Today I’m taking some time to write an actual personal review of the Cuisinart CCK-500 citrus juicer. This is a juicer that I own, I bought, and I keep on my countertop. I use this thing frequently and I can actually tell you more about this than the majority of review sites out there.
Before I get into the details of this review however I want to state right up front this:
This electric citrus juicer is the second unit I ever bought. The first I ever owned was the Black + Decker CJ650 which was a bit cheaper but I didn’t like it nearly as much.
I have experience using many other juicers too and of all the juicers I own I prefer making orange juice (and lemon juice for that matter) with this juicer over all others.
You can see just how low the pricing is for the CCJ-500 right here.
If you want to know more about this juicer then keep on reading.
My Short & Sweet Cuisinart CCJ500 Citrus Juicer Review
Lower on this page I’ll go into greater detail on all aspects of this juicer and compare it to competing models but to summarize everything in just a couple paragraphs all you need to know can be summed up right here.
The Pulp Control electric juicer from Cuisinart is super affordable, almost the cheapest available for sale anywhere, but it doesn’t feel cheap. In fact it feels like it will hold up well for a long time.
The 25 watt motor is one of the smallest motors in the citrus juicer space but it is strong enough for regular light duty use at home.
I regularly juice about four navel oranges one after the other with no problems whatsoever. For larger fruits like grapefruit it does fine although some other units may be better.
Lemons and limes tend to be smaller and the Pulp Control Juicer handles those really well!
The unit is able to sit out on my counter all the time while looking good. All parts that need washing come off way easier than some other cheap alternatives and I’ve never had a spill or leak into the motor housing. Its pretty much impossible to do so with it’s design.
I also like the pulp strainer because the plastic seems sturdy and the dial to include more or less pulp is easy to set in place and remove for cleaning.
The unit is not whisper silent but it’s not all that loud either – I regularly use this thing in the morning when the baby is still asleep without fear of waking him up.
If I had one request in the design room at Cuisinart it would be to make the entire unit slightly taller so that I could place slightly taller glasses under the juice spout. As it is I usually have to juice into a shorter container and then portion out into regular drinking cups.
For the price however this is hardly a deal breaker.
Do I Recommend the CCJ-500?
This model is the citrus juice maker that I recommend almost everybody to get… right down to friends and family. It’s just a good value play. I’ve included it on the top of my recommendation list over on my electric citrus juicer page and unless you want to spend some serious money on top-of-the-line alternatives you probably won’t wish you bought something else.
The only caveat I would drop is that this is an electric “spinning” juicer, meaning it operates like an electric reamer. You hold a half of a fruit to the reamer and it spins, extracting the vast majority of the juices with little to no effort on your part.
Because of the nature of this style of juicer some people prefer citrus presses. A good citrus press will usually get more of the juice out of an orange compared to the reamers like this model (which can get almost all of it) but they are actually even faster to use.
It usually takes me about two minutes to juice four oranges to my liking with this Cuisinart but that time could probably be cut in half or three quarters using a leveraged press.
Again, I recommend the CCJ-500, you can see pricing and availability here.
For more details however click on any of the following links to subsections on this page… or just keep on scrolling down.
How many watts is the motor?
Can this easily juice grapefruits or large oranges?
Is it able to juice small citrus like lemons and limes?
Does it come with small and large size reamer cones?
Is the CCJ-500 easy to clean?
Does it have a no pulp setting?
Does is slide around on the countertop?
Can it juice anything other than citrus fruits?
How does it work?
How heavy is it? How tall is it?
What happens to the seeds from the fruit?
How loud is it?
How do you change the amount of pulp it leaves in the juice?
Does the reamer spin in both directions?
How tall of a glass fits under the juice spout?
Can you juice lots of fruits in a row with it?
Is it 110 volt only or can it also operate with 220v?
Can you get all the pulp in the juice?
Can the CCJ-500 juice pomegranates?
Where is it made?
Does it have good cord storage?
What colors does it come in?
Does it clog easily?
Can you remove the pulp strainer to get all the pulp?
How long is the power cord?
How long is the expected life? How durable is this juicer?
Is does it use BPA free plastics?
Do you have to use the lid to juice citrus fruits?
Is it messy to use?
Frequently Asked Questions & Product Details
I’ve presented the rest of this post as a detailed list of other questions people tend to have about this juicer along with my thoughts.
How Many Watts is the Motor?
Clearly stated on the bottom of the body housing and on the product packaging and on the sales page over on Amazon this model uses a 25 watt motor. The motor is very small (weak) and is among the smallest motors within the electric citrus juicer market so I wouldn’t expect it to hold up well for the long term.
