One-minute review
The Kuvings B1700 is a type of juicer known as a cold press juicer, but sometimes also called a masticating juicer or slow juicer. It grinds the fruit and vegetables slowly and extracts the juice by forcing the ground up pieces through a filter.
Kuvings are an established worldwide juicer brand with many premium slow juicer models available, but the Kuvings B1700 is the brand’s entry-level model, but it’s still a premium product and like most slow juicers isn’t as affordable as centrifugal juicers.
A contender for one of the best juicers we’ve tested, this model comes with a juice strainer for making smooth juices, although optional strainers for making smoothies and sorbets are available but do need to be purchased separately. It has a wide feed chute, reducing the number of fruits and vegetables that have to be chopped up before juicing. It comes with an easy to empty pulp container and juice jug, but none of the parts are dishwasher safe.
The small footprint means it won’t take up too much space on your counter and it’s easy to assemble. Juice extraction is good with high yields and minimal wastage and it makes a great tasting juice with minimal froth and pulp. It’s a good quality slow juicer for anyone looking to move away from centrifugal juicers but without investing in one of the much higher-priced models.
Kuvings B1700 price and availability
The Kuvings B1700 will set you back £299 and is available in the UK through the UK Juicers website.
The Kuvings B1700 is expensive in comparison to other small kitchen appliances, however slow juicers are not a low-cost appliance and this model represents good value in comparison to competitor models. It’s the most affordable slow juicer in the Kuvings range so if you’re looking at this brand in particular this model is a good entry-level option.
Design
- Large feed chute
- Heavy base
- Easy to assemble
With the Kuvings B1700 you’ll get a slow juicer that’s simple to assemble and compact to store. The main unit is 45 x 21 x 22.9cm (h x w x d) and the juice jug slots neatly into the pulp container for easy storage, the only additional parts to store are the cleaning brushes.
At 6.7kg it’s quite heavy, something worth noting if you’re planning on lifting it in and out of a cupboard every time you use it. On a positive note, the heavy base makes it sturdy and it feels like a quality well-built appliance.
There are just two settings; forward or reverse, so you really can’t go wrong. Assembly isn’t too fiddly and there’s a big red dot on the main parts which is useful to ensure you align them correctly.
It’s supplied with a one-litre juice jug and a one-litre pulp container, both of which are easy to empty. The juice jug doesn’t come with a lid, so if you’re looking to store juice in the fridge you’ll need an alternative covered container.
The juice spout has a helpful cap to avoid drips after juicing, this can also be closed while juicing to help mix the juice when juicing different fruits and vegetables. The 7.6cm feed chute is wider than you’ll get on lots of slow juicers which means less chopping and prep before juicing. It’s available in white, red, or silver so you can match it to other appliances in your kitchen.
Performance
- Good yields on leafy greens
- Minimal froth produced
- Recommends soaking fibrous ingredients
We found the Kuvings B1700 simple to assemble thanks to the large red dot on each of the main parts which must be aligned for them to slot correctly into place.
First, we tested the juicer with a mixed green juice, a combination of tough and fibrous ingredients which included celery, ginger, broccoli, parsley, apple, and pear. The apple and pear had to be chopped into quarters to fit comfortably into the feed chute, but we left the celery stalks whole and it juiced everything with ease. We did notice a large piece of apple skin clogging the auger (the component that grinds the fruit and vegetables) when we disassembled it.
That said, it turned 663g of whole fruit and vegetables into 467ml juice which is a good yield of 70%. The juice had a very thin layer of froth on top and the texture was slightly grainy from very fine pieces of pulp which had gotten through the strainer.
Next up we made orange juice, but we had to peel into segment the fruits before juicing in this appliance. The B1700 made a froth-free orange juice with a yield of almost 78% which is very impressive compared to other cold press juicers and centrifugal juicers we have tested. The juice wasn’t 100% smooth, containing just a small amount of fine pulp.
It juiced kale with a similarly impressive yield of 52%, but there were some very fine pieces of kale in the juice, which gave it a slight gritty texture. It had a thin layer of froth on top too, but it was still pleasant to drink. At 79dB, kale was the noisiest of all the juicing we did with this model, but it’s still quiet in comparison to centrifugal juicers.
The instruction manual advises soaking hard vegetables like carrots in cold water prior to juicing. It doesn’t say how long for, so we left them soaking for about an hour. It does mean there’s a bit of planning and preparation involved when juicing hard vegetables, so you’ll need to factor this in. It juiced the carrots easily and the juice had no froth, but as with other juices we made, it had a slight grainy texture. The juice yield was 44% which is similar to other slow juicers like Nama Vitality 5800.
Despite the wide feed chute we found a larger apple had to be cut in half to fit, and pears need to be cut into quarters, although smaller fruits will fit, if they are left whole. It can juice a whole apple in around 25 seconds, which is pretty fast for a slow juicer.
Sadly none of the parts are dishwasher safe, so you have to clean it all by hand, but Kuvings provide a rotating brush which makes it easy to clean the juice strainer and most other parts rinse clean without too much hassle.
Should I buy the Kuvings B1700?
Buy it if…
You want minimal waste
With high juice yields, less of the fruit ends up in the waste pulp container.
You want to move away from a centrifugal juicer
As a good quality entry-level slow juicer, this is a big step up from a centrifugal juicer, with better yields, less froth and it can juice green leafy vegetables much better too.
You want to juice with minimal prep
Many slow juicers have a small feed chute, but on this model it’s 3inches/ 7.6cm which is big enough to accommodate a small apple without chopping, although larger fruits will need to be cut first.
Don’t buy it if…
You want completely smooth juice
Most juices we made in this juicer contained a very small amount of fine pulp, the juices are still very pleasant and almost pulp-free but if you’re very particular about juice being 100% smooth then it’s not the juicer for you.
You want dishwasher safe parts
All the parts on the model are hand wash only, but Kuvings have included two different cleaning brushes to make the process easier.
You want smoothie and sorbet accessories included as standard
This juicer is a good price for an entry-level model but if you want the additional accessories the cost mounts up and it is possible to find other slow juicers with these accessories included for a better price.
First reviewed: July 2021
