A juicer mixer grinder is undoubtedly the most versatile appliance in your kitchen. It reduces human efforts to a great extent while providing a better and easier way to get things done.
It can process your food in no time- from whipping cream to grinding spices and extracting juices. The best juicer mixer grinders in India are loaded with useful features for different purposes that talk about extreme versatility!
But, how to use a juicer mixer grinder?
I have noticed some people simply using simple mixer grinder to blend the fruits and vegetables and straining the pulp to separate the juice. But there are some limitations.
Any recklessness while handling your expensive machinery can get it damaged and render it useless; you wouldn’t want that to happen, right?
With a decade of experience as a mixologist, I have learned a thing or two about juicing, mixing, and various appliances to do so. Let me give you a detailed perspective to help you clear up all your doubts and make an informed decision. So consider this article as your guide on using a juicer mixer grinder proficiently.
How To Use A Juicer Mixer Grinder Properly?
If you are using the juicer mixer grinder for the very first time, I recommend that you go through the user reference manual thoroughly to understand the different parts, their uses, and ways of operating.
Alternatively, you can also watch videos to get a better demonstration of how to operate your juicer mixer grinder. The user manual along with online knowledge resources will also make you aware of common problems that you might encounter while using the machine and what are the troubleshooting steps for those troubles.
Various Uses of Juicer Mixer Grinders
People of all ages love Juices, smoothies, and shakes. A juicer mixer grinder utilizes a heavy-duty motor that powers the sharp blades to rotate and satisfy all your juicing, mixing, and blending needs.
It comes with 2-4 number of jars usually made of stainless steel (for dry grinding, wet grinding and mixing) and polycarbonate material (for juicing). Here are the various uses of juicer mixer grinders:
Preparing Fresh Juice
A glass of fresh fruit juice is sometimes all you need to kickstart your day with a subtle boost of energy. Well, mixer grinders can help you making apple juice, watermelon juice, and orange juice that are favorite to most of us.
Thanks to modern juicer mixer grinders, you can prepare a glass of ready-to-serve fresh fruit juice in a fraction of the time.
However, make sure to consume the juice soon after preparing it because the shelf life of juices prepared by juicer mixer grinders is not as good as cold press juices.
Making Chutneys And Purees
You can utilize your mixer grinder to easily make purees, tasty dips, tangy chutneys from your favorite fruits or vegetables. Just blend the ingredients in your juicer mixer grinder, and you’re good to go. And, unlike juices, purees can be safely stored in the refrigerator for weeks.
Dry Grinding Spices
Grinding spices to prepare masala powder is one of the primary uses of a juicer mixer grinder. Besides juicing, you can prepare a perfect blend of spices like cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, bay leaves, and cardamom to garnish your various dishes and make them even tastier.
Or, you can add the masala powder while cooking to give your food the delicious lip-smacking flavor that can make anyone drool over it.
Wet Grinding Dry Food Ingredients
Preparing powdered lentils or finely ground rice for making idli and dosa is tedious if done manually. A juicer mixer grinder can help in various wet grinding tasks that are usually performed by a wet grinder. Besides, you can grind sugar, and oats in your mixer grinder to use them in various food recipes.
Other Uses of Juicer Mixer Grinder
- Preparing delicious recipes by making the pastes for the gravy base.
- Grounding nuts and spices right in your kitchen to spice up those gourmet meals.
- Grind fresh coffee beans to pour yourself a mug of refreshing coffee.
- Mincing meat for delicious meatballs or patty will bring a smile to everyone’s face.
- Crush ice to make those fun ice popsicles and relive the childhood days of your kids.
- Make some amazing milkshakes for the kids and see them sip until the last drop.
- Blend some nutritious smoothies when you are trying to shed some extra weight.
Can You Use A Mixer Grinder As A Juicer?
WELL YES! YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN. BUT YOU SHOULD NOT.
If you do not have access to a juicer, then a mixer grinder can be a make-do arrangement for juicing. It is easy on the pocket when compared to a cold press juicer or centrifugal juicer. While mixer grinders are widely used for making pastes, powders, you can even make juices on requirement. However, I would not recommend you doing that.
There are various reasons that made me reach this decision. The first and most obvious reason why you should not use a mixer grinder for juicing is because the consistency is completely ruined.
As we all know, a juice is supposed to have a thinner consistency, and a smoothie comes in a thicker consistency. However, when you try to make juice in a mixer grinder, it crushes the fruit or the vegetable and leaves a thick, pulpy texture to the juice.
Now that itself is a big no for me! But this is not the only reason why I suggest avoid using a mixer grinder for squeezing juices. Let me list down a few more health and nutritional facts that make mixer grinders a less preferable fit for juicing:
- When you try to make juice in a mixer grinder, you need to add a lot of water, which dilutes and reduces the nutritional value of the fruit or the vegetable.
- Using the tall jar of a mixer grinder to extract juice is a lot of hard work as you will need to take the additional effort of manually straining the juice from the pulp. It often results in a lot of wastage as the pulp retains a lot of juice.
