Hurom H-AA Slow Juicer Review

We purchased the Hurom H-AA Slow Juicer so our reviewer could put it to the test in her kitchen. Keep reading for our full product review.

Hurom is a company that’s been in the business for more than 40 years. We took the Hurom H-AA Slow Juicer for a tour of the produce section, juicing everything from apples to carrots to kale to watermelon, testing its abilities to extract juice from hard, soft, and medium-density foods. We even tested the ability to make “ice cream” from frozen fruits and yogurt, to make up for all that juice we consumed. Read on to see whether this high-end device is worthy of its high price tag.

Setup Process: A little finicky

Assembling this for use isn’t quite as simple as it looks. Several pieces fit in different orientations, and the strainer or auger can appear to be all the way inserted but still too high to attach to the juicing chamber. After using the machine, we got used to its quirks, but still had times we needed to make adjustments to get the lid on. Once it was assembled, operation was simple.

Design: Looks nice on the counter

We wouldn’t necessarily call this a pretty appliance, but it’s not unattractive. Available in black or white for people who prefer an understated appearance, or in rose gold for a touch of elegance, it will look good on the counter if it’s destined to live there.

At the front of the juicer, between the pulp outlet and the juice outlet, is a lever that controls the pulp outlet labeled open, half-open, and closed. Oddly, the only settings that can be used during juicing are closed or half-open. The open setting is only used when the chamber is removed from the machine for cleaning, so we wondered why it wasn’t labeled to indicate that. As it is, it’s just a bit confusing.

One oddity is that while the hopper locks onto the juice chamber, the juice chamber doesn’t lock onto the body of the juicer. That makes it easy to remove the chamber, but it also means that someone could accidentally lift it off while the machine is running. The hopper tube is tinted a dark gray, making it a little difficult to see food in the tube, but the juicing chamber has less tint. 

Performance: Efficient

There’s no doubt about it, this is a powerful machine—despite the fact that it’s called a slow-speed juicer. The “slow” designation is all about the fact that the auger turns slowly, but it’s actually fairly speedy when it comes to crunching vegetables and extracting juice and pulp. The pulp was barely damp, so we knew we were getting as much juice as possible. The machine is also quiet during operation. 

Features: Well designed

Two different juice strainers gave us the ability to decide how much pulp we wanted in our finished juice. For the most part, we opted for the least pulp to get just juice, but also tested the larger strainer for more pulp.

The feed tube is rather small. When we juiced plums, we had to cut them in quarters (after pitting) to get them to fit. The chamber has measurements up to 450 milliliters, which is handy considering the instructions say to open the juice port once the level is at 400 milliliters.

The juicer has a reverse gear that can be used if food gets stuck on the auger, but we didn’t need to use that function during our testing. We did flick the switch to make sure it worked properly, though.

The juice container has measurement markings in ounces, up to 35, and in milliliters up to 1,000. The markings are etched onto the container so they’ll never flake off, but we found them difficult to read.

For the most part, the manual is well-written and easy to understand, and the few translation issues were humorous rather than confusing, although the ice cream instruction that said, “When use the testaceous fruits, please peel and freeze to use,” left us running to Google to find out that testaceous means “brick-colored.” We’re still not sure what that meant, although we froze our bananas before using them for an ice cream equivalent. 

Included Items: Many parts to store

Aside from the body of the machine that contains the motor, the removable parts include a juicing chamber, coarse and fine juice strainers, an ice cream strainer, a spinning brush assembly with silicone “brushes” that swipe the container to make sure everything is getting processed, an auger, and a hopper with a pusher and a lid. Other parts include a juice container with a lid, a pulp container, a chamber rack, two cleaning brushes, and a small recipe book.

While the lid for the juice container might be fine for short-term storage, it doesn’t snap on securely. The hopper lid doesn’t seem useful, either, so we’re puzzled why it was included. The lid might be used to hold moisture in the chamber temporarily before cleaning, but the instructions say that it’s best to clean the juicer right after use to prevent food from drying and becoming harder to remove.

With all these extra items that we felt were less useful, we were surprised that a strainer wasn’t included for catching foam from the juice as it was being released. 

Cleaning: Lots and lots of things to clean

While cleaning the juicer wasn’t particularly difficult, it did have a lot of small spaces that needed attention as well as some very specific cleaning requirements. Parts are not dishwasher safe and shouldn’t be washed in hot water, and harsh or abrasive cleaners shouldn’t be used.

Cleaning is the only time when the pulp lever is used in the open position. This makes it easier to get packed-in pulp out of the small space, but it wasn’t as easy as rinsing—we had to poke and prod to get the pulp free.

While it’s nice to have extras, we felt some of the accessories weren’t particularly useful. The chamber rack, for example, is designed to hold the auger, hopper, and chamber assembly, but we’re not sure why anyone would store them that way. Even stranger, once the two parts of the rack are assembled, they can’t be taken apart. For people who don’t use the juicer often, it would be just as easy to put all the parts back into the box to keep them clean and together.

What we found least intuitive was that the chamber packing, juice cap packing, and silicon brushes were supposed to be removed for cleaning. These are all soft silicone-like materials, and before we read the manual we assumed they were permanently installed. There’s a warning that instructions for removing the silicone brushes should be followed or the holder could be damaged. Taking these parts out and putting them back added to the cleaning time, and since all the parts were soft and rather small, it worried us that we might drop them down the drain or the dog would have a tiny chew toy if we weren’t careful. For small batches of juice, we spent more time cleaning than juicing.

Price: Expensive

There’s no doubt that this is an expensive machine. The brand has a long history of making quality products, so it should last a long time, but it may be outside the budget limit for casual juicers. For folks who want to make juicing part of their normal lifestyle and want a powerful machine that will last, they may be willing to pay the price. 

Hurom H-AA Slow Juicer vs. Omega Juicers NC900HDC Premium Juicer and Nutrition System

We also tested the Omega Juicers NC900HDC Premium Juicer and Nutrition System, which is slightly less expensive than the Hurom we reviewed here, and it also includes more features, like the ability to make pasta or peanut butter. For people who want a straight-up juicer for everyday use, the Hurom is a good choice, but we loved the Omega’s multiple personalities that went well beyond juicing, and we also love the Omega’s easy cleaning.