There’s something deliciously virtuous about enjoying a freshly made juice. But if you’re in the habit of buying one regularly, you may be wondering if you can save some cash by investing in a juicer and embracing the DIY squeeze.

Of course, the convenience of a fruit-and-veg-filled treat from a local café or juice bar is often hard to beat, especially when enticing blends plumped up with extras promise to cure hangovers, boost immunity or alleviate daily fatigue.

The habit might even make up part of your weekly routine or provide a much-needed excuse to step away from your desk. 

And supporting neighbourhood business is great for those times you feel like slurping a freshly pulverised carrot, but eliminating a few costly juices from your week may prove a savvy fiscal decision.

We look at the cost of a weekly juice habit compared with buying a popular juicer – and nut out which is worthy of your dollar.

Know your juicer

First, let’s consider the juicer. Not all are created equal and neither do they perform the same task in precisely the same way. There are essentially two types of mechanised juicers on the market today – the more common fast juicer, and the slow juicer.

Juicing: Fast or slow?

Slow juicers are sometimes called ‘cold-pressed’ juicers and use single or twin gears to gently crush the fruit. 

While they can be more complicated to clean and usually cost more, they’re excellent for taking on leafy greens and they do extract slightly more juice. 

But you’re looking at about 4–5 minutes to process a kilogram of fruit, compared with less than a minute for fast juicers.

Fast juicers are generally more popular due to their lower price and ease of use. They use centrifugal force to push fruit and vegetables onto blades to pulverise them quickly, which results in a frothier juice. 

Often they have parts that can be popped into the dishwasher for cleaning, but they’re noisy and don’t handle leafy greens as well.

Despite some claims from manufacturers, ÌÇÐÄVlog experts have found insufficient evidence that either type of juicer creates more nutritious juice than the other, or that one type heats the juice more or less. 

Be sure to check out our expert juicer reviews before making your selection.

Cost of a juicer

How much a juicer costs can vary wildly. Our expert team has tested juicers ranging from almost $900 for a slow juicer down to $60 for a budget fast juicer. The team’s rigorous evaluation takes into account a juicer’s yield, reliability and ease of use, as well as its ability to handle a variety of fruits and veg. 

As is often the case, our testers found that price doesn’t necessarily match an appliance’s quality, performance or durability, so before you settle on a machine, check out our juicer reviews.

Cost of a store-bought juice

Freshly made juices bought from café can cost anything from $5 to $10, or even more for an artisan concoction. Many people choose a juice with more than one ingredient and perhaps some extra throw-ins, such as whey powder.

But to keep things simple, we’ll base our cost comparison on good old carrot juice. Our example uses average prices to compare the cost of a juice-bar product with the cost of carrots and the juicer for home juicing.

Do the maths

Our calculations show that making your own fresh juice at home can be significantly cheaper than buying it from a fresh juice bar.

We’ve compared the costs of a moderate habit of 3 x 450ml (medium-sized) carrot juices a week, bought from a popular national juice bar, with the cost of buying your own carrots and juicing at home three times a week.

The upshot? Making your own juice at home could cost less than a third of the price of buying fresh juices from a café or juice bar.

Home vs cafe: Cost per 100ml

• 63c per 100ml for a home-squeezed carrot juice (based on the average cost of carrots from a major supermarket and including a weekly cost to cover the price of the juicer) 
• $1.67 per 100ml for a freshly squeezed store-bought juice.

Of course, when you’re juicing at home or buying a concoction from a café, you may opt for more than one fruit or vegetable, or a combination of multiple ingredients, which would all affect the cost. 

If you stick to seasonal ingredients and limit wasted produce, we believe that juicing at home is still likely to be the cheaper option.

Cost of waste

The money speaks for itself when it comes to home juicing. But there are other factors to consider when deciding to juice or not to juice, such as the potential costs to the environment.

For example, unless your bringing your own cup, buying three juices a week requires 156 plastic or plastic-lined cups, some of which may not be recyclable. 

Is your juice bar eco-aware?

“Consumers can think consciously about what juice bars they are buying from – do they use biodegradable packaging, do they source fruits and vegetables from environmentally conscious orchards and farms? Do these companies consider their environmental footprint?” says ÌÇÐÄVlog home economist Fiona Mair.

Opting for an eco-aware juice bar and taking your own cup may help to mitigate some of these downsides. 

