I have to tell you that I have a juicer. A perfectly respectable Philips juicer which came to live in my house and has been serving me well ever since. I love my juicer.. or rather I did love my juicer. Just a few days ago the Philips Robust Collection Juicer turned up at my door and I have since transferred my affections.

The Philips Robust Juicer is not a small thing. Since most gadgets are shrinking around me, I was genuinely surprised. My favourable impression started from the moment I begun setting the juicer up. Heavy, solid and sturdy, the Robust Juicer parts fit together like a well made jigsaw puzzle and overall, it looks and feels like quality. The juicer has a wattage of 1,200, has an extra wide feeding tube and has a jug which can hold up to 1.5 litres at any one time.

The Philips Robust Juicer is made up of 6 easily assembled parts, along with a jug and two cleaning brushes. My current juicer is very similar apart from three notable differences:-
The Robust version sits together very tightly. There is no sense of it being flimsy or coming apart if knocked, instead it’s wonderfully solid.
When I sit the lid on top of mine it has two little arms holding it in place. The Robust has one arm which goes around the front of the machine and ‘lifts up’ so that it locks the lid down more firmly.
The spout on mine drips as I pull the glass or jug away, which is very annoying. The spout on the Robust version can be positioned upwards in order to stop the drip.

I know I said three differences but there are actually four! The Robust, despite being much larger and heavier than my little juicer, is a lot quieter when in use!

So far in my trial of the Robust Juicer I have used carrots, apples, a cucumber, oranges, pineapple, melon and mangos. Mangos are too soft to be dealt with properly in a juicer, which I knew, but the Robust managed to get more out of them than my current juicer. The rest of the fruits and vegetables were dealt with quickly, easily and most of all completely. After going through all of the above, there was little to be thrown away which impressed me no end.

After use the detachable parts should be washed off with the cleaning brush provided and there is a pipe cleaner included to ensure proper cleaning of the spout. The body of the Juicer can be wiped off with a wet cloth and the cord can be wound away neatly at the base. The Juicer parts are also dishwasher proof. I’d say if you’ve never used a juicer before, to please read the instructions. It will not only help you to maintain the juicer, it also has preparation tips and recipes! Delving into the two books provided I found 1 soup recipe and 3 juices.

Having a juicing capacity for more than two people, two speeds in order to handle most fruit and veg, easy to clean parts and reduced noise - I am in love.

RRP: £300 - See www.philips.co.uk for more information or to buy.

Also available at Amazon, John Lewis and other good high street and online stores.