Black & Decker CJ525 — Sends Your Juices Flowing!

For as long as my wife and I have owned our house, our citrus trees have always outpaced our ability to keep up with their output. It was always my intention to find a juicer worthy of my grove's demand. After all, there's nothing better than the taste of fresh squeezed O.J.

Just by chance, one day I was walking the aisles of Walmart, and happened down the appliance section. Low and behold, there sat a machine specifically designed to juice citrus.

It was a Black & Decker CJ525 juicer. It didn't look like much. It wasn't pretty like the stainless steel coffee machines, or the futuristic retro-styled blenders. And it was no match for the euro-styled toasters. It was just a really bland looking 'thing' that had one purpose — J-U-I-C-E

The price was only 10 dollars, so I quickly calculated that if I was only able to produce 2 gallons of juice before it wore out, I would probably break even, and at least would have the joy of farm fresh O.J.; for a little while anyway.

After my purchase, I immediately went home, picked around 30 lbs of oranges, and set out to put my new little juicer to the test.

It did exactly what I wanted it to. It made orange juice. It made it in short order. I made a half a gallon of the stuff, put it in the fridge, and then juiced myself two 16 ounce glasses that I guzzled down. WOW! Great stuff!!

How it works:

It has four parts to it — 1) The motor/base 2) The 28 ounce pitcher 3) The strainer 4) The reamer that integrates with the strainer.

You plug it in. Take halved oranges and plunge down onto the reamer. This activates a plunger switch that starts the electric motor which rotates the reamer. The reamer alternates directions (most times) when you start to juice each new orange half. The juice collects in the pitcher until it fills to 28 ounces. Then you transfer the juice to a larger pitcher or a glass.

Since I made a half gallon, I cleaned the collected pulp from the strainer between pitcher fill-ups.

Then the final clean-up came, and surprisingly it was very easy to clean. Mild soap and a sponge is all it takes, but it must be cleaned immediately after use so no pulp dries on it.

The Black & Decker CJ525 performed very well for the plastic device that it is. I'm not sure how long it will hold out, but for $10 I'm betting that it will pretty much pay for itself before it breaks.