Amzchef Slow Juicer ZM1501
One-minute review
Amzchef is a relatively new kitchen appliances brand, so you may not have heard the name before, but it’s starting an assault on the small appliance market, with a range of affordable kitchen gadgets it hopes will give more expensive models from names such as Philips and Ninja a run for its money.
Juicers are at the core of its current product range, with five different slow juicer models available. The Amzchef Slow Juicer ZM1501 is slightly more expensive than its entry-level model but is still very affordable.
Slow juicers extract the juice by grinding fruits and vegetables in an action that’s similar to chewing, the liquid is then extracted as it’s passed through a strainer that separates out the pulp. The Amzchef Slow Juicer model comes with one strainer and offers two functions: on or reverse, along with a 0.74 quart/0.7-liter juice container.
There’s nothing over-complicated to get to grips with and it’s quite intuitive to use. However, the Amzchef Slow Juicer extracts average juice yields, the performance is neither the best nor the worst that we’ve seen.
That said at $109.99/ £99.99/ AUS $220, its a good option for those new to juicing who are looking for a slow juicer to start their journey into juicing, rather than opting for a centrifugal juicer. It’s also suited to those on a budget, or who want an affordable device as they’re unsure how often they will use a juicer.
Amzchef Slow Juicer ZM1501 price and availability
- List price: $109.99/ £99.99/ AUS $220
The Amzchef Slow Juicer ZM1501 will set you back $109.99/ £99.99/ AUS $220 and is available from Amazon in the US and UK, as well the Amzchef website in the US. In Australia, it can be purchased through Ubuy.
This is a budget slow juicer that’s much more affordable than most other slow juicers so it’s a good starter model.
Design
- 0.74 quart/ 0.7 literl juice container
- Simple assembly
- Five color options
The Amzchef Slow Juicer ZM1501 comes in five different colors: white, gray, red, green and orange. So if you want a juicer that’ll fit in with your kitchen color scheme, there are plenty of options to choose from. It’s smaller and easier to store when disassembled, but when fully assembled measures 14.8 x 15 x 6.3 inch/ 37.5 x 38 x 16cm (H x W x D). It weighs around 6.6lbs/ 3kg so it’s not too heavy to lift in and out of a cupboard when not in use, that said, it’s not an ugly appliance so you won’t feel it has to be hidden away.
Assembly is simple and all of the parts click together easily, there’s just one strainer so you don’t get a choice of different sizes for different types of drink that you get with some of the more expensive slow juicers. It just comes with a brush for cleaning and a wrench tool to help with disassembling if you’re struggling, but we didn’t find disassembly difficult at all.
The 0.74 quart/0.7-liter juice container is a good size, but if you’re planning on doing lots of juicing in one go, it’ll fill up quickly. The juice container doesn’t come with a lid, so it can’t be used for storing juice, you’ll need to find an alternative jug with a lid for that. Annoyingly there’s not a drip stop, so when the juice container is removed, juice drips onto the base of the juicer.
The feed tube is just 1.8 inch / 4.8cm wide, so most larger fruits and vegetables need to be cut up before juicing. Although Amzchef does point out on its website that this small size stops children from putting their hands or fingers low enough into the juicer to get hurt, which is a plus. The large pulp container sits on the counter so it’s really easy to empty without having to disassemble the juicer. Unfortunately, the instruction manual isn’t particularly well written but the only settings to choose from are on or reverse so it’s not tricky to get to grips with.
Performance
- Juice isn’t 100% smooth
- Feed tube can get jammed
- Easy to operate
For all the juices we made in the Amzchef Slow Juicer ZM1501, the juice yields were slightly below what we’ve seen from more premium slow juicers but exceeded the results from its nearest competitor in terms of price, which is the more expensive Ninja Cold Press Juicer.
First off, we made a mixed juice from broccoli, parsley, apple, pear, ginger, and celery. We noticed quite quickly that if you try to put too much in the feed tube it can get jammed, so slow and steady works best. Our mixed juice had some froth on top and the texture was slightly grainy rather than completely smooth, the juice yield was 66%. Our decibel meter registered 84dB (along with the kale test which registered the same sound level), which is equivalent to the noise from a diesel truck traveling at 40 mph. That said, it’s still not the loudest juicer we’ve ever tested, and as the noise level is only experienced for a short period at a time, we think this is acceptable.
Juicing kale produced a yield of 43% which although not as good as you’ll get from more expensive slow juicers, is much better than you’ll get if you try to juice kale in a centrifugal juicer. The kale juice had quite a lot of froth on top and a slightly powdery mouthfeel.
The yield of 35% when juicing carrots isn’t great, it means there’s quite a lot of waste, the juice itself had no froth on top but the texture was gritty. The result from juicing five oranges was a good orange juice that was virtually completely smooth with no pulp and a 69% yield.
As we mentioned earlier, you’ll have to cut larger fruits and vegetables into pieces to fit them in the small feed tube and despite being cut up it took quite a slow 36 seconds to juice a whole apple. All parts are dishwasher safe, but if you don’t have a dishwasher, they clean easily with little more than a quick rinse.
Should I buy the Amzchef Slow Juicer ZM1501?
Buy it if...
You want a slow juicer on a budget
This slow juicer is much less expensive than most slow juicers and although juice yields aren’t quite as good as the more premium models, this is a good entry-level option.
You want a choice of colors
This juicer comes in gray, red, green, orange, or white so you can choose the perfect color to coordinate with your kitchen.
You want dishwasher safe parts
This juicer comes with dishwasher-safe parts, so you don’t have to wash it by hand, but this isn’t very clear in the instruction manual. It does also come with a brush to help with cleaning and it’s not too tricky to clean by hand either.
Don't buy it if...
You want maximum juice yields
With average juice extraction, this isn’t one of the best juicers in terms of juice yields, but if you want a slow juicer that has higher juice yields it’ll cost a lot more.
You want to juice whole fruits
The small feed tube means you can’t juice whole fruits like apples or pears, you’ll need to cut them into smaller pieces before juicing.
You want a manual with recipes and advice
The instruction manual is very basic and doesn’t read well, there are no recipes, and it offers very few tips on how best to juice different fruits and vegetables, so if you’re new to juicing it’ll require a bit of trial and error – luckily you can’t go too far wrong.
First reviewed: September 2021
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