Omega NC90019 Extractor and Nutrition System (Open Box)

I've used my Breville 800JEXL Juice Fountain Elite 1000-Watt Juice Extractor for going on ten years now, and it's been great, no doubt about it. However, I've known for awhile that the high-speed centrifugal type of juicer (Breville) tends to heat up fruits/vegs and their juices and allow air into them as it rapidly shreds the piece of fruit or veg and spins out the juice--causing oxidation. Masticating juicers (Omega) do not: they slowly press out the juice. So I finally decided to take the plunge and try the Omega. I chose a horizontal rather than vertical version because, Omega says, the horizontal is better for leafy greens (I primarily juice vegetables, including spinach and other leafies, rather than fruits). Omega is definitely better than the Breville for leafy greens (more on this below). So this is a comparison between the two (Breville and Omega) and why, overall, I now like the Omega better (not in any particular order): 1. Omega is SO much quieter; Breville sounds like it's about to take off from my kitchen counter--and it does sometimes slide around a bit. 2. Omega is slower; Breville produces juice more quickly, but the rapidly spinning grater/shredder disc is noisy (see point 1, above) and dangerously sharp. Omega has no sharp grating device or blade, but rather a slowly turning corkscrew-like masticator. Given points 1 & 2, the Omega provides a pleasantly quiet, calm, dare I say meditative (!) early morning juicing experience. The Breville definitely does not! 3. Omega's feeder tube is quite a bit smaller than Breville's, so you have to cut produce into smaller pieces and can't feed as many in at a time, which also makes Omega slower. This might bother some people who are used to plunging whole giant carrots into the Breville, but I've adjusted--the first time I used the Omega I quickly figured out the optimal size and shape feeding into the (amazingly powerful and relentless, yet--have I mentioned?--quiet) masticator. 4. Omega does allow a little more pulp into the juice than Breville. But this is fine, for me; the pulp is so finely crushed and ground that it's very digestible, and having some pulp with your juice is healthier, mitigating the hit of sugars that fresh juices, even vegetable, give to the gut. 5. While juicing, pulp from Omega slowly inches its way out of the outlet nozzle/end cap (okay, yeah, it can remind one of a bodily function) and drops into the open pulp bin. Conversely, pulp from the Breville shoots into the attached enclosed pulp bin. Or, if you forget to attach the bin, pulp sprays all over the clean dishes in your dish drainer (which, yes, I've done). 6. Both Omega and Breville do not completely extract the juice from a fruit or vegetable, so I always run the pulp through a few more times to extract as much as possible. To do this with Breville is awkward and messy: must turn off the machine, detach the pulp bin, scrape the pulp out of the bin and various nooks and crannies of the machine with your fingers, stuff it back into the feeder tube (impossible to do without spilling some of it all over the machine and countertop), reattach the pulp bin, and rev up the machine again. To run the pulp through an Omega is so easy! It drops out of the nozzle, I pick it up and add to the feeder tube with the veggies still being juiced, and keep doing this until everything is juiced and the pulp comes out dry--never turning off the machine. Additionally, no matter how many times I run the pulp through Breville, there are always chunks of carrot or slices of cucumber or leaves of spinach that just don't get broken down. With Omega, everything except maybe a few celery strings is completely crushed and ground up. Also, I should add that Omega has an adjustable end cap--according to the manual, using the tighter setting for things like wheatgrass yields more juice. I only just discovered this so haven't yet tried adjusting the cap (or juicing wheatgrass). Breville doesn't have any sort of adjustment like this--and does not do a great job with leafy greens like spinach or kale (and I think Breville says don't even try to juice wheatgrass in its machine). Anyway, this ease of re-juicing the pulp is probably the most exciting aspect of the Omega to me, I guess because I'm so obsessed with extracting as much juice as possible and it's been so tedious to do with my Breville. If you're also into this, you'll find that the time it takes to re-juice the pulp in a Breville makes up for Omega's slower masticating mechanism; in other words, they both take the same amount of time--and Omega's overall process, including clean up, is much easier and more convenient (see point 7, coming up). 7. Once you learn how all the parts go together (which can take a couple of attempts), both Omega and Breville are equally easy to assemble and disassemble. Both are relatively easy to clean: all parts except the shredding disc/strainer (Breville) and the fine metal strainer (Omega) are quickly rinsed off in running water; a stiff brush comes with each machine to scrub pulp from the disc or strainer. I have run my Breville parts through the dishwasher; this works fine, but it's honestly easier to hand wash the parts right after juicing, before pieces of pulp dry on them, which at that point are almost impossible to remove. Come to think of it, the Omega parts are easier and faster to wash (takes literally a minute by hand) because they're smaller/less bulky than the Breville parts--and not dangerous, like Breville's shredding disc. 8. Both machines are about equally heavy, but the Omega has a molded handle on top (Breville doesn't), making it infinitely easier to move into and out of a storage cabinet. And the Omega, assembled, takes up less space both horizontally and vertically than the Breville, assembled. 9. Omega claims that it produces less foam in the juice than Breville. This is absolutely correct. I can confirm this without a doubt. Omega produces virtually no foam (a few bubbles floating on top). Breville produces 1/2 to 1 inch of foam (depending on what you're juicing--leafy greens make more foam), so it includes a pitcher with a special plastic lid that skims the foam off the top as you pour the juice into a glass. Omega doesn't need that--in fact, you can juice directly into your glass rather than into the receptacle that comes with the machine. So why does this matter. Less foam means less oxygen getting into the juice during juicing and thus less oxidation and depletion of nutrients. Of course, you should drink juice from either machine immediately, or store it in the fridge in a glass jar or bottle filled with juice all the way up to the lid so there's no air between the juice and the lid. 10. Finally, apparently the Omega can also make nut butters, nut milks, pasta, and other things; it's some kind of food processor. I haven't tried these and likely won't, but some people might find the all-in-one thing a great advantage. As far as I know, Breville's juicer does one thing: juicing. So, if you're debating between a Breville or an Omega, I think the Omega is worth the extra $$$ for several reasons. However, if you're 1) not juicing a lot of leafy things and 2) not obsessed about re-juicing pulp or 3) concerned about oxidation (how much more oxidized are Breville juices than Omega's, really? I have no idea), and 4) you want to produce juice as quickly as possible, then you'll probably be happy with Breville. It is certainly a great juicer; I have been pretty happy with mine for many years. But after using the Omega there's no question which one works better for me.