Making fresh juice at home is a great way to use up fruits and vegetables, but it’s easy to assume your juicer can handle just about anything. Some ingredients produce very little liquid, others leave behind thick pulp, and a few can strain the machine or make cleanup a headache.
The best results come from choosing ingredients that suit your particular juicer. Before tossing something new into the chute, check these 12 foods and consider a blender or another kitchen tool for the ones that don’t work well in a juicer.
Avocados
Avocados contain plenty of healthy fats but very little liquid, so they tend to turn into a thick mash rather than juice. Save them for smoothies, where their creamy texture works much better.
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Fibrous Vegetables
Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, and leafy greens can leave behind stringy pulp or clog some juicers, especially when you feed them in large amounts. Check your machine’s instructions and use suitable leafy greens in small batches, alternating them with juicier produce if your model can handle them.
Coconut Flesh
Fresh coconut flesh is dense and contains too little liquid to pass through most standard juicers easily. Use a blender to make coconut milk or another coconut-based drink, and follow the appliance instructions for processing hard ingredients.
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Citrus Peels
Whole orange, lemon, and lime peels can make juice taste bitter because the rind contains strongly flavored compounds and oils. Peel the fruit before juicing unless your machine’s instructions specifically allow whole citrus, and save clean peels for other household uses.
Bananas
Bananas are soft and starchy, so they tend to form a thick paste instead of releasing juice. Add them to a smoothie or mash them into another recipe rather than feeding them into a standard juicer.
Pineapple
Pineapple is a perfectly suitable fruit for many juicers, but straining it removes much of its fiber while leaving the natural sugars in the liquid. If you’d rather keep more of the fruit’s fiber, blend pineapple into a smoothie instead.
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Figs
Fresh figs have soft flesh and lots of tiny seeds, which can leave a thick, pulpy result with little juice. They’re usually better blended into a smoothie or mashed into yogurt, sauces, and baked goods.
Rhubarb
Rhubarb stalks are tough and fibrous, so some juicers may struggle to process them or leave long strands of pulp behind. Check your machine’s instructions before trying rhubarb, and remember never to eat its leaves because they contain harmful levels of oxalic acid.
Frozen Fruit
Frozen fruit can be too hard for a standard juicer and may strain the motor or damage internal parts. Thaw the fruit first if your appliance allows it, or use a blender rated for frozen ingredients.
Ice
Most standard juicers aren’t built to crush ice, and feeding cubes into one can damage its components. Chill your ingredients before juicing or add ice to the finished drink if you’d like it colder.
Whole Spices
Hard spices such as cloves, cinnamon sticks, and whole nutmeg aren’t suitable for most standard juicers and won’t release much liquid. Grind them with a spice grinder or use ground spices to add flavor to your juice.
Nuts
Nuts contain little free liquid, so putting them in a standard juicer is likely to produce thick residue rather than a drink. Use a blender to make nut milk or another nut-based beverage, following the machine’s instructions for straining and filtering the mixture.
