Article by Brooke Shoupe, RN
Key Points
- The PURE Juicer is the best hydraulic juice press and the only juicer being produced that meets the Gerson Therapy standard as a stand-alone appliance.
- The Norwalk Juicer has been discontinued and is therefore no longer recommended.
- A manual juice press is a more budget-friendly option.
Best Hydraulic Juice Presses–Comparison, Reviews & Buying Guide
Finding the Best Hydraulic Juice Press is not as complex as other types of juice extractors. Your options are limited to just two-and-a-half machines, both electric and manual. The half machine is so-called because the company that makes it is no longer in business!
As of this update, there is only one company that still makes an electric hydraulic press juicer. That company is PURE and the product is covered below.
As a bonus, we threw in the Ninja Cold Press Juicer, which can be coupled with the Welles Juice Press to meet the Gerson juicing method. These two juicers together are less expensive than the PURE Juicer.
Without a doubt, press juicers are the best type of juicer in terms of nutrient retention and juice extraction efficiency. That is why they are the standard for the juicing method developed by nutritionist Dr. Max Gerson in the 50s.
Here are the Best Hydraulic Juice Presses on the market.
The only issue is they are very expensive, and the Norwalk Juice Press is both expensive and only available as a used model without warranty.
Here’s why these hydraulic juice presses cost so much.
- Built with high-grade stainless steel
- It’s a complex machine having two parts, a grinder, and the press itself
- It doesn’t have any plastic components
- Law of supply and demand
- It produces the purest juice
- It’s the most efficient type of juice extractor
How expensive? You might need to invest a little more than two grand.
The ultimate selling point of this machine is juice quality. Forget about Cold Press Juicers or Masticating Juicers. Hydraulic Juice Presses are far more superior and are the only pure cold press juicers.
In fact, it’s backed by Dr. Max Gerson, the founder of Gerson Therapy, an alternative course of cancer therapy. PURE and Norwalk are the only Gerson Therapy approved juicers.
Before we get into the reviews of the best hydraulic press juices, let’s discuss what a Hydraulic Juicer is.
A Hydraulic Juice Press is a type of juicer that uses ‘hydraulic’ pressure to extract juice from fruits and vegetables. There’s a manually operated model, the People’s Press, and there are also electric hydraulic juice presses, the PURE Juicer, and the Norwalk Juicer.
The Two-Stage Hydraulic Juice Press
An electric two-step hydraulic juicer has two parts, a grinder, and a pressing element. After chopping up your fruits and vegetables, you need to run it through the mill, place the grinds nice and secure in a pressing bag or cloth, put it on the press plate, then you can flip the switch to get the juices flowing.
Dr. Gerson suggests that this type of hydraulic press is the most efficient. He found out that grinding was necessary to allow the produce to release more minerals. And he further added that “During the process of grinding and pressing in a two-step juicer, the produce is not subjected to heat or electricity, so the fresh, healing enzymes in the raw fruits and vegetables are preserved in the juices.”
How a Manual Hydraulic Cold Press Juicer Works
On the other hand, the manual model is pretty straightforward. You’ll have to apply pressure like how you would do it in a hydraulic jack.
Once you’ve diced your produce, the next step would be securing it in a pressing bag or cloth, put it on the press plate, and start applying pressure until all the juices have been extracted.
What’s common between both these types of hydraulic presses is the use of a pressing bag of cloth to hold the produce in place while extracting the juice.
Best Hydraulic Juicer Reviews
#1 PURE Juicer – Only Hydraulic Press Juicer Still On The Market
Ladies & gentleman, here it is: the best juicer we've ever tested here at Juicing Journal. The PURE Juicer is the only "pure" cold-press juicer currently available on the market. It's yield is second-to-none. The device produces the most clean, refreshing tasting juice we've ever experienced. It's solid, stainless steel construction is backed by a 12-year warranty.
The PURE juicer is expensive! So it won't be your first juicer. It may not be your second. But it will be your last.
- Produces, by far, the best tasting juice of any juicer we've tested
- Maximum yield relative to any other juicer on the market
- The only "pure" cold-pressed juicer available
- All stainless steel components
- Looks great on your shelf!
- Backed by a 12-year warranty
- Included "Periodic Table of Juicing" takes all the guess work out of how to juice different types of produce
- 72 hours of juice shelf life
- Dishwasher safe parts
- Unmatched juice extraction efficiency and nutrient retention
- Expensive
- Has a bit of a learning curve
- Heavy
The PURE Juicer is the only electric Hydraulic Cold Press Juicer currently on the market. It made a splash when it entered the market!
You’ll get an overall premium experience with it—from its packaging to the highly detailed manual, and the product itself. Many consider the beautiful machine a piece of modern art for your kitchen. It is the juicer that all juicing aficionados aspire to.
Four things set this product apart from every other juicer:
- Its modern look and usability
- It is user friendly and easy to maintain
- Its the only hydraulic press juicer currently being made
- It is extremely expensive
The unit applies a whopping 5,400 pounds of pressure to extract every drop of juice.
You’ll get the purest juice out of this amazing product.
The PURE Hydraulic Juicer and the Gerson Therapy Juicing Method
The PURE Hydraulic Juicer is the only juicer approved by the Gerson Institute that is still in production. The Norwalk Juicer, reviewed below, was the original juicing machine made for the Gerson Therapy. When you watch videos for both the PURE Juicer and the Norwalk Juicer, you will notice that they are nearly identical in design.
