L'EQUIP XL Pulp Ejection Juicer, Black

I ordered this late yesterday afternoon, Super Saver shipping, and it arrived here late this morning.Having seen all the John videos on juicers I ordered this in black since there are plastic parts ( pit is a mostly plastic juicer) that might get stained if I get into carrot juice. When I opened the overpack there is the box with pictures of a white juicer. Not a big enough deal to return it. But opening the box I found my black juicer. And only my black juicer. I later found a little label up in one of the corners of the box saying it contained a black juicer. So if you are here reading reviews before buying locally and you want a particular color juicer it is something to be aware of.Speaking of the packaging, the overpack was well crushed and the product box had a hole punched in one side. It looks like the juice spout probably poked through from the inside when the box was dropped.I figured there would be a booklet included with the usual safety warnings, operation instructions, and maybe a few recipes. Nothing. The only instructions you get are a warning label attached to the ejector cover saying there are sharp blades inside and you should only push items in with the supplied pusher and not open the unit until the motor has stopped.I took the unit apart to be sure I knew how to do that before getting it dirty and slippery. The latches that secure the top are plastic so will likely not be long lived. There are supposed to be safety interlock switches under them so that the unit can not be operated unless they are properly engaged. There is a switch under the latch on the side of the machine where the power switch is and when it is not depressed by the latch the motor will not turn on. But there is no switch on the other side and the motor will run when that latch is not engaged. Hopefully that will be the first latch to break. It takes a bit of fiddling to get everything lined up so the top is aligned with the latches and the pulp catcher. The metal strainer basket is spot welded to the spinning frame. On the underside of the frame there are faint rust marks at each weld mark. If it is rusting before use how long will it be before it rusts apart once I start using and washing it. But we need iron in our diet right.I have seen complaints from people about juicers splattering their kitchens with juice or pulp and John even picked up one of the juicers he was extolling that had a large puddle of pulp under it. I decided the safest thing to do was to make my first juice with the juicer sitting in the tub. When I got done there was some juice and pulp un the tub but I think it was from me being sloppy during the process.For my first juice I got out some apples that have been hanging around. There was one Red Delicious and two Granny Smith. The red delicious was the smallest and about the maximum size of the food chute so it was my first try. The pusher has a strange wedge cut out of it the purpose of which was not evident until I looked down the chute before putting the apple in. There is a long triangular septum attached to one side of the chute that the wedge in the pusher has to go around. So while you can put an uncut 3" apple in the chute you have to push the wedge through it effectively cutting it in half. I decided that it would probable be easier to quarter all of my apples with a knife, especially since the Granny Smiths would need to be quartered to fit in the chute at all.I am sure I amplified the sound by having the juicer in the tub but it is a noisy machine.I got about a cup of juice and 1/3 cup of froth out of my three apples. Checking the pulp bin the pulp appeared to be fairly dry but really was quite wet. I dug it out and tried to run it through the machine again. I got a little more juice out of the pulp but once that juice was extracted there was not enough moisture left in the pulp for it to slide off the plastic lid. So I am either going to have to throw out some juice with my pulp or run the pull back through the machine and continually disassemble it to clear the pulp out of the lid. I didn't notice any seeds in the pulp and don't know if they were buried in there or were chopped up and included in the juice.I forgot to line the pulp catcher with a plastic bag so cleanup was a little messier than it needed to be. The shape of the catcher leaves some tight angle corners that will be hard to clean if the pulp is allowed to dry in them. On the other hand, where getting that catcher lined up properly isn't automatic putting a plastic bag in there may make it harder to get a proper fit and result in pulp landing on the counter top rather than in the catcher. Getting the bin out of the juice bowl is not easy and works best if you grab the bowl and wobble it from side to side with the bin still attached to the motor until they break free. I don't know if this will do any damage to the motor though. Cleaning the strainer bin really requires a brush of some type. It would be nice if one were included but you have to supply your own. You need to be real careful trying to clean the inside of the bin with your fingers as the cutter blades are very close to the holes in the bottom edge of the strainer screen and will cut the ends off your fingers as easily as they will the skin off an apple.The apple juice tasted good and was probably as easy to make as it is to core and chop up an apple so so far so good. But I am not sure this is the juicer for the long haul. It seems like it is a good first juicer, but if you are buying a juicer to see what juicing is all about with the mindset that you will replace it if you get into it there are some cheaper juicers that might serve the purpose. If you are into juicing and want something to go the distance I would look fore something with more metal, especially the latches.

