Speeds from 6500rpm to 12500rpm / Centered dual blade knife / 3-inch center feeding tube / Backlit control panel / Stainless steel / Dishwasher safe
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Ikon: Almost perfect. Better than Elite
Comment: I've had the opportunity to try both the Elite and the Ikon. I much prefer the Ikon. I found the Elite unnecessarily large. Both have the same ample-sized 3" fruit and vegetable receptacle in width, but the Elite's "food pusher" and chute are longer than the Ikon's, making the Elite more difficult to fit under an upper kitchen cabinet. The Elite looked too industrial and imposing on the counter. The Ikon looks "just right," and the Ikon's additional speed controls are a great plus. Also, the Ikon's "safety locking arm" is easier to use, possibly because it's more substantial, and the "arm" is more attractive than the Elite's.
WORTH NOTING: I bought the Ikon from Bed, Bath & Beyond. With their 20% off coupon, it was less expensive than Amazon's price and I didn't have to wait for Amazon to ship it to me. (I live close enough to BB&B to have been able to bring the juicer home in my shopping cart so no shipping charge was incurred -- both now charge sales tax, at least if bought in or sent to New York City so there was no saving for me if I bought from Amazon.) I returned the first Ikon to BB&B for another because I sensed something was not totally right. Sure enough the second Ikon felt and sounded perfect. (The pulp was definitely drier. I still sometimes run the pulp through a second time and the juice yield is greater. I just don't know if the additional amount is worth the effort.) I suspect variations of quality between the machines occurs frequently, so don't hesitate to make an exchange if you believe something is wrong. Amazon.com and BB&Beyond are very customer friendly so returning and/or exchanging was very easy.
WORTH NOTING #2: The reconditioned Breville juice extractor I received from Amazon.com was in amazingly bad condition. (I think the former owner cleaned the plastic juicer cover with the cleaning brush that should be used only on the filter basket.) The plastic was so scratched that no part of it was clear. The machine should never have been sent to me. The good news is that Amazon.com took it back with only a few questions.) I have since learned that there's a link on the ordering page for juicers that are "reconditioned" that allows you to specify the condition of the reconditioned machine that you're willing to accept.
Thanks to the reviews I read on Amazon.com of others who experienced the juicers before me, I knew to use a plastic bag in the pulp container -- definitely a helpful hint. I think too much is made of the difficulty and time consumption involved in cleaning the juicer. The important part to clean ASAP is the stainless steel filter basket. I just fill the sink with warm, sudsy water and drop parts in to be cleaned when I'm ready. If the plastic does become stained by carrots, a little fresh lemon rubbed on the stain removes it.
Good luck on your choice.
Customer Rating: Summary: Why I prefer this juicer to Green Star, Champion, and others:
Comment: The Breville BJE510XL Ikon 900-Watt Variable-Speed Juice Extractor is the third juicer I've owned, and is definitely my favorite. My cheap and easy-to-use Juiceman's motor burnt out after a year, at which point it would have been more expensive to repair than replace. My Champion still works after 15 years and is not difficult to clean, but is messy to use, leaving drips all over the countertop or whatever I line it with. I've also tried the Green Star and Green Power Juicers, which make perfect juice with dry pulp, but take a long time to clean and assemble. The Breville BJE510XL Ikon 900 is the second-down from the top of the line of the four Breville juicers (only the Elite is better), but after a month of use of about every-other-day use, I find no need to upgrade.
Here's why I like this juicer so much for my typical juice of carrot, kale, celery and apple and/or pear:
*Easy to set-up: It takes only seconds to set up this juicer. The juicer itself has only 3 pieces to snap into place, plus there's the acrylic pitcher, pulp basket, and pusher. The pieces fit perfectly like a jigsaw puzzle, which brings me to the second reason I like it:
*Not messy: The juice ends up in the pitcher, the pulp goes to the pulp basket, plus some residual of each ends up in the juicer to be cleaned. My Champion Juicer OTOH required me to find containers around the house that would fit, and still some would drip out. I would have to place a baking sheet or towel under it to contain the mess.
*Quick vegetable and fruit prep: I can fit several carrots at once into the 3" diameter shoot, plus whole pears and/or apples. I don't have to do as much cutting ahead of time as I did with other juicers with a narrower shoot. You must be careful though to use the pusher and not your hand.