A juicer won’t last forever

On the other hand, Fiona says a juicer’s lifespan is probably in the range of five to eight years, potentially more if it’s well maintained. This means it, too, is destined for landfill. 

According to Fiona, you should consider the energy it uses and its manufacture before buying. You should also look after your machine to ensure it reaches maximum longevity.

“Don’t put parts in the dishwasher, even though manufacturers state they can go in,” she says. “The parts will stay strong and be less likely to crack over time.”

Fiona also advises you clean your juicer as soon as possible after juicing and dry it well.

Try to replace the parts

Although motor burnouts usually spell the end of an appliance, some more expensive juicers are worth the cost of replacing loose parts, such as blades and jugs.

Possibilities of pulp

Making your own juice also means you have control over what happens to the byproduct – pulp. 

At home, you can be sure this is responsibly turned into compost rather than discarded in general rubbish. Alternatively, Fiona suggests using the pulp in your cooking, such as carrot pulp for carrot cake or other vegetable pulp for fritters.

The convenience factor

Of course, there are times when the desire for a fresh juice strikes while you’re out – not home with your juicer. 

If you’re not the type to make a juice in advance to take with you, then the convenience of a store-bought thirst quencher is always appealing. There’s also the simple but undeniable luxury of having someone else make it for you. 

But there’s a big upside to having a juicer at home, especially if your juice intake follows a predictable routine, such as for breakfast, after a workout, or as an after-school snack. 

“To get the most out of a juicer, you need to be using it every day,” says Mair. She suggests storing it on the benchtop in your kitchen where you have easy access to it.

Get creative with flavour and nutrition

Enjoying a specialty juice can serve as a little indulgence and is certainly one of the healthier ways to treat yourself. 

If you’re buying just a few juices a week, you’re probably better off avoiding yet another appliance cluttering your kitchen. But for those who love to dabble with flavour and create wholesome and delicious fare, a juicer can be invaluable and lots of fun.

Try different combinations, add nuts and powders, and sneak a few vegetables into the kids’ diet by disguising them as fruit juice. 

You can also use your juicer to make ice blocks in summer, or even fruity cocktails.

Juicing with the seasons

When you juice at home, you can be sure you’re enjoying the freshest, most nutrient-dense fruit and vegetables by choosing what’s in season and organic. 

This isn’t simply a frugal benefit but a flavourful one, too, as you can buy what’s ripe and on special – not what’s on a year-round menu board.

The final squeeze

Ultimately, making your own fresh juice at home is the most cost-effective option for the regular juice drinker.

But if you’re not likely to be bothered using the machine, have fewer than three juices a week, or simply enjoy the ritual of buying a juice that’s been made for you by someone else, it’s probably best to stick with the juice bar. Just choose one with good environmental credentials to make sure you’re not contributing to waste.

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They’re pretty popular nowadays, but are soda makers like the SodaStream just a fad, or a worthwhile investment?

We do the maths and weight up all the pros and cons to help you decide if buying one is the right choice for you. 

Pro: A soda maker could save you money

We did the maths and found that even if you use high levels of carbonation, a SodaStream or another brand of soda maker is usually cheaper than buying bottled sparkling water (especially if you have a penchant for the pricey imported stuff). 

Based on a cylinder refill price of $20, we calculated the price per litre of sparkling water made with maximum carbonation for each of the 12 models we tested. 

Our results showed the price per litre at this carbonation setting ranged from 38c per litre to 76c per litre, but it would be cheaper still if you used a lower carbonation setting. 

When you compare that to the price of the cheapest sparkling water you can buy in major Australian supermarkets, which is their own-label brand at around 96c per litre*, it looks pretty appealing.

*Price at time of writing.

This means if your household drinks roughly 2L of sparkling water per day, you could save anywhere from $146 to $420 per year with a soda maker versus buying own-label supermarket sparkling water. 

Your savings increase substantially if you use a lower carbonation setting or if you’re switching from a more expensive branded sparkling water (which can cost $3 to $4 per litre or even more). 

You can also get more bubbles by using chilled water when carbonating, as opposed to water straight from the tap, although this does use more gas.

Pro: They’re easy to use

Soda makers are essentially dispensers that include a carbon dioxide cylinder and one or two reusable water bottles. 