- For juicing hard vegetables like carrots and beetroots, a mixer grinder jar can be a really difficult option to increase the yield & juicing efficiency, as it can even damage the blades if they are not finely cut.
I suggest using a juicer mixer grinder instead an ordinary mixer grinder as the former comes with a combination of a grinder and juicing facility. It is slightly heavy on the pocket for sure, but it takes care of your grinding, blending, and juicing needs all at once.
What Makes A Juicer Mixer Grinder Better Than Ordinary Mixer Grinders?
A juicer mixer grinder is the best option for any urban kitchen in today’s world if a dedicated juicing machine is unavailable. It can provide the simplicity and practicality required to prepare a variety of cuisines.
Besides regular facilities in a mixer grinder, a specialized extractor blades with a sieve filtration and a pulp collector is also included in a juicer mixer grinder, which greatly simplifies the procedure overall. I would highly recommend opting for a juicer mixer grinder because of the following reasons:
- A juicer mixer grinder is more efficient and makes your life simple by helping you finish mise en place in a shorter span of time hence making your time in the kitchen more productive.
- Juicer mixer grinders are amazingly powerful kitchen tools that make making food much simpler, despite their simplistic appearance. Besides, you can chop meat, grind nuts, whip up milkshakes, squeeze juices and even smash ice.
- These kitchen appliances are indeed a complete value for the money because they have such a wide range of uses. The inbuilt pulp chamber, one of the top characteristics of contemporary juicer mixer grinders, greatly improves the efficiency of juicing and reduces waste.
- These gadgets have modest, streamlined forms that allow them to fit in a relatively small space in your kitchen. To fit this item in your kitchen, you don’t need to move many other appliances around.
With these many benefits, how do I not vouch for this absolutely amazing appliance?! You can use your juicer mixer grinder for multiple purposes. Here are some of my recommendations for the best results-
- Havells Stilus Juicer Mixer Grinder
- Philips Daily Collection HL7576/00 Juicer Mixer Grinder
- Sujata Powermatic Plus Juicer Mixer Grinder
Tips to Use a Juicer Mixer Grinder
While dealing with a juicer mixer grinder, you have to ensure the machine’s safety and yours. Carelessness while working with such electrical appliances can cost you more than just money. Here are a few safety and maintenance tips I learned by using juicer mixer grinders.
- Avoid overfilling the jars: The pulverization of ingredients might spit some of the ingredients out of the jar if you overfill. In that case, avoid filling the jar with more than 1/4th of its capacity to prevent such accidents. Also, make sure to add the required amount of water or milk so that the blades don’t get jammed.
- Clean the juicer mixer grinder after every use: Your juicer mixer grinder is a hardworking piece of machinery; you may find yourself using your juicer mixer grinder every day. In that case, you have to ensure thorough cleaning of your machine after every use.
- Ensure proper locking: You always have to make sure the jars are properly locked to the machine. This is the part of using a juicer mixer grinder that requires utmost attention and care. Any looseness in the fitting of the jars can result in broken blades and severe damage to the juicer mixer grinder.
- Keep the machine away from the reach of children: The function of a juicer mixer grinder may sound pretty simple, but it involves complex and rotating sharp blades that can cause harm if handled carelessly. That said, your children may end up accidentally turning the machine on- this can potentially cause some serious injuries.
- Use the right speed: Different ingredients require different speeds. For example- processing dry spices require relatively higher speeds than juicing fruits and vegetables. Maintaining the right speed helps in regulating the consistency of the mixture. However, in any case, make sure not to start your juicer mixer grinder with higher speeds- start from low and gradually increase the speed to medium or high.
- Avoid using hot ingredients in the juicer mixer grinder: Have patience and let the ingredients sit at room temperature for about 10-15 minutes before pouring them into your juicer mixer grinder. Using hot ingredients can overheat the blades or the motor that may cause some harm to your expensive appliance. Moreover, excess heat can also damage the delicate flavor of your ingredients.
- Use high-quality accessories: Avoid using cheap accessories with your juicer mixer grinder. Using low-quality blades may save you some money, but it can severely harm the health of your expensive piece of machinery. You might end up losing more money on repairs than what you would be saving by using them.
- Unplug the machine after usage: After use, unplug the machinery to prevent any accidents. Also, make sure to store the juicer mixer grinder in a dry place with no water around to prevent an electric shock.
- Give it a break: Continuous dry grinding generates a significant amount of heat that can damage the blades of your juicer mixer grinder. Ensure to give your machine a break every 2-5 minutes of continuous dry grinding.
The Conclusion
I hope that I have been able to give you an unbiased and practical explanation of why I recommend a juicer mixer grinder over a regular mixer grinder. While it is definitely possible to extract juice from a mixer grinder, it is also important to consider the factors mentioned above while making that selection.
Purchasing a juicer mixer grinder is certainly heavier on the pocket. However, if I consider the versatility and ease of use, not to forget the nutritional factor- a juicer mixer grinder is definitely a better choice than mixer grinder for any modern household. Therefore, reflect on these points before you make your decision, and that will definitely make your time more productive, and your kitchen visits more efficient.
The creative examples and out-of-the-box ideas you presented in your article were inspiring.