Breville Juice Fountain Crush Review

Pros

• Obtains excellent yields juicing citrus (oranges, specifically, in our tests) and apples
• Easier to assemble than most other juicers of the same type
• Easier to use than most juicers of other types
• Fairly easy to clean and highly stain resistant also (orange parts resist staining by carrots)

Cons

• Obtains well below average yields juicing most other types of produce (other than oranges and apples)
• Lacks the versatility of horizontal masticating juicers and even other vertical masticating juicers – can only be used for juicing
• Comes with an unreasonably short 1-year warranty – most other juicers of this type come with at least a 10 year warranty
• Sells at a low price for this juicer type but is a poor value because of its poor performance and lack of versatility

Category Scores

Assembly Diff.	4.5
Food Prep.	4.0
Soft Produce	3.5
Hard Produce	3.0
Leafy Greens	2.5
Wheatgrass	3.5
Combination	3.0
Pulp Free	3.5
Overall	3.0
Cleaning Diff.	4.0
Ease of Use	4.5
Versatility	3.0
Durability	3.0
Value	2.5
Cumulative	47.5

All category scores are out of 5.

Assembly

The Juice Fountain Crush (model no. BJS600XL) can only be used as a juicer, which makes it surprisingly less versatile than much of its competition. The top rated Tribest Slowstar includes an extra “juicing bowl” that can be used for homogenizing/mincing while the Kuvings B6000S and SKG Wide Chute masticating juicers both include a blank strainer to replace the included juicing strainer for the same purpose. The Breville doesn’t include any such parts with your purchase and neither can you purchase them separately. The BJS600XL is exclusively a juicer. That being said, let’s take a look at all of the parts you’ll need to put together to assemble it for juicing.

Juicing – Parts List

1. Food pusher
2. Hopper
3. Feeding chute assembly
4. Juicing bowl
5. Spinning brush (scraper wiper)
6. Strainer (filter basket)
7. Auger (juicing screw)
8. Main body
9. Juice container
10. Pulp container

The general terms we use for vertical masticating juicer parts are listed. If the manufacturer calls a certain part by a different name (in the user manual included with this particular model juicer) it is listed in parentheses.

Notes

The BJS600XL’s manual incorrectly lists the hopper, feeding chute and lid as one part which it is not. The feeding chute and lid are one part (which we call the feeding chute assembly) but the hopper is a separate part that can come apart from the feeding chute assembly for cleaning or storage. Note that during testing we never once removed the hopper from the feeding chute assembly. Thus it was always assembled as one part and cleaned as one part.

Absent from the above parts list is a juice cap which is notable because most of the other vertical masticating juicers we tested do come equipped with this part. For more information on why this part is important see any of our reviews of vertical masticating juicers that do come equipped with a cap (such as this one).

Extra Removable Parts

All of the vertical masticating juicers we tested have parts that are themselves composed of extra removable parts. These parts were for the most part not removed (and therefore didn’t require reassembly) while we tested these juicers for review. That’s not to say that they can’t be removed. So, we list them as separate parts below. Note that because the Breville doesn’t feature a juice cap, the juice cap seal that is normally a part of the juice cap and can be removed from it for cleaning is not listed or discussed below.

Skip to next section: food preparation

1. Silicone blades
2. Silicone pulp pressure plug (pulp extraction silicon)
3. Sealing ring

Silicone Blades

Breville calls the Juice Fountain Crush’s spinning brush a scraper wiper in its manual, and appropriately so. The scraper wiper scrapes and wipes the inside of the juicing bowl, continuously “cleaning” the inside of the bowl in the process. Attached to the scraper wiper are three removable silicone blades. It isn’t necessary to remove these blades to properly clean the juicer but you certainly can if you want to. We did not remove the blades at any time while testing the juicer for review.

Silicone Pulp Pressure Plug

The pulp pressure plug has a very simple purpose – it allows for access to the back end of the pulp outlet for cleaning. Without this plug you’d only be able to access the pulp outlet from the part that extends from the outside of the juicing bowl when cleaning it.

One end of the silicone pulp pressure plug plugs into the back end of the pulp outlet. The other end is semi-permanently attached to the bottom of the juicing bowl. Removing the plug in its entirety is possible by disconnecting the plug at this attachment but we recommend that don’t. Our recommendation is that you only unplug the end that plugs into the pulp outlet to clean both the outlet and the plug. We did the same when testing the juicer for review.