NOTE: The product description for this item says that it only has a 6 year warranty, but stamped right on the box it clearly says 10 year warranty.I started juicing after seeing Joe Cross's movie "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead." It struck a chord with me, and I decided to take action.Of course the first step is to get a good juicer!The internet is loaded with reviews of juicers, so I'll try not to be too redundant. Like a lot of people, I did a fair amount of research before buying a juicer. If there's any one aspect of juicers that I think everyone can agree on, it's that there is no perfect juicer--they all have their trade-offs. The L'Equip XL is a good, solid, entry level juicer with a lot of nice features and a solid 10 year warranty for the $120 price tag.Likes:Nice wide chute takes larger pieces of fruits and veggies--saves time on prep workSmall footprint on countertopPrice--a lot of bang for the buck compared to othersRelatively easy to take down, clean, and reassembleDislikes:Plastic notch inside chute (to align the pusher) is too big and things get stuck there a LOT and you have to fight it with the pusher to get things throughHalf of the pulp winds up not in the pulp basket, but stuck to the underside of the pulp chute--I suspect that this is because the pulp is still pretty moist because this isn't the most efficient juicer.Plastic arms to lock down chute/top seem flimsyPulp is pretty wet--juicer isn't very efficient in terms of juice extraction (see above)Fairly loudFoamy juice that separateMediocre at juicing leafy greens like kale, spinach, wheatgrass, etc.I've been juicing 3-5 times per day for about a month now. When looking into reviews about juicers, I noticed that a fair number of people said that the taste of juice from masticating/slow juicers was superior to centrifugal juicers. Frankly, I though this was a load of hooey and I had a hard time believing it--especially because the taste of the juice from my L'Equip was pretty darned good. Well, a friend of mine loaned me her Omega 8004 a few days ago, and let me tell you, the difference in the taste of the juice was astonishing! The slow juicer's juice was much more "bright" and "lively" than that from the centrifugal L'Equip XL. To be honest, if I hadn't tasted it myself, I wouldn't believe it! Some people claim that centrifugal juicers warm the juice too much which breaks down enzymes and effects the flavors, but, I've also seen "juice-offs" on Youtube where they compared the temps of juices from slow juicers and centrifugal juicers side by side and found no difference in temp. So, I don't know what the difference in taste comes from, but it is VERY noticeable--at least for me comparing the Omega 8004 and the L'Equip XL. I did notice that the juice from the 8004 was much less foamy, and, the juice produced by the 8004 did not separate (unlike the XL), so no need for constant re-stirring to get rid of the foam and blend it well.My L'Equip just so happens to have a bad switch, so, I'm going to be returning it and getting an Omega 8004. Yes, the chute is quite a bit narrower on the horizontal masticating juicers, but, the juice flavor is amazing, it cleans up super fast, and as a added benefit you can use the 8004 to make nut butters, nut milks, pasta, and yummy fruit sorbets. At $120 for the XL and $220 for the 8004, it's a fairly significant difference in price, but in addition to the taste difference the pulp from the 8004 is very dry, so I think you'll make up the $100 difference pretty quickly in terms of efficiency--I would guess that the 8004 easily produces 20%+ more juice that the XL does. While the chute on the 8004 is narrower which means more slicing and prep time than wide chute juicers, the 8004 cleans up VERY fast (like 1-2 minutes tops) and the added efficiency in getting as much juice as possible plus the multipurpose nature of the 8004 easily offsets the small extra amount of time to slice an apple into 6 sections instead instead of 4.For the occasional juicer I think the XL is a good choice, or, if money is just really tight it's a good juicer with a great warranty. But if you're serious about juicing, I highly recommend stepping up to the Omega 8004.

The product is awesome, the juice is great, just a few pulp of fruit, you really don’t waste anything. When I bought the product it says it will arrive by January 02, I got it before Christmas! So, great service too. Highly recommend this product.

I used the machine two times and it is not working working anymore

Very efficient