*Quick clean up: Those 6 pieces mentioned above are all I have to clean. I can clean my juicer in just a few minutes, once I figured out a good way to clean the filtration basket--by far the most challenging part to clean. This basket was frustrating to clean at first, particularly since my juicer did not come with the brush it was supposed to (and customer service did not respond to my request to obtain a brush). I tried various brushes, but what works best is an all purpose nylon scouring pad from Trader Joe's which comes in packages of 4 for $2.59. The secret to quick clean up is to begin cleaning as soon as you've finished juicing, although you do have a few minutes to drink your juice first. Rinse off the filtration basket and vigorously scrub half of each of the three sections at a time with the nylon scrubber, rinsing each half section before moving on to the next. This should remove 90 to 90% of the pulp debris. Repeat or spot clean to remove the rest. I can clean the whole basket in less than a minute. The other parts are quick and straightforward to clean, although you have to be careful to clean under the rim of the acrylic part that the basket sits in.
*Helpful design features: The juicer has a smaller footprint than the Champion and Greenstar Juicers; a sleek, modern look that looks good in kitchens; pieces that fit together well (as mentioned), and even the plug is in the shape of a ring so one can easily pull it out of the socket without yanking on the cord.
*Doesn't stain. Although it has some acrylic parts, so far, with immediate cleaning after use, there have been no stains.
A few compromises. No juicer is perfect. This juicer is average in several areas. You can have a juicer that is above average in these areas (Green Star and Green Power), but you will be spending a lot more time in assembly, disassembly and cleaning. Having used the Green Star and Green Power, I would rather have the quick and easy juicer and sacrifice a small amount of yield.
*Noise - This juicer is as loud as your average kitchen appliance like a food processor or blender. The Green Star or Green Power are whisper quiet. It is not as loud as my Blendtec blender which requires me to wear ear phones.
*Yield - The pulp in this Breville is neither very wet nor very dry--it's average. For sawdust-dry pulp and more yield, the Green Star, Green Power and the $2,000 difficult-to-clean Norwalk exceed the Breville.
*Versatility - The Breville is strictly a juicer. If you're a raw foodist who is interested in making frozen banana "ice cream" and "not tuna" pate', you might prefer the Champion, Green Star or Green Power. However, I have found you can make these items in the food processor, so I'd rather have the dedicated easy juicer. Banana "ice cream" takes about 5 minutes in the food processor, as opposed to about 30 seconds in the Champion juicer.
The bottom line is that the right juicer for you is the one that can get used. With quick and easy food prep, assembly, disassembly, and cleaning, at my house, this IS the juicer that gets used.
Customer Rating: Summary: BUY THIS JUICER: a simple review from a novice to the juicing world.
Comment: I am new to the juicing world, so my review is for anyone who wants a basic impression of this machine. The simple truth about this machine is that it is quiet (at its highest speed it reaches a loud hum, hardly what I would call "loud"), it is as durable as it could possibly be, it is powerful, it is well designed, it extracts a significant amount of juice (the pulp it extracts is lightly damp to dry but not wet/pulpy), and it is very fast. The only thing this juicer does not do as well is juice leafy vegetables such as wheatgrass, lettuce, etc. The juicer extracts some juice from the leaves but chops them up and puts large pieces in the pulp bin as well. I don't believe this is a great criticism of this juicer, because from what I've read you are best with a masticating juicer (not a centrifugal juicer such as this) if you want to juice leafy vegetables. That said, buy this juicer if you want a good vegetable/citrus/fruit juicer that will last for years. I've juiced ginger, carrots, apples, grapefruit, and celery in it and had no problems with any of these. The juicer did not clog with any of these items. It's a great machine. I am very satisfied with it.
Customer Rating: Summary: First and Last Juicer
Comment: After considerable research about juicers, I settled on getting the Breville. I could not be happier with it. It juicies fast, clean up is a breeze, and it runs smooth and quiet. It looks great sitting on my counter too! I've used it every day since I've gotten it.
Customer Rating: Summary: Great juicer
Comment: We had no problems like some of the other reviews indicated--no problem with the LCD control panel malfunctioning, and the extract from the fruits and vegetables was pretty dry. We're very pleased with this purchase.
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