Sealing Ring

Finally, the sealing ring is located at the bottom center of the juicing bowl. It’s fitted between the juicing bowl and the motor base to act as a seal, keeping juice and pulp from leaking out of the bowl and onto the body of the juicer. Out of the three parts listed above it is the only one that we recommend removing and cleaning frequently. It is also the most easily accessible and most easily removable part in the list.

Assembly Overview

Time

The BJS600XL takes just over half a minute to assemble, that is if you have some experience doing so and if everything goes smoothly during assembly. Should you be assembling only for the first or second time, assembly will take a minimum of several minutes. Even if you’re an experienced user, assembly will probably still take more than 30 seconds as it’s more likely than not that you’ll have to fiddle around with at least a few parts during the assembly process. Only if everything goes absolutely perfectly during assembly will you be able to achieve the 30 second estimate.

Comparison to Other Types

The Juice Fountain Crush is a vertical masticating juicer. In testing over 30 different juicers we found that vertical masticating juicers were the most difficult to assemble, outside of twin gear juicers such as the Tribest Green Star Elite. Horizontal masticating juicers are slightly easier to assemble while centrifugal juicers are the easiest of all the juicer types we tested to assemble.

Note that, moving forward, instead of focusing on and comparing the time it takes to assemble the Juice Fountain Crush compared to the time it takes to assemble other juicers, we’ll rather focus on what the specific difficulties are in assembling the BJS600XL and how those difficulties compare to the difficulties you’ll have to face in assembling other juicers.

Markers and Guides

Among the vertical masticating juicers we tested the Breville Juice Fountain Crush is definitely easier to assemble than most other juicers of the same type. This is because it was one of the more clearly marked and labeled vertical masticating juicers we tested. What do we mean by “more clearly marked and labeled”?

Due to the inherent difficulty of putting together vertical masticating juicers, manufacturers have labeled and marked the different parts necessary for their assembly in a way that makes fitting them together much easier. For example, the Breville’s juicing bowl is labeled “ALIGN” with a marking, an arrow pointing down. The main body has a matching label “ALIGN” with an arrow pointing up. To fit the bowl to the body simply match the labels and arrows. This makes things much easier than having to rely on memory or the juicer’s manual to fit together parts quickly and easily on your first try.

Assembly Breakdown

The Juice Fountain Crush is composed of exactly the same parts as every other vertical masticating juicer we tested, and so it follows that those parts should assemble together in exactly the same way as well. Assembly consists of 6 steps.

1. Fitting the juicing bowl to the body
2. Fitting the strainer inside the spinning brush
3. Fitting the strainer/spinning brush into the juicing bowl
4. Fitting the auger into the juicing bowl
5. Fitting the feeding chute assembly to the top of the juicing bowl
6. Placing the juice container under the juice outlet and the pulp container under the pulp outlet

Step 1

Fitting the juicing bowl to the main body of the juicer can be a bit of a challenge on many of the vertical masticating juicers we tested. This is so because many of those juicers do not have a label on the juicing bowl. There’s only a label on the main body that reads “Open” with an arrow pointing right and “Close” with an arrow pointing left. It’s left up to the user to decipher that these labels indicate that the juicing bowl should be placed on the main body in a certain orientation and then turned to left or clockwise to secure it in place.

There’s no deciphering required with the Juice Fountain Crush. The bottom of the juicing bowl is clearly labeled “ALIGN” with an arrow pointing down. The top of the main body is also labeled “ALIGN” with a matching arrow pointing up. Next to the “ALIGN” label on the main body is a “LOCK” label with a shaded arrow pointing up (as opposed to the unshaded arrows of both “ALIGN” labels). It’s easy to figure out that the “ALIGN” and arrow on the juicing bowl should be matched to the “ALIGN” and arrow on the top of the main body and that the juicing bowl should then be turned clockwise until the “ALIGN” arrow on the juicing bowl is paired with the “LOCK” arrow on the main body. With these two arrows properly paired you can be absolutely sure that the juicing bowl is properly secured to the main body.

