Watermelon Mint Juice + Learning Juicing

Is cleaning a juicer really that bad? Check out my experience juicing with the KitchenAid juicer attachment plus get a recipe for Watermelon Mint Juice.

I finally did it. I finally pulled the trigger and got a juicer. I’ve been having juicing FOMO and I just couldn’t take it any longer. Must.have.fresh.juice.

To avoid buying a completely different machine for our overflowing stable of appliances, I decided on the KitchenAid Slow Juicer and Saucer attachment for our existing KitchenAid stand mixer (aka my kitchen M.V.P.). The juicer is extremely powerful. I put in raw beets and it juiced them with no trouble at all. The KitchenAid juicer is a masticating juicer, which means it crushes fruits and vegetables instead of grinding them. This motion decreases heat production, keeping more of the nutrients intact. Awesome.

My first attempt was making beet juice. We had a bunch of beets in the fridge that needed to be used up, so I tossed them in the juicer with a couple of carrots and a few apples. Many of the beets were golden beets, so I thought the ‘dirt’ taste you get with beets would be milder.

WRONG.

The juice was so, so, so, so, SO beet-y. It was like drinking liquid dirt mud. I really overdid it.

No way would I be defeated though. I took a big breath and went for it. GULP. I drank the entire cup of beet juice in one go. I knew that glass was packed with nutrients and I just couldn’t bear to have all of that goodness go to waste. It wasn’t pretty, but it was over and I was ready to move on.

Instead of giving up, I moved on to a second batch of juice. That way I avoided the cleaning process and got another chance to make a juice that I would actually enjoy.

This time, I took it easy and did a combination of watermelon and mint. You really can’t go wrong there, right? As predicted, the juice was amazing. Sweet, refreshing, and pink. Because our watermelon was at room temperature, we enjoyed the juice over ice, and diluting it actually improved the flavor. It was actually a little too sweet undiluted. I found that the perfect ratio for us was about 1 part water to 3 parts juice. You can do whatever suits your palate!

Cleaning a Juicer

Any time you talk to someone about juicing, cleaning the juicer inevitably comes up. It seems like the number one deterrent to juicing at home. I honestly didn’t find cleaning the KitchenAid juicer to be that difficult. It wasn’t my favorite thing I’ve ever done, but with a toothbrush/small brush (included with the juicer) it’s easy enough to get the debris out and it took about 10 minutes to clean the various pieces. Not terrible. The trick is to clean it right away. Once the pulp starts to dry, any juicer will be a pain in the #$*&@ to clean.

I’m definitely going to make juices for parties as you can make a large amount of juice and only have to clean the machine one time.

Cost Savings

The ingredients for five servings of watermelon mint juice cost about $5. Buying the same amount of freshly made juice here in San Francisco would be about $7-10 per serving. This is a huge cost saving in just one use. We’ve also been using it to use up produce that would otherwise go bad. Another great way to save money and reduce food waste.

The Verdict on Juicing

I’m still learning what tastes good, but I’d call my first attempt at juicing a success – even the beet juice which used up produce in the fridge that would have gone bad. The KitchenAid juicer attachment wasn’t hard to clean and it’s amazing to have fresh juice at home – especially if you can make a large batch.

Thanks so much for reading! For more Sweet in your life, you can find me on Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube, or subscribe to receive a weekly email with new posts and musings from me.

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