficiently powerful motor. Let’s see what sorts of temptations this company has chosen to add to this machine instead of beefing up its sub-par motor.
The extra-large pulp collector included with this juicer easily attaches and detaches from the back. It will collect massive amounts of pulp, theoretically allowing you to create large batches of juice without having to stop to empty it out. However, you will probably find yourself stopping before it is full anyway, either to allow the motor to cool or because the motor overheated and simply stopped working. Surely that would be a perfect time to empty a smaller pulp collector cup.
The large juice pitcher is a definite plus. I cannot argue with the positive effect this pitcher is likely to have on any home juicing enthusiast. It firmly attaches to the machine itself to prevent spillage and splattering – two annoying problems people face with other juicers. The only downside to this pitcher is that it takes up a lot of extra space on the countertop or in the cupboard when it is not in use; adding to the already bulky quality of this juicer.
The three-inch wide feeder chute will allow you to quickly and easily process entire fruits and vegetables without having to waste time cutting or peeling them. You will be using a wide variety of fruits of vegetables as you get to know the different recipes included in “The Ultimate Juicing Book Guide” which is also included with this juicer.
Consumer Feedback
This is where things start to get real. We can talk theoretically all we like; I can sit here and tell you how well I think the motor will work (or not work, in this case) and explain the advantages and disadvantages of certain extra features. But the real truth comes from consumer reviews. Consumers are people who have actually purchased and used this particular juicer; their reviews offer insight into the actual functioning of this product.
According to consumer reviews about the Jack Lalanne 100th Anniversary Juicer, it is about as reliable as I expected it to be. Although there are a great number of positive reviews, what I gather from those reviews is that they have been made by people who rarely use their juicer and those who posted a review after owning it for only a very short period of time.
The negative reviews mostly seem to focus around the same issue – the motor burning out, breaking down, blowing up, and altogether giving up.
Concluding Remarks
Although the bells and whistles and added extras can be quite enticing, and slightly weigh into my decision making, I tend to judge a centrifugal juicer mostly on two characteristics – its motor’s capabilities and its consumer reviews. Unfortunately, when it comes to the Jack Lalanne 100th Anniversary Juicer, neither was able to impress me.
This juicer is priced as if it can compete with some of the mid-high level centrifugal juicers currently on the market. It is my opinion that this juicer would stand no chance against the others if put to the test. For this price, I would expect to see a more powerful motor and possibly more speed settings.