Step 2

Step 2 is perhaps the trickiest part of assembly. It involves sliding the juicing strainer into the spinning brush. The problem is that there aren’t any guides or markers on either part that show you how to do so in the correct way. The manual for the juicer simply tells you to “assemble the filter basket (juicing strainer) into the scraper wiper (spinning brush)” with a picture of the two parts next to each other with an arrow pointing from the strainer to the spinning brush. Only after correctly assembling the juicer for a few times will you to get to the point where you’re experienced enough to know just how far you need to push the strainer into the spinning brush and how you should line up the two parts so they can more easily fit into each other. Only after completing step 5 will you know that you’ve completed this step correctly.

The process described above is shown in these photos.

Step 3

This step involves placing the assembled strainer/spinning brush into the juicing bowl. This time you’ll once again have guides and markers to help you do so correctly. Looking down onto the juicer you’ll see an orange dot on the top edge of the strainer and another matching orange dot on the top edge of the juicing bowl. To complete this step, place the strainer (with the spinning brush) into the juicing bowl so that the two dots match.

Step 4

The fourth step requires that you place the auger inside the juicing bowl. You might have to turn the auger while pushing down on it to get it to fit securely in place. Regardless, it should be fitted so that the small piece of metal extending from the top of the auger is at the same height as the top edge of the juicing bowl. This metal piece will fit into the feeding chute assembly in the next step.

Step 5

You can once again rely on markings on parts to guide you through this step. On the lid of the feeding chute assembly you’ll find the label “ALIGN” with an orange dot to the left of it. All you need to do is line up the feeding chute assembly so that this orange dot aligns with the previously mentioned orange dot on the top edge of the juicing bowl. Next, turn the feeding chute assembly clockwise so that the label “LOCK” is aligned with the same orange dot on the juicing bowl. When this label is aligned with the dot you can be absolutely sure that the feeding chute assembly is properly secured to the juicing bowl.

Step 6

The final step is to place the juice container under the juice outlet and the pulp container under the pulp outlet. When we assembled during testing we also placed the food pusher in the feeding chute during this step.

Step 4 (left), 5 (middle), and 6 (right) of assembly.

Assembly Summary and Score

The parts composing the Breville were, for the most part, much more clearly labeled and marked than equivalent parts composing other vertical masticating juicers we tested for review. This is reason enough for us to say that the Juice Fountain Crush is one of the easier to assemble vertical masticating juicers we tested. We didn’t experience any specific issues during any of the steps necessary for proper assembly. We give the Juice Fountain Crush an above average 4.5 out of 5 for assembly difficulty.

Food Preparation

After you’ve completed assembly of the juicer the next step in preparing for juicing is cutting the fruits and vegetables you want to juice to a size that will not only fit into the juicer’s feed chute but also be able to be processed by the juicer efficiently.

The Juice Fountain Crush’s feed chute isn’t a perfect circle. Instead, it can best be described as a bean shape – see the photo below. The dimensions of the Breville’s feed chute is 1 and 3/8 or 1.375 inches wide and a 2 and a half or 2.5 inches long. This makes its feed chute size slightly below average for a vertical masticating juicer. The Tribest Slowstar has feed chute with the same length but its slightly wider – 1.5 inches at its widest point. The Omega VSJ843Q has the exact same size chute as the Breville and the Hurom HU-100 has a slightly smaller chute that’s only 1.25 inches wide. All four of these juicers have the same shaped feed chute as the Breville. Two of the seven vertical masticating juicers we tested do not. Both the Kuvings B6000 and the SKG wide chute chuter have an almost perfectly circular feed chute that’s a whopping 3 inches in diameter.

Feed chute size is perhaps the most important factor dictating how much cutting is required in preparing produce for juicing. A juicer with a large feed chute will require less cutting and conversely a juicer with a small feed chute will probably require more cutting. Other factors which determined just how much we needed to cut produce before juicing were (1) juicer type and the (2) the consistency of the produce that was to be juiced. We were able to rely on previous experience to dictate how much we cut each fruit and vegetable for each juicer type, though the average consumer would have to reference the juicer’s manual to determine how juicer type might affect certain food preparation requirements. For us, if we were successful cutting a certain fruit or vegetable to a certain size for several juicers of the same type, it would be more likely than not that we could cut the same fruits and vegetables to the same size for any future juicer we would test of the same type. Because the Breville is a vertical masticating juicer, we could reference how much cutting was required for similar juicers such as the Tribest Slowstar and Omega VSJ843Q.

