Depending upon how I feel, sometimes I prefer to make myself a smoothie instead of a juice recipe. Typically this comes at a time after I have done some exercise and want to get some protein into me. A banana, blueberry and soy milk smoothie provides both protein and energy. Often I also add a tablespoon of Maximuscle Promax vanilla protein powder too just for a bit of an extra protein hit. The small amount ensures the protein powder flavor does not become overpowering.

The blueberries I use are frozen. In Japan, fresh blueberries are very expensive so frozen works out as better value for me.

I choose to use soy milk instead of cows milk simply because when I drink a lot of cow’s milk my skin condition deteriorates. Also in Japan (where I live anyway) cows milk just does not taste very good to me and soy milk is readily available at a reasonable price.

Typically I add:

• 1 regular sized banana (2 if very small)
• 10-15 frozen blueberries
• 250ml of soy milk (could substitute with cows milk)
• small scoop of protein powder (optional) [EDIT: I don't add this these days]

Mix in a blender for about 10 seconds and enjoy.

Hamilton Beach 67650 Review

This juicer is one of the most popular on the market today. At time of writing, there are around 400 [EDIT: over 450] customer reviews for this model on Amazon with an average rating of 4/5. To me this is much more re-assuring than a rating of 5/5 but with only a handful of reviews. This is not a juicer that I own, instead, I opted for the Breville BJE200XL. They are both budget centrifugal juicers but it is actually the Hamilton Beach that is the cheaper of the two.

Firstly I shall outline the features and specifications of this machine followed by a discussion of the pros and cons as I see them to purchasing this machine. The best price Hamilton Beach 67650 juicer can be found if you shop online at Amazon.

Check the Current Price @ Amazon

Specifications:

• high powered centrifugal juicer with 1.1 horsepower motor (equates to 820 watts)
• 3 inch wide feed tube
• cleaning brush and collection beaker included with unit
• dishwasher safe
• 14.4 by 10 by 18 inches in size

The 67650 Big Mouth Pro Juice Extractor is a powerful centrifugal juicer produced by Hamilton Beach. It is slightly more powerful than the Breville BJE200XL juicer but actually costs slightly less. Both of these machines have  a 3 inch wide opening to feed your fruit and vegetables into. This may not seem particularly big however is actually considerably larger than juicers like the Magimix le Duo. I personally use the Magimix juicer but it does involve more chopping, to ensure things will fit into the machine, than either the Breville or Hamilton Beach machines. So even though it may not seem all that significant, with the Hamilton Beach 67650 Big Mouth Pro you will be able to save time preparing your ingredients every time you use the machine. One of the big advantages of centrifugal juicers over more expensive masticating juicers is that they are quick. The large chute make using this machine even faster.

Hamilton Beach 67650 Parts

As the 67650 juicer comes with a collection jug it means you do not have to spend time tracking down an appropriate container to collect your juice. The beaker is the perfect height to match up with the juicer which means there will be no loss through wayward splashes. Another bonus is the cleaning brush that is included. Again this may not seem all that significant but a brush is an essential item to allow you to get the strainer basket completely clear of the small pulp particles that are produced during juicing. It also speeds up the cleaning procedure. Of course you can use your dishwasher but for me, the most important thing is to try to clean your juicer as soon after use as possible. Doing so means you are much more likely to be able to get away with rinsing rather than washing with soapy water.

The Hamilton Beach 67650 juicer takes up more space than the Breville BJE200XL mentioned above. This may or may not factor into the equation. Both juicers are in the same class (under $100), they are both great entry level centrifugal machines. The Hamilton Beach model is slightly more powerful and is a little cheaper. But for me, the size and styling of the Breville machine is better. Maybe I’m biased though…I’ve got the Breville BJE200XL but I don’t have this particular model from Hamilton Beach. You can check out further customer reviews on Amazon.com. This is the best place to buy a Hamilton Beach 67650 because they offer the lowest price that I’ve been able to find online.

Further Reading:

• Hamilton Beach 67650 Manufacturer’s Product Manual

The Le Duo juicer from Magimix is the one that I currently use to make the majority of my juices. It is a centrifugal juicer that also comes with a citrus press. As it spins so fast, it makes juicing grapefruits and oranges a breeze. I am a big fan of centrifugal juicers simply because they allow you to make fresh fruit and vegetable juices so quickly. On the down side, yes you often get a bit of froth on the top of your juice and, related to this, your juice may oxidise more quickly causing a lost of nutrients. However for me, the speed at which I can juice more than makes up for these concerns. In fact, it could be argued that the speed at which you can make juice with a centrifugal juicer means there is less time for your juice to oxidise.

Buy this juicer from Amazon.co.uk

Just to be clear, this juicer seems harder to find in the U.S. therefore this review will be more useful for customers living in the U.K. and Europe. So to carry on with this Magimix Le Duo juicer review, here are the reasons that I love this juicer so much.

• very fast juicing is possible
• relatively easy to clean
• all parts are dishwasher safe
• a seperate citrus press is included

This machine is large enough to be able to make about a litre of juice before you would need to empty the cylinder of pulp. For me this is perfect as I usually just juice for myself and my lady friend. Cleaning the Magimix Le Duo is easy and does not take very long. However one thing I must point out, and this will be the same for any fruit and vegetable juicer, is that the sooner you clean it after use, the easier it will be. You will get less staining of your machine and the fruit and vegetable pulp will have less time to stick to your juicer. You can actually wash it in the dishwasher. Personally I do not do this.

One thing that aids cleaning greatly is a kitchen brush to scrub the outside of the cylindrical container. There are a lot of tiny holes where the juice is forced through while you are juicing and a brush is the perfect size to get rid of all the bits of pulp that remain after you have used the Magimix spatula to remove the majority of it. All the other parts simply need a rinse and possibly a wipe depending on how quickly you clean them. The image below shows all the parts that come included with the Magimix le Duo juicer.

The citrus press that comes included with the Magimix Le Duo is handy. It makes preparing a simple orange juice very easy. To be honest, this is one of my favorite juices. You can of course make your orange juice by cutting the peel off and feeding the pieces into the cylindrical container. Using the citrus press produces a juice that contains some bits of pulp whereas the other method gives a much smoother, non-bitty juice. So you have the option to make the style of juice you prefer.

To conclude this Magimix Le Duo juicer review it is the reasonable price, speed of juicing and ease of clean up that make this machine perfect for the majority of my juicing needs.