If you are looking to follow the Gerson juicing method, a PURE Juicer is an important part of the process.
#2 Welles Juicer “People’s Juice Press” – Manual Hydraulic Press Budget-Option
- Runs on brute force
- BPA Free
- Quiet operation
- Optimum juice quality
- 72 hours juice shelf life
- As expensive as slow electric juicers
- Difficult to operate
- Doesn't come with a juice jug
- The pressing cloth can get ugly over time, you'll have to buy more if you plan to use this machine on a daily basis
The Welles “People’s Juice Press” is the most affordable hydraulic juice press on the market thanks to its manual operation. The unit does not have a motor or require electricity. Pressure is applied by pumping a lever to build up hydraulic pressure.
Manual hydraulic juicers are not as efficient as their electric counterparts, but they are a much more affordable option.
The Welles Juicer doesn’t apply as much pressure as the PURE Juicer, but it does a more efficient job of squeezing every last drop out of your produce than other types of juicers. This means you get a completely pulp-free, high-yield juicing experience at a lower price.
The biggest thing to remember is that it doesn’t have a grinder like the PURE or Norwalk juicers. This means that you have to grind or dice your produce before putting it in the press bags on the pressing plate of the Welles Juice Press.
Using the Welles Juice Press with the Gerson Juicing Method
You will need an additional appliance to follow the Gerson Therapy using the Welles Juice Press. The People’s Juice Press is a one-step manual hydraulic juicer. When not following the Gerson method, one can simply finely dice their produce before placing it in the cold press cloths.
When following the Gerson juicing therapy, you must grind the produce first. This must be done at a low speed to prevent the excessive oxidation that can occur with centrifugal and masticating juicers. This oxidation is what reduces the nutrient level of your juice.
Because it has to be done at a low speed, your food processor or blender won’t work. Instead, get yourself a slow masticating cold press juicer to use as a grinder before moving the pulp to the Welle’s hydraulic juice press.
Traditionally the Champion Juicer (link) has been used with the Welles Juice Press to meet the Gerson standard. However, Champion Juicers are no longer available new, they are big, heavy, bulky, expensive, and you’ll only use one of its features in the Gerson juicing method.
The Best Slow Masticating Cold Press Juicer to Use with the Welles People’s Juice Press
- Budget-friendly product
- Comes with interchangeable pulp filters for better texture control
- Optimum juice extraction efficiency and nutrient retention
- Straightforward assembly
- Dishwasher safe parts
- BPA-free
- 72 hours juice life
- 1-year warranty
- Masticating juicers are typically slow
- You have to prepare the ingredients beforehand, since the feeding chute is narrow
Our researchers have found that the best slow masticating cold press juicer to use with the Welle’s People’s Juice Press for the Gerson Therapy is the Ninja Cold Press Juicer with Total Pulp Control features and attachments.
It allows you to grind the produce in the same way as a PURE juicer without running it through a screen so that it can be gathered into cold press bags for the Welles Juice Press.
To use the Ninja Cold Press Juicer with the Welle’s Press for Gerson Therapy, we recommend using the homogenizer attachment. Any attachment with a solid piece rather than a screen will work to grind your produce, then you can gather it into the pulp bags and move to the Welle’s Press.
#3 Norwalk Juicer – Great Juicer, No Longer Being Made
- Unrivaled juice extraction efficiency
- 72 hours juice shelf life
- Quiet operation
- Dishwasher safe
- BPA-Free (Stainless Steel Construction)
- Requires a significant amount of investment
- Challenging to operate
- Maintenance is quite a chore
- Takes up a huge footprint in your counter space
- Heavy, difficult to move around
Updated: As of late 2021, Norwalk Juicing has ended operations. New juicers are no longer being made by the company. The Norwalk website is now defunct.
JuicingJournal still feels that Norwalk models are some of the best hydraulic juicers on the market. Pre-owned modes are still available on secondary marketplaces, like Ebay.
Norwalk juicers are known worldwide for their effectiveness and reliability. A used Norwalk hydraulic juicer should have plenty of juicing life left in it. Our staff hates to see such a trusted and effective juicer leave the market. If you are interested in purchasing a used model, we would suggest buying one as soon as possible.
The Norwalk Juicer has been around for decades. It’s one of the very first electric juicers. Nothing much has changed since then. In fact, the Norwalk 290 commemorates the first iteration of the product with a straight housing design.
Dr. Walker, the founder of the Norwalk Juicer, was Dr. Gerson’s contemporary. He also championed nutrition as a means to improve one’s health and as an alternative route in treating diseases.
For decades it was the only Gerson juicer in the market. Although it is no longer in production, it is still a sought-after hydraulic press juicer.
Over to You
If you’re wondering why you might need to buy such an expensive juicer, you are not alone. It’s not the type of juicer that I would recommend for beginners.
Here’s a list of situations on why you might need one:
- You’re looking for a juicer that isn’t made of plastic
- You’re looking for a juicing machine that will give you the purest form of juice
- You have the means to buy it
- You have a juice bar business
If any of those applies to you, feel free to get the Best Hydraulic Juice Press—The PURE Juicer.