Food Preparation Results

The table below shows the extent to which we cut each produce item we prepared for juicing, how long it took us to cut it (in seconds) when we were preparing it for the BJS600XL, specifically, and also how long it took to cut it on average to the same size.

Fruit/Veg.	Size of Cuts	Time to Cut	Avg. Time to Cut
Oranges	quarters	36	24
Grapes	no cutting required
Carrots	no cutting required
Celery	1″ to 2″ pieces	141	66
Apples	eighths	65	46
Spinach	pre-cut
Wheatgrass	pre-cut
More Information
Chute Size	1.375″ by 2.5″
Type	Vertical Masticating

Oranges

The BJS600XL’s manual was of little to no help to us in determining how to go about cutting produce for juicing. It simply states that produce should be “cut…into pieces that will fit down the feed chute.” Thereafter, it notes that “as a guide, apples should be cut into 1/4s.” With very little direction from the juicer’s manual to rely on we instead used our experience juicing with other masticating juicers to steer us in the direction we needed to take to go about preparing produce properly for our juicing tests.

Of course, as the manual indicates, we also used common sense and some experimentation to determine how large of pieces of produce we could fit into the feeding chute.

That being said, we had to cut oranges into quarters to fit them into the Breville’s feeding chute. Cutting 1 lb. of oranges into quarters took us on average, 24 seconds to do. The Breville was one of three vertical masticating juicers we tested that required us to cut oranges to this size, the two other juicers being the Tribest Slowstar and Omega VSJ843Q. The Hurom HU-100 required us to cut oranges to eighths which takes about 1 minute. The Kuvings B600S and SKG wide chute juicers required no cutting and thus no time was required to prepare oranges for juicing with them.

Grapes

The table grapes we juiced were small enough to not require cutting for any of the masticating juicers we tested.

Carrots

We found that it wasn’t necessary for us to cut carrots to juice them with any of the vertical masticating juicers we tested. The horizontal masticating juicers we tested did require us to cut carrots into approximately 2 inch long pieces. Doing so for 1 lb. of carrots took us an average of 50 seconds. This equates to 50 seconds less preparation time per 1 lb. of carrots you juice with a vertical masticating juicer as compared to a horizontal masticating juicer.

Celery

Because celery can wrap around the juicer’s auger if it’s fed into the juicer without cutting it, we decided to cut celery for all of the masticating juicers we tested, including the Juice Fountain Crush. We cut celery into smaller pieces for the Breville, the Kuvings B6000, and the SKG wide chute juicer than we did for the other masticating juicers we tested. We did so, for not reason other than to see if it would have any type of impact on yield. It did not. And so, despite the fact that it took us on average 121 seconds to cut celery for the three juicers we just mentioned, a much better indication of how long it will take you to prepare 1 lb. of celery for juicing with a masticating juicer is the average time it took us to cut celery for the other eleven masticating juicers we tested. This average time was only 66 seconds.

Apples

As we mentioned above, the Breville’s manual states that in order to determine how large or small to cut any type of produce that “as a guide, apples should be cut into 1/4s.” Ironically, we couldn’t fit apples cut to only quarters into the Breville’s feed chute. Instead, we had to cut the apples we used for our testing down to eighths. This was true for five of the seven vertical masticating juicers we tested, the two exceptions being the Kuvings B6000 and the SKG wide chute juicer. Most of the horizontal masticating juicers we tested required that we cut apples even smaller – down to sixteenths. Cutting apples to quarters, eighths, and sixteenths took us an average of 18 seconds, 46 seconds, and 99 seconds respectively.

Spinach and Wheatgrass

Both of these items required absolutely no preparation time, at least in terms of cutting, prior to juicing.

Food Preparation Summary

The total time required to prepare produce for juicing with the BJS600XL is shown in this table found in our general buyer’s guide. This total time is found by adding all of the average times we went over in the paragraphs above. Also tabled is the total food preparation time for other models of the same type, horizontal masticating models, and the top ranked centrifugal juicers.