You fill the supplied bottle with water, insert into the machine, push a button, and compressed carbon dioxide from the cylinder is injected to create bubbly water.

Sounds very simple, and it is, but ÌÇÐÄVlog test expert Adrian Lini says that some models are definitely easier to use than others.

“When you’re considering how easy they are to use, one of the main things to look at is how you insert the reusable water bottle,” says Adrian.

“With some machines, you just pop it in the front, but others require you to insert it in the base or screw it in, which can be awkward and may be difficult for some.”

Some models we tested also caused more spillage than others. 

In our soda maker reviews, we’ve given each model an ease of use score to help you decide which one is right for you. 

Pro: No more single-use plastic

Making your own sparkling water with a soda maker not only means you no longer have to carry heavy plastic bottles home from the supermarket (and find somewhere to store them), but it also eliminates single-use plastic from soda bottles.

On average, Australians use more than 140kg of plastic per person each year and only around 14% of that is recycled. 

And even if you do recycle your plastic bottles, there’s still the carbon footprint associated with the manufacturing, transport, logistics and processing of the bottles to consider. 

Anything that stops more plastic being sent to landfill, where it can take thousands of years to break down, is a good thing. So as you sit back and enjoy your homemade bubbles, you can revel in the joy of cutting out all that waste, too.

Pro: You can tailor the amount of ‘sparkle’ you want

Take note if you’re specific about how much ‘zhoosh’ you like in your H₂0.Ìý

When selecting a soda maker, you can choose between an automatic or manual machine – each giving you different ways to achieve varying levels of carbonation.

“An automatic machine gives you three settings to choose from that determine how much carbonation you’re injecting into your water,” Adrian says.

“If you’d rather be able to carbonate at different levels according to your preference, you should opt for a manual machine where you can hold the button down and release carbonation into the water for as little or as long as you like.” 

Pro: It can help you drink more water

Are you getting enough water? 

The Australian recommended daily intake for fluids is 2L for women and about 2.6L for men. (The recommended amount may vary depending on factors such as your activity level or other health issues). 

If you don’t like boring old tap water, a soda maker could be a great way to encourage you to drink more water and less of other beverages that are high in sugar such as juice or soft drink.

ÌÇÐÄVlog appliance expert Chris Barnes says: “I generally much prefer sparkling water to still, so I’ve found that my manual SodaStream helps me drink more water each day. I usually have it plain, maybe with a squeeze of lemon, but a splash of good cordial goes well, too.”

Another ÌÇÐÄVlog staff member agrees: “We like to add a twist of lemon, lime or fresh orange to our carbonated water. It’s been a great way for the family to drink more water and reduce sugar from other beverages like soft drinks.” 

Pro: There are soda makers for all budgets

When calculating the relative cost of buying bottled water versus making your own, you also need to take into account the purchase price of your soda maker and the lifetime of the appliance. 

The models we tested range from $49 for the MySoda Woody up to $499 for the Aarke Carbonator Pro. 

SodaStream is the best known soda maker brand and has various models available, ranging in price from $89 for the SodaStream Gaia to $119 for the SodaStream Terra and $160 for the SodaStream E-Terra.

The soda makers we tested from SodaStream, Breville, MySoda, DrinkMate, Philips and Aarke come with a warranty of two years, while the Monten and Twenty39 soda makers have a one-year warranty.

However, the life of your machine will depend on various factors, such as how often you use it.

There are many SodaStream and soda maker fans in the ÌÇÐÄVlog office, and all of them say their soda makers have lasted much longer than the two-year warranty period.

Pro: There’s a style of soda maker to suit you

We tested a range of soda makers that are currently available in Australia from SodaStream, Philips, Breville, DrinkMate, Monten, MySoda, Twenty39 and Aarke.

ÌÇÐÄVlog tester Adrian says the main differences between the performance of the models are:

1. how easy they are to use 
2. how easily you can tailor the level of carbonation to suit your preferences. 

Otherwise, your preference might come down to simply how the model looks, whether you can buy glass or other bottles, or how it carbonates. 

For example, the Aarke Carbonator Pro has a vintage-style metal lever you pull for carbonation (rather than pressing a button) which may appeal to you aesthetically. It has a hefty price tag though at $499. 

Whichever aspects are important to you, check our expert soda maker reviews before you buy to ensure you get the best value for money. 

