By 
What Is the Cuisinart CJE-500 Compact Juice Extractor?
As its name implies, the Cuisinart CJE-500 Compact Juice Extractor is a comparatively small juicer from Cuisinart, packing a 500-watt high-speed motor.
It’s an affordable juicer you can easily move around and fit below most kitchen cupboards or inside cabinets, so you won’t have to worry much about the lack of spacing in your kitchen.
While Cuisinart has not given any official RPM numbers (I contacted them), some sources suggest the CJE-500’s blades spin at a whopping 19.000 revolutions per minute, which is very high, if not the highest for any centrifugal juicer.
Video Overview
Product Details and Usage
| Product Specs | |
|---|---|
| Type | Centrifugal Juicer |
| Application | Home & Personal Use |
| Juice Quality | Fine |
| Juice Shelf Life | 24 Hours |
| Build | Plastic (BPA Free) |
| Design | Upright |
| Chute Size | 2.5 Inches (Round) |
| Wattage | 500 Watts |
| Motor | Single Speed (non-official 19,000 RPM) |
| Noise Level | Medium |
| Dishwasher Safe | Yes |
| Best for Juicing | Hard Produce |
| Warranty | 3 Years |
Notable Product Features
- 500-watt motor powerful enough to process hard produce with ease
- Easy 1-speed on/off button
- 16 fl. oz. jug and 40 oz. pulp container
Build Quality and Design
I like the slick look of the juicer. It’s built with black BPA-free plastic and metal embellishment.
It features a single 1-speed operating button to switch the juicer on or off. When juicing soft produce and leafy greens, however, it’s beneficial to have a “low-speed” setting, which the CJE-500 unfortunately lacks.
Your produce will be dropped into a round 2.5-inch feed chute. You may need to cut some of your produce into smaller chunks to fit them.
Juice from the produce will flow into a 16 fl. oz. jug, while the pulp is separated into the attached 40 oz. container. The jug is replaceable while you’re juicing, so you won’t need to stop the juicer if you’re juicing a lot of produce at once.
Keep in mind if you’re juicing for more than 2 people on a frequent basis, it could still be an annoyance having to empty or replace the small jug multiple times.
Juice Quality and Yield
One kind of feedback I kept coming across in customer reviews, is the juicer leaves behind fairly wet pulp and therefore doesn’t extract as much juice from your produce compared to other centrifugal juicers.
One reviewer also said the Cuisinart CJE-500 struggles a little with citrus fruits.
And being a centrifugal juicer, it naturally won’t perform so well with leafy greens—one user saying it produced barely a tablespoon of juice from a few leaves of kale. GoodHouseKeeping also confirmed in their review that this model performs poorly with kale.
So this model would be better for you if you’re looking to juice hard produce like apples, beetroot, carrots, celery and the like.
Many also say the juice often contains a noticeable amount of pulp and foam, which isn’t great.
One thing that really concerns me, are the reports of plastic from the cover chute and pusher being ground or melted into the juice. This would make me a bit cautious about buying this juicer although I’m sure not everyone will experience this.
If anything does happen, the CJE-500 comes with a nice 3-year warranty for the whole machine.
While Breville’s Juice Fountain Cold BJE430SIL might be an exception due to its Cold Spin Technology, the juice from centrifugal juicers should generally be consumed within 24 hours. This is due to their high RPM speeds, which causes a lot of oxygen to be pulled into the juice.
Performance and Noise
Despite some poor performance with citruses and leafy greens, the CJE-500 does well with hard and bulky produce, making juice in seconds.
It’s also not as noisy in action as many other centrifugal juicers, which is a nice plus.
Is It Easy to Use?
Once you’ve assembled the 6 parts of your CJE-500, using it is very straightforward. Lift out the pusher, press the on button and you’re ready to push produce through the juicer.
Is It Easy to Clean?
I love that all the detachable parts are dishwasher safe (makes life easier!). So disassembly and clean-up doesn’t take long if you can do it this way.
Otherwise, you’ll need to rinse and wash the 6 parts by hand. Usually, the fine-mesh filters will take the longest to clean as they need to be brushed thoroughly.
I always recommend you begin cleaning your juicer immediately after you’re done using it so you can avoid having to scrub away all the eventual sticky bits.
Should I Buy the Cuisinart CJE-500 Compact Juice Extractor?
I will say this option is great if you’re on a budget and looking for a compact juicer that won’t take up much space in most kitchens and if you only want to juice the common things I mentioned earlier (apples, beetroot, carrots, celery, etc.).
If you do buy it, I recommend you keep an eye on the plastic situation and get your juicer replaced if it does happen.
