Smeg SJF01 Slow Juicer review

Italian domestic appliance manufacturer Smeg is best known for its range of curvaceous 1950s-style appliances that come in a selection of pastel and pop colors. As well as large appliances including fridge freezers, dishwashers and washing machines, the company has a selection of matching small countertop appliances, which includes the Smeg SJF01 Slow Juicer. 

With its instantly recognizable retro good looks, the Smeg Slow Juicer makes a stylish addition to the kitchen countertop. To find out if its performance is as attractive as its aesthetics, we take a closer look at its offering. Read on for our full review of the Smeg SJF01 Slow Juicer, and for how it stacks up against the best juicers out there.

Price and availability

Amazon is currently stocking the Smeg SJF01 Slow Juicer for £359.99 / $472 / AUS $688 with a two-year guarantee. You’ll also find it at Appliances Direct for £499.96 / $655 / AUS $956.

If you're able to find it at the cheaper of those prices, it puts the Smeg appliance in the same sort of price range as the Sana EUJ-707 juicer by Omega, which is priced at £369 / $ 483 / AUS $705 online at UK Juicers and Amazon. The Omega model currently stands as our favorite juicer on test.

Design

With its clean-cut retro 1950s good looks, the Smeg Slow Juicer has plenty of appeal. If you already own one of the brand’s classic fridge freezers, washing machines or coffee makers, the juicer will feel like a natural choice. 

Its smooth body is tactile and looks clean on your worktop. Its design is well suited to standard juicing functions, with a slim hopper and pusher for feeding through the produce and a seal on the juice outlet to stop any spillages onto your worktop. Assembling the motor is straightforward with clear instructions in the manual on how to attach the parts and simply drop them onto the base. 

Two jugs – a 1.6 litre one for pulp and a 1 litre one for juice – will come in useful for preparing large batches in one go, although the design lacks a foam separator should you want to divide the froth from your juice yield when you pour. Two cleaning brushes – one with a pointy end and small brush for getting into hard to reach places – make clear up relatively painless.

Performance

The Smeg Slow Juicer comes with a fine and coarse strainer so you can use it for leafy green vegetables as well as harder fruits such as pineapple, provided the skin has been removed. 

Its 150-watt motor is designed to slowly compress the nutrients from each ingredient. Having used it to juice a number of hard and soft fruits and vegetables we found it a little heavy handed on the finer produce – producing very little juice when we inserted leafier greens such as spinach and kale. 

Carrots, apples, pears and beetroot however worked particularly well, producing a satisfying amount of liquid and little dry pulp. It’s also a relatively quiet machine, and reached a reasonable 89 decibels when we used it to juice a broccoli floret. 

As well as a reverse function button, which you can use should any ingredients get stuck in the motor, a juice density regulation lever helps you adjust the thickness of your juice – the manual explains how best to use it but the general idea is to switch it to the half-open position when the final ingredients of your juice are added. 

Verdict

With two strainers for clean juice or thicker soups and smoothie-type drinks, a recipe booklet and easy to clean body, the Smeg Slow Juicer has an enticing offering. While it may not be your first choice if you’re serious about juicing, it’s a safe bet for seasonal use. 

• Want to blame it on the juice? Find out how well the Smeg SJF01 Slow Juicer performed against its rivals in our Best juicer for 2020 test feature.