Photo: gadl / Flickr

‘I have always been a slave to juice, that sweet, heady nectar that dribbles from a ripe peach or melon, runs down your chin and drips on to your chest,’ says Nigel Slater in his book Thirst. ‘Juice is what takes fruit from being simply a pleasure to a sensual experience. All juice is good but some juice is sublime – consider mango, mulberry and papaya, cherry, peach and blackcurrant.’ Juices are easy enough to make ‑ one just needs the right equipment.

Juicing equipment – the basics

Besides being delicious, juices are also packed with nutrition and all sorts of health benefits. But what equipment does one need to start with? ‘The juicer I use most is my little citrus press,’ says Slater. ‘It is not a designer number, just an old-fashioned stainless steel citrus press that cost about a fiver. I use it for halved oranges, lemons, grapefruit and the occasional lime and pomegranate. But then, that is all it is good for.’

The juice extractor

The next step up, which is the only way to go if you’re a keen juicer, is to purchase a juice extractor. It’s worth looking at a centrifugal juice extractor because it manages to get much more juice out of fruit and vegetables than cheaper versions. Slater explains, ‘the extractor you choose will almost certainly depend on what you are prepared to pay. After a few false starts, I spent a small fortune on an American-made centrifugal machine that gets more juice out than the cheaper ones.’

He says that juicing with a centrifugal juice extractor gives ‘more liquid for your money, a drier pulp and (wicked) you get filter papers that take away some (though not all) of the hell of cleaning it.’ Slater doesn’t name any particular machines but says that you can find a variety of options at around fifty quid. Look out for an efficient machine that is also quiet.

Tip: The pulp from fruit and vegetable juicing is great for your compost heap.

Tags: fruit, Healthy diet