Jack Lalanne Power Juicer 250 Watts

The Power Juicer Express is the 'slimline' version of the original Jack La Lanne power juicer but is supposed to have the same effectiveness. This is my first juicer and juice itself is gorgeous.

Learning curve - after two weeks and half a dozen attempts at juicing, I really feel I have the hang of it. Despite what it says on the JLL website, it really doesn't handle whole fruit such as apples and pears. Now I chop each into about three or four pieces and these push through without jamming the motor. Oranges and other citrus fruit you have to slice off the skin, leaving the pith, and whoosh, out comes this luscious fresh juice. Pear is fabulous, on it's own or with apple, as is pineapple. Strawberries, rasps with orange - mmmmmm - and you don't have to take the stalks out of the strawbs (as I realised part way through!). Carrot, cucumber and celery - yuk. I blame the cucumber. Friends say carrot and orange is good but I've not tried it yet.

I was a bit disappointed that banana and avocado were banned - no juice apparently - but you can whiz them into the home made juice afterwards. I use a stick blender for this.

The book says drink straight away and obviously this is best but, because it does take a while to dismantle, it's not worth doing less than about a litre. I have found all the juices keep well for several days in the fridge (if you don't mind the brownish tinge of rapid oxidisation on apple and pear) I use old one litre plastic juice or milk bottles.

Cleaning - I've not found the cleaning anywhere near as much of a hassle as I expected. It's no worse than cleaning the food processor and I actually prefer it to cleaning out the cafetiere. I took note of what people said on here about doing it straight away and that has paid off.

Price - I bought the juicer for just £34.99 in July 2007 after a general google search for online sellers. This was about a third of prices in other retail outlets and still considerably cheaper than ebay. It came in two days.

Disadvantages - what I really don't like about this model is that the cutting blade is held on by a small metal screw which you have to unscrew each time you dismantle it. Yes, you guessed right, I lost it about the third time of using. Luckily I found something from my toolbox to fit! Also, when I was trying to force through the whole apples, the pulp collector kept vibrating off its base causing the motor to cut out.

Tips - prepare all the fruit before you start; have another jug handy as it really does whack out the juice; work near your sink so that you can run the parts straight under the tap.