The Manic Mechanic

A couple weeks ago while running errands, Jeff and I stopped at the Goodwill store in Columbia. Since the place seems to have a rather fast turnaround of items, there's always something new. I've picked up everything from a "police scanner" radio to my medical cane, all for nearly a song. This last outing I found a Champion juicer, seemingly intact and in good shape. Since I had wanted to get a juicer for quite a while now but kept putting it off because of the cost of the better ones, I picked the beast up and gave it a closer inspection. While not in it's box, it appears the unit has never been used, with the original shipping wax on the motor shaft and not a scratch on the thing. And for the princely sum of $20, I snagged it. I figure if it was not usable for some reason, I can re-purpose it as a shop buffer or something, since it's built around a 1/3HP capacitor start induction motor. When I got home that evening, I checked out the Champion website and discovered that it was missing only one piece (a blank screen for grinding/juicing without separating pulp from the juice) and the owner's manual. With the user manual downloaded and printed from the site, I thought about future uses for the thing and how my bumper crop of apples and tomatoes could be made into sauces a lot faster than with my old, hand-crank Squeezo juicer. I looked around the 'net for user reviews and other information and found that the machine has been produced in some form or another since 1955, the reviews were mostly quite positive, and that I got a hell of a deal on the thing.



Tonight I ordered up the large-hole screen as well as the missing blank. The total for these pieces, with the shipping, came to $22 dollars. More than what I paid for the juicer! Once these pieces show up, I'm going to do some experimenting. That's where my dear readers come in. How many of you use a juicer, now or in the past? What brand/type? Any suggestions, hints, tricks or recipes? Beuller?