Performance

We selected 7 different fruits and vegetables to juice with each of the juicers we tested for review. Each fruit or vegetable was first juiced by itself. Our first test involved only juicing oranges, for example. Our second test involved only juicing grapes, and so on and so forth. As a final test we juiced most of the same fruits and vegetables we juiced individually previously, together – this constituted the 8^th and final combination test. Note that 1 lb. of each fruit or vegetable was juiced for the first 6 tests, only 4 oz. of wheatgrass was juiced for the 7^th test, and 2 lb. of produce was juiced for the 8^th and final test (the combination test).

We wanted to make sure that our testing would give each and every juicer we tested the best chance to give as great of a yield – to extract as much juice as it possibly could – for each test. In order to meet this goal, we employed several techniques that we describe in detail here. This write-up also describes the reasoning behind the produce we selected for testing – why we selected oranges, grapes, carrots, etc. and not other similar fruits or vegetables.

Out of Juicer Yield vs After Sieve Yield

In the discussion that follows we will be referring to two different types of yield. Out of juicer yield is the volume of juice extracted directly from the juicer. After sieve yield is the volume of juice collected after we poured the out of juicer yield through a fine sieve.

Juicing Performance Test Results

Summary

The Juice Fountain Crush’s performance in our juicing performance tests, for the most part, was very disappointing. It started off strong in our orange juicing test, with the second best out of juicer and after sieve yields of all of the slow juicers we tested. It also did fairly well juicing apples. Its 11.8 oz. out of juicer apple juice yield was the best such yield recorded among the slow juicers we tested. This result was, however, made slightly less impressive by its out of sieve yield in the same test – a yield of only 8.6 oz. which gave it only the 5^th best yield in the category.

Other than in these two tests, the Breville’s juicing performance was very poor. It finished in the bottom three or four (among 14 slow juicers we tested) in both out of juicer and after sieve yield for grapes, carrots, celery, and spinach and it finished in the bottom 5 in our combination performance test. Its results were average in our wheatgrass test. The most concerning out of all of these results was its performance in our spinach juicing test. Its out of juicer yield of 7.2 oz. after juicing 1 lb. of spinach was a full 1.4 oz. less than average for the category. And its after sieve yield of only 5.3 oz. was more than 1.6 oz. less than the 6.96 oz. average for the category.

Based on these results we can make several recommendations. Needless to say, according to the above results, the Juice Fountain Crush is not recommended if you plan on juicing a lot of leafy greens (based on its performance in our spinach test). Neither is it recommended for juicing carrots, celery, or grapes. If you primarily plan on making orange juice, it’s a great option. If you primarily plan on juicing apples, it’s also a great option. And finally, if you plan on primarily juicing wheatgrass or if you want to mostly juice a combination of fruits or vegetables, the Juice Fountain Crush will certainly be up to the task, but be aware that there are far better more efficient options available.

Cleaning

The BJS600XL is composed of 9 parts that are removable from the main body of the juicer. All of these parts come into contact with either dry produce and/or juice during the juicing process and as such need to be cleaned each time after the juicer is used. Of those 9 parts we only cleaned 8 separate parts during most of our testing. The juicer’s hopper can come apart from its feeding chute assembly as a separate piece but we did not remove it or feel that it was necessary to remove it for cleaning.

Skip to next section: ease of use

Cleaning the Juice Fountain Crush took us about 5 minutes to do from start to finish on average. Note that this time does not include disassembly or prepping the sink for cleaning (filling it with a soapy water solution which is what we did during testing). 5 minutes is the average time it took us to clean all vertical masticating juicers we tested. In contrast, horizontal masticating juicers were slightly easier to clean and took a little less time to clean – they took us about 4 minutes to clean on average. Centrifugal juicers were slightly more difficult to clean and took slightly longer to clean – they took us about 6 minutes to clean on average.

Cleaning Tools and Methods

Not much is required to clean most of the BJS600XL’s parts. We used a solution of warm soapy water to soak the parts in and clean them with. We used a microfiber cloth to wash them clean but any dish cloth or rag will do just as well. The only two parts that required a bit more attention and a more specialized tool to clean them were the juicing bowl and strainer. To clean the juicing bowl, we placed it under running water (under the faucet) and used the handle of the included cleaning brush to pull and push pulp out of the pulp outlet. We then washed it clean with the microfiber cloth the same as all the other parts. To clean the strainer, we also placed it under running water but this time used the actual brush side of the included cleaning brush to scrub it clean.

