Review #1 of the Omega VRT350HD Vertical Juicer

After weeks of intensive research I finally purchased a new juicer.  My 16 year old centrifugal juicer worked pretty well but was very loud and the pulp was a bit juicy.  With the price of organic produce I had hoped for a drier pulp and better yield, especially when juicing leafy greens, as well as a quiet juicer that does a good job juicing both fruits and vegetables.

A few years ago the Huron vertical juicer was the new rage.  It is quiet, has the new style vertical (tall) design, and is a "slow" juicer.  The slow juicers generally use an old style auger design like your grandmother's old clamp-to-the-counter, metal, meat grinder.  This style meat grinder is still for sale in gourmet and cook's supply sites and shops.  They are generally reasonably priced and some folks have used them as a cheap wheatgrass juicer.

Back to the Huron:  It was the rage among those who had about $400 (USD) or more to spend on a newfangled juicer.  As time passed, the new guys on the block came out with their new and improved vertical juicers.  There was the Omega VRT330, 330HD and 350HD among others.  The newest versions generally have harder materials in critical parts such as the screen and auger.  This addresses rumors that there were screen problems with earlier vertical juicers.  There is even another brand that boasts their plastic doesn't leach a certain chemical.  That is very seductive when trying to select among very similar juicers.  Two juicer dealers do not recommend that non-leaching brand but prefer the Omega Vert Juicer.  Consequently, I purchased an Omega VRT 350 HD vertical juicer.  Shop around as prices vary a bit.   If you buy online, you should get free shipping. 

This is not a cheap purchase.  One hopes it will give a decade or more of service, but be sure your dealer has a favorable return policy.  The juicer could weigh over 18 pounds boxed, and if you have to pay return shipping, it could get costly -- that is if you are allowed to return it!

The juicer arrived in good condition.  The instruction manual is minimal.  Too minimal.  The base unit, the motor, is heavier than I expected.  In my opinion it is awkward to move the juicer as it has a sleek smooth base and no grips.  In my opinion, it is difficult to disassemble, after juicing, to clean it.  But, I get ahead of myself.

The instructions give basic safety tips, show you how to put the parts together and take it apart for cleaning, and give some trouble shooting tips.  That's all folks.  The problem is, this is not your old centrifugal juicer or Champion style juicer.  It is a persnickety machine.  It is self-feeding for the most part, but you need to cut the produce into small pieces (opinions vary here) and add the pieces slowly to keep the unit from jamming, flooding, backing up, or getting tangled in fiber.  Yes, it is sometimes called a "slow juicer" but that's only part of the story.  It is a picky eater.  Even after partially de-stringing celery, and cutting the celery into 1 inch pieces, cutting the chard into 2 inch pieces and the chard stems into 1 inch pieces, strings got tangled in the pulp ejection spout area.  This is the hardest part to clean.  The pulp gets mashed into a near solid mass and I have to use the special cleaning tool to wedge and push it out after pulling at the strings as best I can.  This can be frustrating.

The juice is VERY pulpy.  Is the V in VRT for very pulpy?  Think of the pulpiest orange juice you can get commercially and then add some more pulp.  I was warned of this and tried straining the juice.  I filled a 2.5 inch diameter x 1 inch deep metal mesh strainer to the brim with thick pulp after juicing one cup of carrot, chard, celery, beet, ginger juice.  This is the blend I have been making daily for years.  With my old centrifugal juicer, the juice is a cleaner, much lower pulp, juice.  In the old juicer I do not have to cut the chard stems or leaves -- I just roll it up like a cigar and push it in;  I cut the celery once so that the length is 5 inches.  I only use a small piece of ginger -- one inch at most.  So, the prep time is greater for the Omega VRT because all stringy produce must be cut into small pieces that will not jam the machine.  Worst of all, I have gotten pieces of celery string, up to 3/4 inch, in the VRT juice! in addition to the thick pulp.  [see future posts for longer strings! and photos of the "string of the day"]

Overall, the cleanup is nearly the same as my previous centrifugal juicer -- that is if there are no plugged ports or spillovers to clean.  My old juicer had less parts to clean, so it is quicker and easier for me to clean.  The actual juicing time is longer than a centrifugal juicer.  The yield does not appear to be significantly greater even though the ejected pulp seems a bit drier.  The Omega VRT350 HD waste pulp is generally heavier that the waste from my 16 year old juicer for the same amount of juice produced by each.  One wishes the pulp  extracted into the juice of the VRT350HD was sifted and ejected into the trash by the juicer.  Note that I am using the fine strainer that comes with the juicer, and all reported results in this post are using the fine strainer!  [See strainer post in 2012] This pulpy juice is a real turn off for me.  As a seasoned juicer, I judge the juice unpleasantly pulpy.

My opinion:  I would rate this juicer disappointing.  There is a lot of online and video hype which makes me wonder whether this juicer gives a big mark-up to the on-line sales people.  In my opinion, the Omega VRT 350HD is a heavy, awkward to move, awkward to completely disassemble and clean, product that delivers an unpleasantly pulpy juice.  It sometimes makes a loud squeaking sound when juicing green leafy produce.  It does not handle stringy produce well.  It requires more prep time and more juicing time than my old centrifugal juicer.  It weighs more than my old juicer.  It does not deliver noticeably more juice although the juice contains, after draining the hand strainer of liquid, about two solid tablespoons of pulp per 8 ounce cup of vegetable juice.  This is unacceptable in my opinion.  I feel like I have to brush and floss after drinking this juice.  After I put a pint of the mixed vegetable juice in a clear glass pint jar in the refrigerator for 2.5 hours, there are 3 distinct layers:  a 1 inch pulp layer on the bottom, a 1 inch particle and foam layer on the top, and the 2 inches of good-looking juice in the middle of the mason jar. 

Furthermore, the instruction manual gives no guidance on how to prep the produce for juicing except "rinse everything thoroughly" and "cut or split any hard materials such as carrots into thin slices..."; minimal instruction on how best to clean the parts, no guidance on how to avoid or remove vegetable juice stains on parts, etc.  And there will be carrot and greens stains after just one juicing.  The parts are not to be washed in a dishwasher.  Did someone forget to tell them this is the twenty-first century?  Help me out here Omega! 

Quote from the Instruction Manual VRT350.  "Troubleshooting ...  The machine shakes.  This shaking is perfectly normal.  It is a sign of the motor working properly."  What?!

I will phone the company on Monday.  They are closed today.  Why do people love this machine?  Why all the hype?  Someone, please tell me.

Perplexed and pulpy,
Southwest Desert Blogger
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