Con: You need to remember to replace your gas cylinders

When your gas cylinder is empty, you need to swap the empty cylinder for a full one at participating retailers that include supermarkets, some petrol stations, Officeworks and homeware stores such as Target, Kmart and Big W. 

A new SodaStream cylinder will cost you around $36, but the price to swap an empty cylinder for a full one is around $19. 

The SodaStream cylinders are the most widely available and are compatible with most soda makers from competing brands.

A few brands manufacture and sell their own gas cylinders, but they often use the same screw mounts as SodaStream.

How long each carbon dioxide cylinder will last depends on how much carbonation you use each time you press the button. If you’re light on the bubbles, your cylinder will last longer. 

How much sparkling water will I get from one canister?

SodaStream says that each of their cylinders makes up to 60L of sparkling water, depending on the level of carbonation and how often you use the machine. 

So, if you’re drinking approximately a litre of sparkling water a day, one cylinder could last you up to 8 to 9 weeks. 

µþ³Ü³ÙÌýour tester Adrian found his canister lasted 3 to 5 weeks drinking one litre a day, which goes to show that the level of carbonation you’re using makes a huge difference to how often you’ll need to replace it.

(Adrian tested how many litres of carbonated water he could make from one cylinder using a high carbonation setting. The resulting yield from the 10 models tested ranged from 37 to 52.5 litres from one cylinder.) 

Con: You’ll want extra bottles ‘ready to go’

Many soda maker fans we spoke to advise having at least two bottles so you can keep them chilled in the fridge ready for carbonation. (Some experts say chilled water holds carbonation better, and SodaStream also advises using cold water.)

This means that if you only have one bottle of chilled water ready to go, once you’ve zhooshed and drunk that carbonated water, you have to refill and wait for that bottle to chill (unless of course you keep chilled water in the fridge in another type of bottle and transfer it to your soda maker bottle). 

ÌÇÐÄVlog staff member Rachel says: “There are no words for how much I love my SodaStream. We have four bottles and three cylinders. My local servo now swaps the cylinders which is more convenient for me than taking them to the supermarkets.”

But even though cold water holds carbonation better, Rachel uses tap water.

“A big point of contention in my extended family is whether you zhoosh before you put in the fridge, or after – some put un-gassed bottles in the fridge and only gas them when they’re ready to drink it. Ours are always bubbly and ready to go.”

Con: It takes up bench space

Do you have space for yet another kitchen appliance? 

To ensure you get the most use out of it, your soda maker needs to be out on your bench where you can easily access it every day. And some models are larger than others.

“Soda makers are generally quite slim with a small footprint,” says Adrian. 

“Both the Breville InFizz Fusion and the DrinkMate OmniFizz have slimline designs. Although they have a footprint that’s a similar size to the SodaStream, the body of these units are thinner, so they look smaller on the bench. 

“The Aarke, Monten and Twenty39 models are slimline as well.

“Most soda makers have to be a similar size though to hold the bottle and the gas cylinder.”

Con: Carbonation increases the acidity of water

Is it just as healthy to drink sparkling water as standard H₂0?Ìý

In terms of hydration, experts say they’re created equal, but sparkling water contains carbon dioxide which is more acidic, and acidic drinks can be corrosive to your teeth enamel. 

While plain (or ‘normal’) water with no added flavour or bubbles is overall the best drink option for your body and your teeth, carbonated water is still a better option than fruit juice or other fizzy drinks that are sweetened. 

Just enjoy your sparkling water in moderation and, as an extra precaution if you’re concerned, drink it alongside a meal – eating produces saliva that can help neutralise acids. Or drink it with a reusable straw to minimise contact with your teeth.

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On this page:

• How we choose what we test
• How we test soda makers
• ÌÇÐÄVlog Expert Rating

As with most of our product testing, our aim is to test the most popular brands and models on the market and what you’re most likely to see in stores. SodaStream is one of the largest beverage companies in the world so we test a number of models from its range. We also look at other brands including Breville, Arke and Twenty39.

After surveying the market, we put together a final list that goes to our buyers. They then head out to the retailers and purchase each product, just as a normal consumer would. We do this so we can be sure these products are the same as any consumer would find them and not ‘tweaked’ in any way for better performance.

How we test soda makers

We assess performance, ease of use and record the total amount of carbonated water that can be made using one canister of CO2. We also calculate the cost per litre so you can find a soda maker that suits your budget.