Note

For all vertical masticating juicers we pre-washed the juicer by running water through it prior to disassembly.

Pulp Accumulation

On some vertical juicers we tested we noticed an excess amount of pulp on either the strainer or auger or both when cleaning them. This made cleaning these juicers take slightly longer as this excess pulp has to be removed prior to cleaning the parts with the wash cloth and cleaning brush. We did not notice any such excess pulp build-up when cleaning the BJS600XL.

Staining

Fruits and vegetables contain a myriad of different chemicals that can stain the different parts of the juicer that they come into contact with. Some fruits and/or vegetables are more likely to stain than others. Carrots are perhaps the most likely to stain followed by green vegetables such as spinach.

Certain parts of the juicer are also more likely to stain than others. The juicing strainer and the auger are the two parts that see the most direct contact with produce and thus are the most likely to stain. Silicone is more readily stained than plastic and so silicone parts such as the silicone blades of the spinning brush and the pulp pressure plug are also parts that stain very easily.

Breville has recognized all of the above to be true and has very intelligently designed their slow juicer in such a way to combat staining how and where its most likely to occur. Because carrots are more likely to stain than any other type of produce they’ve made most of the parts we mentioned above including the juicing strainer and all silicone parts a bright orange color. Thus, even if they do stain it would be very hard to notice. The auger is black which hides most stains very well. Other clear plastic parts can still stain but we didn’t notice any such staining during our testing.

Dishwasher Safe Parts

None of the Breville’s parts are dishwasher safe. The manual clearly states this to be true. Note that only 2 of the 14 slow juicers we tested have dishwasher safe parts.

Cleaning Summary and Overall Score

The Juice Fountain Crush, being a vertical masticating juicer, is slightly more difficult to clean than the horizontal masticating juicers we tested but slightly easier to clean than the centrifugal juicers we tested. We raise its score in this category from average to slightly above average primarily because of its stain resistant design. It earns a 4 out of 5 for cleaning difficulty.

Ease of Use

Initial Learning Curve

Some juicers have a steep initial learning curve. They require that produce be cut a certain way, fed into them a certain way, and pushed into them a certain way in order to allow the juicer to work properly and maximize the juicer’s efficiency.

The Juice Fountain Crush, like most other slow juicers, does require that certain produce be cut in a particular way to maximize the juicer’s efficiency. We’ve already discussed proper food preparation for this juicer earlier in this review. However, after the produce is cut properly, the actual process of juicing (feeding produce into the juicer and pushing it through) with a vertical masticating juicer such as the BJS600XL, is much simpler than it is for many other juicer types we tested, including horizontal masticating juicers and twin gear juicers.

Continued Difficulty

Once you’ve mastered the art of proper food preparation (the only part of juicing that gives the BJS600XL any type of learning curve at all) you’ll still have to face the everyday difficulties of using the juicer. Those difficulties are outlined below.

How Hard Is It to Push Produce into The Juicer?

Pushing produce into a juicer is a difficult thing to do with horizontal masticating juicers and even more difficult to do with twin gear juicers. Horizontal masticating juicers have their augers set in a plane perpendicular to the direction that produce is fed into and pushed down into their feeding chutes. In addition, the processed food moves horizontally through their drum assemblies. The same is true for twin gear juicers but instead of a single auger they have two augers (or gears).

Vertical masticating juicers have their augers set in a plane parallel to the direction that produce is fed into their feeding chutes. In addition, the processed food moves vertically through the juicer which allows gravity to help pull the food through the juicer. For these two reasons it is much easier to push produce into a vertical masticating juicer than it is to push produce through a horizontal masticating or twin gear juicer. In fact, processed food moves so easily through a vertical masticating juicer you may not have to even push the produce into the juicer at all depending on the size and type of produce that is fed into the juicer.

Other Design Choices and Features that Improve or Detract from Ease of Use

Weight and Carrying Handle

Fully assembled, the Juice Fountain Crush weighs 13 lb. 12.8 oz. The body alone weighs 10 lb. 14.6 oz. The Breville’s weight is average in both categories. There is also an indentation in the side of the main body to allow it to be carried around the kitchen more easily.

Buttons and Controls

There are only 3 settings for the juicer – on, off, and reverse. There is a switch on the side of the juicer that is marked “I”, “O”, “II”. Next to the switch are clear labels that indicate what each of these markings mean.