The motor is however strong enough to power through 2-6 oranges, a few grapefruits, and 10 or less lemons in any one sitting just fine.
If I were juicing more than that at once regularly I would definitely be looking to buy a juicer with a larger motor. I wouldn’t want to risk overheating this small motor and ruining it.
Can this easily juice grapefruits or large oranges?
I regularly juice large navel oranges with this model. In fact I juice three to four at a time on most days. As for other large fruits like grapefruit I have only used them on this citrus reamer a few times, mostly for experimentation purposes.
The universal reamer is designed to work on grapefruits and it does but it takes longer to juice larger fruits because you still have to manually ensure that all sections of the rind are being reamed. The cone is big and wide but to juice a large grapefruit with little waste you will have to take your time to get it done.
I think this juicer is fine for those larger fruits but if I were juicing lots of them regularly I might look to buy a reamer that was specifically designed for large citrus.
Is it able to juice small citrus like lemons and limes?
The universal reamer is designed to juice all types of citrus fruits and as you would expect it is perfectly capable of juicing small citrus fruits like lemons and limes. The smaller the fruit gets however the worse the juicer works.
If for instance you wanted to juice key limes or kumquats the reamer cone is simply too large to do it efficiently. For those I would choose a citrus juicer that can ream tiny citrus fruits more effectively.
Lemons and regular sized limes however seem to do fine.
Does it come with small and large size reamer cones?
The Cuisnart CCJ500 comes with only a single reamer cone. It is billed as a universal cone capable of getting the juices out of all citrus ranging from large to small.
In reality however this is best used for medium sized fruits like large lemons and oranges.
Is the CCJ-500 easy to clean?
I find the Pulp Control Citrus juicer by Cuisinart to be pretty easy to clean as all parts can easily be rinsed off under the sink right after you use it. Each of the parts that contact food are all BPA free and dishwasher safe too so there’s no worries there.
I also find that the juice stopper valve tends to work well keeping final drips on the body and countertop to a minimum meaning there are less unintentional things to clean after using the gadget.
I also find the pulp strainer to be easy to separate for cleaning but because of the shape of the pulp strainer it can sometimes be hard to rinse all bits of pulp out of the strainer quickly. The pulp gets trapped in the “bowl” of the strainer and doesn’t come out without a scrubbing or a scoop of the finger.
Also, because the strainer is contoured the way it is you can’t just tap out the bulk of the pulp into the trash or compost – you almost have to rinse it out under the sink for a minute meaning your sink then needs to be cleaned too and you don’t get to easily reuse the pulp for anything.
Not ideal so there are better citrus reamers for ease of cleaning.
Does it have a no pulp setting?
The reference to “pulp control” it the name implies you can fully control how much pulp gets into your juice. The included strainer however only has a high, medium, and low setting for pulp. If you want to completely eliminate pulp the strainer would need a built in fine mesh strainer like you get on centrifugal juicers and it doesn’t have this.
If you want no pulp then you set the pulp filter dial to low pulp and either live with the lowest setting or you will have to strain it further after the fact.
In the real world though I find the lowest pulp setting in this juicer to be more than adequate at eliminating the vast majority of pulp. My wife likes no pulp in her OJ and yet she finds the low pulp setting to be perfectly adequate.
Does is slide around on the countertop?
I have never once noted this machine sliding around on my granite countertop. It has rubberized “feet” on the bottom of the machine and they never really move even when I’m manipulating the fruit wil the reamer is in motion.
Some other models may do this but I don’t find this to be an issue whatsoever with the CCJ-500.
Can it juice anything other than citrus fruits?
This is a citrus juicer and designed to only juice citrus fruits like oranges, limes, lemons, grapefruits, or anything else closely related.
To juice anything else, be it vegetable or fruit, you need to get a more versatile juicer such as a centrifugal juice extractor or a generally more expensive cold-press juicer.
How does it work?
This citrus juicer works a lot like other dedicated citrus juicers. You cut your fruit (so long as it is shapped like a sphere) in half and press it down on the reamer cone. The pressure on the cone activated the motor causing the reamer to spin. The spinning reamer releases juice and pulp into the strainer where the juice passes through to your cup. The strained pulp remains in the machine for cleaning and the rind of the citrus fruit is left in your hand for either the trash can or for some other use.
On this model of juicer you’ll find that the filter can be adjusted prior to use to let more or less pulp enter your glass. You’ll also find that the reamer can spin both clockwise and counterclockwise to ensure the most juice is extracted as possible.
Lastly, the CCJ500 has a somewhat unique function where you can remove the citrus rind after juicing and place the dust cover on the unit and press it down to do a final “spin dry” of the collected pulp. This final spin gets more juice out than you would otherwise get from almost any other budget friendly citrus juicer.