Juicebox Heroes: battle of the blenders
Two blenders, 3 rounds of gruelling combat. But which will claim victory over the veggies?
Juice diets are all the rage right now, so you may well have considered swapping your supper for a liquid meal.
Before you embark on your fruity journey towards better health (or tastier milkshakes) though, you’re going to need the right tool for the job.
We took two of the best blenders on the market, the Panasonic MJ-L500 and the NutriBullet Pro 900, and put them head to head to see which came out on top.
Panasonic MJ-L500 (£199)
Design
This is one juicer that’s efficient at grinding stuff, and its many parts mercifully assemble into one compact machine. This means churning up a glass of OJ doesn’t feel like a military operation… until you get to the cleaning, that is.
In use
Simply shoving peeled fruit down a funnel is all it takes to get this Panasonic working. Pulp is pushed out of one of the machine’s spouts and sweet, delicious juice comes out of the other. Don’t try eating the pulp, though: it’s gross. You get a special icer attachment, too, so it can handle frozen fruit without damaging itself in the process. Handy.
Results
This does a superb job of eradicating bits from your juice, so what’s left is only the good stuff. It also comes with a complimentary toothbrush. Why? For cleaning it, which takes about 15 minutes. Arguably, it’s worth the effort.
NutriBullet Pro 900 (£103)
Design
Is your fruit consumption akin to an orangutan’s? Then the powerful 0.96-litre capacity should quench the biggest appetite for health food, and you’ll feel positively saintly after chugging your way through this machine’s produce.
In use
NutriBullets are famously easy to use and this one’s basically the standard model, only bigger. Just bung your chosen ingredients into its cup, press that down into the machine and it’ll blend everything together in seconds.
Results
As the NutriBullet mashes everything in its cup together, you can end up with a vivid sludge, but adding in some ice or milk will help with that. Cleaning is a total breeze, though. Wash the cup and blending piece together and you’re done.
Panasonic MJ-L500 vs NutriBullet Pro 900: The verdict
These are both great juicers – so which should you buy?
Well, the Panasonic MJ-L500 does a superb job of turning fruit into juice but needs a bit more cleaning afterwards, while the NutriBullet Pro 900 is slightly easier to use (and clean) – not to mention almost half the price – but won’t give you a pulp-free result.
Ultimately it’s down to whether you prefer the clearer results served up by the Panny. We do, so we’re proclaiming that the winner. But either will set you nicely on the path to juice heaven.
Robert Leedham
Ex-Editor, Stuff magazine 