Juicer Movement, Power Cord Length

The Breville has 4 rubber feet that keep it firmly in place on the countertop. We did not observe the juicer moving even one inch during testing.

The juicer comes with a 59-inch power cord to allow for greater flexibility in terms of where you can place it on the countertop relative to wall outlets. Most other slow juicers we tested have power cords with a similar length while most centrifugal juicers on the market have power cords that are only about 25 to 40 inches in length.

Other Factors That Affect Ease of Use

Manual Quality

All of the Breville juicers we tested have excellent high quality user manuals. This juicer’s manual is no different. It is about 43 pages long and includes full directions and recipes in both English and French. It has very well written concise yet complete instructions for proper assembly, disassembly, operation, and caring and cleaning for the juicer. Most written instructions are accompanied with detailed high resolution photos. The manual’s only shortcoming is in its description of proper food preparation. We would have liked to see more detailed text and photos describing preparing different types of produce for juicing with this particular model juicer.

Parts and Their Properties

Three parts which may or may not be included with any particular vertical masticating juicer will make it easier or more difficult to use. Those parts are (1) a juice outlet cap (2) the juice collection container and (3) the pulp collection container.

The first part, the juice outlet cap, will make the juicer easier or more difficult to use purely based on whether its present or not. For more information on how a juice cap can make your life using a vertical masticating juicer easier, see this same part of our Tribest Slowstar review. For the current review all we will say is that the BJS600XL simply doesn’t have one. And as such, you’ll be missing out on the many perks of this small but very important removable part should you purchase this juicer.

The two other parts that make a juicer easier or more difficult to use are the juice and pulp containers. The larger the volume of these containers, the less frequently you’ll need to empty and replace them when juicing a large quantity of produce. The Breville’s juice container is very large with a volume of about 42 oz. Its pulp container is identical in size and shape and so its volume is also 42 oz. The Breville’s juice container’s volume is the largest volume we measured of all of the juice containers included with all of the slow juicers we tested. The average volume we measured was only 33 oz. Its pulp container was smaller than the pulp containers included with only 3 other slow juicers we tested. Its volume is exactly the average of all of the pulp containers for which we measured a volume.

Ease of Use Summary and Score

The BJS600XL is definitely easier to use than all of the horizontal masticating and twin gear juicers we tested. Compared to other juicers of the same type, it scores average in most ease of use categories and so we give it the same score for ease of use that we give most other vertical masticating juicers we tested – a 4.5 out of 5.

Versatility

The Juice Fountain Crush only includes a juicing strainer and thus it can only be used for juicing produce. It cannot be used for homogenizing, making smoothies, making sorbets, or any other applications. We discuss how its versatility compares to that of comparable juicers we tested in the assembly section of our review here.

Durability

Build Quality and Materials

The BJS600XL’s build quality and the quality of the materials used for its construction were neither better nor worse than that of most other vertical masticating juicers we tested. Build quality and workmanship are top notch and the materials used for its construction are of a very high quality as well.

Consumer Feedback

The Juice Fountain Crush has received 100s of reviews from consumers and most of them are very positive. Of the 500 or so reviews we surveyed only about 15% are less than 3 stars out of 5. Most negative reviews comment on the difficulty of using the juicer (mostly regarding food preparation requirements) or the juicer’s lack of performance (lots of wet pulp left over after juicing), not on the juicer’s durability or reliability. For most other slow juicers we tested, a large percentage of negative consumer reviews do comment on parts breaking or the juicer malfunctioning. It is of note that we didn’t find nearly as many such reviews when surveying those consumer reviews left for the BJS600XL.

Brand Reputation and Quality of Support

Breville is an Australian company but they are large enough to have offices worldwide. They are perhaps most well-known for manufacturing some of the highest quality most highly rated centrifugal juicers on the market. Their line of centrifugal juicers is extensive with 6 different centrifugal juicers currently in production (5 of which we tested for review). In contrast, Breville manufacturers only one slow juicer – the Juice Fountain Crush.

Despite the fact that Breville is an Australian company, the Juice Fountain Crush is not made in Australia. Instead, it’s made in South Korea, the same as almost every other vertical masticating juicer we tested. Online sources tell us that it is made in even the very same factory as Kuvings and Tribest vertical masticating juicers.