Performance

Our testers assess whether the machines can achieve a low, medium and high level of carbonation using either the automatic or manual settings (depending on the type of soda maker).

They also measures how consistent the carbonation is for a total of 10 bottles by measuring how much CO2 has been added.

Ease of use

To determine how easy the soda maker is to use, Adrian looks at:

• ease of installing and removing the CO2 cylinder – this should be simple and quick
• ease of installing and removing bottle – this should be easy without the chance of water spilling
• ease of controls – these should be simple and allow the user to control the amount of sparkling water
• ease of using the supplied bottle and lid – can it lay down in the fridge? Can the lid be secured tightly?
• water spillage – is there water spillage while carbonating?
• ease of cleaning the soda maker – does it collect fingerprints? Is it easy to wipe over?
• cylinder replacement program – is this practical and easy to do?

ÌÇÐÄVlog Expert Rating

The ÌÇÐÄVlog Expert Rating is our overall score and consists of ease of use (80%) and performance (20%). We recommend soda makers with a ÌÇÐÄVlog Expert Rating of of 80% or above.

Ease of use is made up of ease of installing/removing CO2 cylinder (20%), ease of installing/removing the drinking bottle (20%), ease of controls (20%), water spillage (20%), ease of cleaning (10%), assessment of the bottle shape and lid quality (5%), and the quality of the CO2 canister return/replacement program (5%).

The post How we test soda makers appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

On this page:

• How we choose what we test
• How we test
• Test criteria explained
• Our test lab
• Ready to buy?

Our home economist Fiona Mair and tester Chantelle Dart know their way around a kitchen and have endless knowledge about kitchen appliances. Fiona’s 30 years of experience means she’s seen lots of new technology enter the kitchen space. She’s put many juicers to the test over the years and has fine-tuned our test method to reflect the latest trends, such as the rise in popularity of adding green leafy vegetables to the mix.

How we choose what we test

With so many to choose from, what makes us choose one juicer to test over another? As with most of our product testing, our aim is to test the most popular brands and types on the market and what you are most likely to see in the shops. We cover both fast (centrifugal) and slow juicer types.

We survey manufacturers to find out about their range of products, we check market sales information and we also check for any member requests to test specific juicers. From this information we put together a final list that goes to our buyers. They then head out to the retailers and purchase each product, just as a normal consumer would. We do this so we can be sure they are the same as any consumer would find them and not ‘tweaked’ in any way.

How we test

We process a kilogram each of carrots, apples and oranges, and a combination of English spinach, kiwi, pear, cucumber, celery, and mint to make green juice. From these tests, we evaluate each juicer’s ability to juice foods with varying degrees of hardness and texture, and measure their yield and juicing time.

We also assess them for ease of use. Firstly, we assess how easy it is to make juice; does the fruit have to be cut up into small pieces, or can you put whole fruit into the chute? Is the juicer easy to put together, and take apart again for cleaning and storage? And last, but not least, there’s the actual cleaning up; juicing can be a messy business so a model can win points here for making the clean-up as simple as possible.

In the past we also had juice samples assessed for nutritional content. The juices were assessed for Vitamin C, calcium, iron and magnesium. We found no particular type of juicer fares better or worse for this, so we focus our test on ease of use, juicing time and yield. Nutritional results are discussed in more detail in our buying guide.

Test criteria explained

The overall score is made up of:

• ease of use (70%)
• juicing yield (30%)

Ease of use is based on:

• general ease of juicing and how small the pieces have to be to fit into the chute (50%)
• ease of assembly and dis-assembly (25%)
• ease of cleaning (25%).

We think that if a juicer is too difficult and fiddly to use, it’s more likely to stay in the cupboard, so we give ease of use a high weighting.

Although we test the juices produced for nutritional content and they serve as a good guide to what you can expect, these don’t factor into our overall score, because a number of variables may contribute to the results. These may include the batch of fruit, time of year or the time the juice is exposed to the air.

Our test lab

We maintain a kitchen lab that is up to date with the latest reference machines and calibrated measurement tools for our testers to bring you the right results.

For any testing required where we don’t have the necessary in-house skill or equipment, such as nutritional analysis, we use an external -accredited lab.

Ready to buy?

Check out our juicer buying guide so you know what to look for, and our reviews to find the best models.

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