Magimix Le Duo Juice Extractor Chrome/Charcoal Finish

Within months hairline cracks had appeared over the motor housing, the main collecting bowl and the citrus press.

I am now on a second Le Duo (which is even worse) for it still has developed hairline cracks but in addition pours the extracted juice not only from the spout but from around the base of the bowl, which leaves a mess on the work surfaces.

The Le Duo looks good and does do a great job at extracting juice but in my opinion is not designed for regular use.

Speaking of the basket, if you are a greedy beast like me and like a good few glassfuls at each go (I'm talking a pint or more here depending on what you're juicing), you may need to empty the residue basket mid juicing as it can get pretty full round the edges and vibrate horribly across the worktop and leak a bit.

And don't chuck away the spatula to clean out the basket either as you'll need it handy to scrape out the leftovers to your compost heap before giving it a wash. You have to do this part pretty quick as if leftovers dry up then it's fairly ugly to clean all the nooks and crannies in the basket when the leftovers have cemented themselves to everything.

On the design side, it would be easier to dismantle if someone had the foresight to put some grooves or handholds onto the thing to get a good grip to pull it apart. This was a real down point initially as it was very stiff until used a bit. Now I've got my own technique but ask anyone else in the household to take it apart and they'd probably fail miserably. It is not at all intuitive and no guides or arrows are to be seen on the juicer itself to help out.

Yes, I could have bought a juicer that took a whole apple in one go without having to chop it into quarters to fit in the feed tube but this is not really much hardship. I did contemplate a juicer with a separate residue basket too but I'm glad I didn't as I've since read up that they don't produce so much juice. (Purists would argue you should consume the residue too but I'll pass on that.) Also, this one works on centrifugal force so maximises the juice output and hence nutrition content which is what I'm after.

The citrus part is very good and quick. 5/6 medium oranges will give over a pint. You need to press down on the citrus press top whilst the motor is running to get most of the juice out but you never hear it complaining.

The spout perplexed me initially and the first few goes the juice spewed out the middle of the machine until I realised I hadn't got the spout open! You'll be able to fit a pint jug underneath the spout but not a pint glass (too tall).

Conclusion. All in all, it wasn't the cheapest but it's been reliable, efficient, looks good and the juices taste even better! (Have a gawk at Micheal Van Straten's SUPER JUICE book for some yummy ideas- even the book looks good!; the recipes with Le Duo are not too inspiring) . Instructions are concise, and the juicer robust. Once you've made friends with your juicer and keep him somewhere you can access him easily and you'll not be disappointed.

This centrifuagal juicer works differently from virtually all of its peers (rather like an accessory juicer on food processors). Most juicers hurl pith and skin over the top of a sloping filter into a basket. The Magimix keeps everything within its vertical overhanging walls. The positive result: less to clean and clearer thinner juice. The negative result is that although juice is longer lasting and doesn't seperate into layers of sewer-like sludge, the juice is less tasty and the machine becomes unstable if you try to juice too much at a time.

The sieve/grater is heavy and well made, although it really should have been redesigned to come apart for cleaning - as it is difficult to remove detritus from the overhanging assembly. The motor is reasonably quiet although not nearly as quiet as other induction rivals although it appears to have much torque and doesn't slow under load. Unfortunately, the filter/sieve assembly is not dynamically balanced - resulting in unecessary noise and uneveness even when empty. The feeder is primitively narrow and pathetically constricted for a machine at this price level, making it necessary to cut fruit etc into small segments. The absence of a feeder hod is utterly unforgivable in a machine at this price level.

The citrus press performs well, although having to turn the motor on and off for each half of even the smallest fruit is just a pain. Higher and narrowing citrus press walls or a fruit grabber would allow continuous processing.

So there you are. Chose this model for thin and relatively clear juicing and gain clarity and longevity at the cost of taste and layered oxygenated sludge. There is no perfect centrifugal juicer at the moment. This one produces results which do not require separation or straining and perhaps last longer in the fridge. Yet, sadly, there is something missing! I'm not experienced with masticating juicers, which I gather are slower to use. Perhaps they might combine taste and texture better than the flawed centifuges currently on offer.

With the Magimix we win some and lose some - but all centrifugal juicers these days fail to produce acceptable results. The Le Duo at least is almost on its own in design terms, is relatively easy to clean, well guaranteed, and produces relatively clear juice which is a little too thin for enhanced taste and texture and you don't have to stir or chew your way through it.