Despite the fact that the juicer is made in Korea all support is handled from within the United States. And Breville’s support for their juicers is outstanding. They offer the usual means of contact – a toll free phone number, email, and snail mail address. But much more impressive to us at least, is the fact that they have an entire part of their website dedicated to model specific set up, warranty, care and use, and troubleshooting articles. Granted, much of this information, if not all of it, is also included in the physical manual that already comes with the juicer. But it’s definitely beneficial to consumers to be able to access all of this information easily through their website and it’s something that you won’t find on the manufacturer’s website of any other slow juicer on the market (as of the time of this review at least).

Warranty

The BJS600XL only comes with a 1-year warranty (an additional 10-year warranty only covers its motor). This is by far the shortest warranty of any of the included warranties of the slow juicers we tested.  Comparable juicers come with anywhere between a 10 and 15-year warranty. Both the top rated Kuvings B6000 and the Tribest Slowstar come with a 10-year warranty.

Warranty Coverage

The Breville’s 1-year warranty covers all parts – there are no listed exclusions.

Claiming Warranty Coverage

In order to claim warranty coverage for the juicer you simply have to contact Breville. They will arrange for the juicer to be returned to them (this normally involves emailing you a prepaid shipping label) and should deliver a replacement free of charge. The included warranty card states that typical turnaround time for warranty claims is anywhere between 10 and 14 days. Note that most other manufacturers do not cover shipping charges with warranty claims. This is a unique perk to buying a Breville juicer.

Summary and Score

Breville is a great company to deal with, known for manufacturing high quality reliable appliances. The BJS600XL is certainly such an appliance. It is of a very high quality which matches its expensive price tag. While Breville customer support and general product support is better than that of comparable manufacturers, the included 1-year warranty for this juicer is simply unacceptable when compared to the much longer 10 and 15 year warranties included with most other slow juicers on the market. It is mostly for its inexcusably short warranty that we give the Juice Fountain Crush a below average score of 3 out of 5 in this category.

Value

Bonus Accessories

Most other vertical masticating juicers we tested come with a myriad of extra parts and accessories. This is not the case with the Juice Fountain Crush. It only includes the basic parts you’ll need for juicing and a user manual.

Initial Cost

The Breville is very competitively priced in comparison to most other vertical masticating juicers we tested. It normally retails for around $300 which makes it quite a bit less expensive than the top rated Kuvings whole slow juicer (approx. $400) and the Tribest Slowstar (approx. $380). Does its below average price make it a good value?

Long Term Cost

Juicers are different than most other kitchen appliances in that they can be more or less expensive to own over time, depending on their performance. When you put a casserole into the oven the weight of the casserole before it enters the oven is very close to if not exactly the same as it is when it leaves the oven fully cooked. Thus, you’ll spend the same amount of money buying materials to make a particularly sized (with a particular weight) casserole for cooking in one oven as you would for every other oven.

A juicer processes food differently (it doesn’t simply heat it up). The weight of produce that enters a juicer is different than the weight of juice that is extracted from the juicer. The greater the efficiency of the juicer, the more juice is extracted. Thus, you’ll spend more or less money on produce to make a certain amount of juice depending on the efficiency of the juicer.

In this way the cost of the produce required to make a certain amount of juice is different for each juicer. Let’s say that during the course of the next few years you’ll be making 100 lb. of spinach juice. In order to make that much juice you’ll need to juice 302 lb. of dry spinach with the Breville (based on our test data) but only 163 lb. of spinach with one of the best juicers for spinach that money can buy – the Green Star Elite. The cost of 302 lb. of spinach is clearly much more than the cost of 163 lb. of spinach. Thus, while the Green Star Elite may cost much more upfront (it’s about $500), if you plan on juicing a lot of spinach or other leafy greens, it’s clearly a much better value than the Breville over time. For a better explanation of the long term cost of juicer ownership see here.

Value Summary

The BJS600XL performed poorly in most of our juicing tests (garnering low yields in those tests) and thus, for the reasons we outlined above, it’s not as good of a long term value than most other slow juicers on the market despite its comparatively low initial cost. The juicer also includes no bonus accessories to marginally improve its value. We give it a below average 2.5 out of 5 in this category.