Don’t you just hate it when you still need to cut your ingredients into small bite-size pieces before actually juicing? This is especially true with slow juicers. Mueller Austria Juice Max Pro solved this issue with their innovative design for their vertical masticating juicer.
This innovation alone makes it stand out among the high-priced juicers on the market today. But did you know that it’s also one of the cheapest slow juicers?
This model is without its own share of flaws, though.
This is what we’re going to be revealing to you along with the benefits you’ll be getting. By the time you’re done reading this review, you’ll be able to confidently decide if this model is the right one for you.
Mueller Austria Juice Max Pro
Mueller Austria Juice Max Pro is a vertical type of masticating juicer, so it occupies a small surface area on your kitchen counter. It’s very similar to high-end brands like Tribest Slowstar SW-2000-B but does not cost as much.
This model’s feed chute is what actually caught our attention to give this a try. The design allows the same convenience you get with centrifugal juicers when it comes to prep time. No longer will you need to slice your ingredients into small sizes because of the wide chute opening.
All parts are BPA-free so you don’t need to worry about any contamination. It also has a safety sensor that prevents the unit from starting unless it’s properly assembled.
While it performs almost every functions that a premium slow juicer can do, it is not designed to be a food processor. If you want this additional functionality to create butternut, we recommend that you check Omega J8006 instead.
This item goes on sale on Amazon every now and then, so it’s best to check if you can grab it at its lowest discount now.
Power & Speed
Mueller Austria Juice Max Pro has a 150-Watt motor that spins the grinder at a slow speed of 60 RPM. This makes it very effective in extracting nutrients and juices compared to the cutting and spinning method of centrifugal types.
It’s very effective in hard ingredients like ginger roots and beets. Take note that although you can drop whole peeled ginger, you’ll need to dice it up first to prevent clogging. It’s a small extra work if you’re going to add ginger to your juice often.
Masticating juicers are very popular when it comes to juicing greens, whether it’s spinach, kale or wheatgrass. Mueller Austria Juice Max Pro is no exception. You’ll get significantly larger amounts of juice from your leafy veggies.
If you plan on juicing celery often, you need to make sure you use a fresh bunch stalk every time. Soft or soggy celery will, most often than not, clog the pulp spout.
Noise Level
Mueller Austria Juice Max Pro operates quietly, measured at 60 dB only. This is about the same level of sound as that of a normal conversation or a quiet office.
You can make your juices any time without worrying about disturbing the household. This is also an important factor to consider if you’re living in an apartment with neighbors who are sensitive to noise.
Feed Chute
If you had experiences with a standard masticating juicer, you know how simpler things could have been if you don’t need to dice your fruits and veggies all the time. Mueller Austria Juice Max Pro’s 3-inch wide feed chute helps cut down prep time to none, most of the time.
While the opening is 3″ in diameter, it’s shaft is designed not to go straight into the grinder. This helps prevent accidents even if you unintentionally inserted your hand in the chute. It’s so safe that you can even have your child help you out.
The large chute can accommodate whole small to medium-sized apples. You can also drop a whole lemon but it’s best to peel it first so as not to make your juice bitter.
Juice Jug
Mueller Juice Max Pro comes with 2 juice jug containers, one for the juice and the other for the pulp. Both containers do not have built-in covers but they do well in effectively catching the pulp and the juice.
If you’re worried about oxidation, the juice spout has an anti-drip cover. You can keep it closed and just open it when you’re done juicing; only then will it flow to the container. This cover also comes in handy when you rinse the unit before taking it apart.
Juicing Operation
Assembling Mueller Austria Juice Max Pro is not complicated to use. In summary, you just need to align the red dots by attaching and twisting the parts into place. As an added safety feature, this model will not start unless all parts are properly locked down.
Once it’s fully-assembled, you’ll just have to turn it on and start dropping your ingredients. The 3″ feed chute makes it possible for you to significantly reduce prep time since you don’t need to cut your ingredients all the time.
Since this is a masticating juicer, you can continue juicing for up to 30 minutes without having to stop it. The slow spinning speed of the grinder does not cause any overheat. This is actually ideal if you’re making juices in batches.
The biggest issue that we have found out with this model is that it doesn’t age that well. As you continue to use it regularly, performance starts to degrade to the point that pulps turn out to be moist. However, with a price point this low, you’ll surely be able to get more than its worth in half a year.
Cleanup
Mueller Austria Juice Max Pro is not advertised by the manufacturer to be dishwasher-safe. However, some people have been using their dishwasher to clean it and found no issues so far.
We recommend cleaning it by hand, though. It is very easy especially with the technique below that you can use for this model.
After you’re done juicing, close the juice spout, pour lukewarm water, then run reverse. This will loosen up any leftover pulp and help rinse the machine. You’ll still need to take it apart but all you have to do is just perform a final rinse with running water.
Dimensions
Mueller Austria Juice Max Pro has a dimension of 19 x 17.3 x 48.5 inches. It doesn’t occupy too much counter space with regards to the surface area. However, it can be too tall to be placed under most kitchen cabinets.
Unless you’re planning to use this often, you need to make sure that you have enough space with a height of around 49 to 50 inches to store this unit.
Warranty & Customer Support
Mueller Austria Juice Max Pro Vertical Masticating Juicer comes with a 2-year warranty upon purchase. You can extend this to 4 years if you register your product on their site, which is just a matter of filling up the online form.
Their customer service is swift to respond and can be easily contacted via http://www.muellerdirect.com/contact-us/. If you have any defective parts within the warranty period, they’ll send you a replacement in a matter of days.
PROS & CONS
Pros
- Very affordable vertical masticating juicer
- 3” wide feed chute; no need to dice ingredients
- Auger spins at 60RPM for higher juice yield
- Anti-drip spout to prevent spillage and for easy rinsing
Cons
- Hard veggies like ginger root still need to be cut into small pieces
- Quite picky with juicing celery; needs to crunchy-fresh
Consumer Ratings
At the time of this writing, more than 75% of verified buyers from Amazon gave this model a very high rating, some even gave it a perfect 5-star. They are mostly satisfied with its performance, yielding more juice than centrifugal juicers and runs very quietly.
Aside from being very affordable for a slow juicer, they also love the fact that they don’t need to cut their fruits and veggies into smaller pieces.
Some are not satisfied with this model, most of them receiving defective products right from the start. They also don’t like the fact using celery usually clogs their machine. However, the quick workaround for this is to just use crunchy-fresh celeries.
Final Words
If you’re planning to create celery juice with this machine, you’ll find it quite picky as soft and soggy celery can clog the machine with its pulp. However, it’s quite a welcome caveat as it limits you to just using fresh ingredients.
Mueller Austra Juice Max Pro Vertical Masticating Juicer is a great choice especially if you don’t have enough budget to buy the premium ones. It performs a lot better than centrifugal types with higher juice yield and better juice consistency. Most of all, this model almost completely eliminates prep time with its large chute size.