By Ella Smith
The Breville Ikon Juice Fountain has a patented extra wide feed chute that is 25% larger than previous Breville Juice Fountain juice extractors, making light work of larger apples, oranges and sliced fruit. This means less work in the kitchen: less chopping and less time spent pushing pieces into the feed chute.
It’s a particularly good looking juicer, with a stainless steel body, elegantly styled filter bowl surround, juicer cover and die-cast metal interlocking safety arm that stops the juicer operating without the juicer cover locked in place. It’s a solid looking, sturdy juicer that complements any stainless steel or brushed aluminium appliances in the kitchen.
Setting up
Before you use the Ikon Juice Fountain remove any packaging material and promotional stickers and labels. Ensure it’s switched off at the power point and the power cord is unplugged. Make sure you wash the filter bowl surround, filter basket, pulp container and juice jug lid in warm soapy water with a soft cloth and rinse and dry these items thoroughly. You can wipe the motor base with a damp cloth and dry thoroughly.
Next, you must place the filter bowl surround on top of the motor base; align the arrows at the base of the stainless steel filter basket with the arrows on the motor drive coupling and push down until it clicks into place. The stainless steel filter basket must be fitted securely insid the filter bowl surround and onto the motor base. Next, you plce the juicer cover over the filter bowl surround, position the feed chute over the stainless steel filter basket and lower into position. The safety locking arm needs to be raised and locked into two grooves on either side of the juicer cover.
Finally, to place the pulp container in place you must tilt its base away from the motor base and slide it over the bottom of the juice cover. It’s always recommended to put a bag inside the pulp container, to minimise mess and cleaning.
The juice jug fits under the spout on the right side of the machine and its convenient lid prevents splatters. Or, if you prefer, you may place the custom designed juice nozzle over the juice spout and place a glass underneath. This is another way to reduce splatter.
While you don’t need a manual to set this machine up, the manual is comprehensive and even provides recipes, helpful juicing hints and a guide to the benefits of juicing. Be careful not to immerse the motor base in any liquid, and take care when handling the filter basket and feed chute as they contain some small sharp blades.
Features
The Ikon Juice Fountain has a patented direct central feed system which has been engineered for maximum juice extraction. Its 84 mm feed chute means you can juice large, whole apples and oranges and sizeable chunks of any fruit or vegetable.
The die-cast metal interlocking safety arm is a sturdy inclusion and great for peace of mind: the machine won’t switch on and start working when you?re caught unawares. When I switched the machine on without all the parts properly fitted, a large, bright ‘L’ (for locking arm) was displayed on the LCD indicator.
Parts are dishwasher safe too which means no time is wasted scrubbing componentry. The dishwasher safe parts includes the stainless steel, titanium reinforced micro mesh filter basket.
Because knowing which speed to juice fruit and vegetables at can require some guesswork, we really liked the LCD speed indicator with a juicing speed guide. At the turn of a dial you are given the correct speed setting for a range of fruit, such as 1 for soft fruit, 3 for citrus and 5 for hard vegetables, apples, for example. So there’s no messing around.
The juice jug has a handy froth separator, for those who don’t like froth. A cleaning brush is supplied, which helps with removing pulp from the juice container (especially when juicing large amounts). The nylon brush end is also good for cleaning the stainless steel filter basket (part of a juicer that’s always challenging to keep clean).
The motor has a five year warranty for peace of mind, which augurs well for many happy juicing experiences.
Performance
From setting up the machine through to operating the LCD speed indicator, operating the Ikon Juice Fountain was a breeze. Set up was intuitive and parts fitted together seamlessly. The filter bowl surround had some sharp edges though, so be careful when assembling it.
Operating the juicer was incredibly simple: flicking the on/off switch, and turning the electronic dial to the correct setting for the relevant fruit or vegetables. The three litre pulp container is an ideal size for storing the waste from a couple of kilograms of fruit.
Be careful not to juice too vigorously (or use too many pieces too quickly) or you may hear some motor strain, or the motor may even stall. Simply slowing down the juicing action will help. If the motor stalls completely it may be due to too much build up of wet pulp under the juicer cover. If this takes place it’s best to disassemble the machine and clean the filter bowl surround, filter basket and juicer cover. There’s a juicing guide in the manual to help determine the correct speed for the fruit and vegetables selected for juicing. Or if you are keen to become a juicing expert there’s even a section dedicated to finding the right technique for juicing a wide range of ingredients and how to best utilise the remaining pulp left after juicing.
We particularly liked the facts pages about fruit and vegetables which referenced when is the best season to buy, their nutritional values, how to store them and even their calorie/kilojoule count.
Conclusion
I enjoyed using the Ikon Juice Fountain and for its good looks, durable motor, great safety features, modern LCD indicator and the benefits of the new 84 mm extra wide feet chute, I think this total package represents particularly good value for money.
