Sana 868 Wide Mouth Vertical Juicer Review
Make juices, smoothies, and sorbets simply by switching out attachments
Verdict
Tall and thin, the Sana 868 Wide Mouth Vertical Juicer is a versatile juicer that doesn’t take up much counter space. It was quite slow to use and the pulp spout got blocked from time-to-time, but the quality of the juice and the ability to make sorbets and smoothies make this a top-quality juicer.
Pros
- Versatile
- Dedicated juice and pulp containers
- Makes excellent juice
Cons
- Pulp spout can get blocked
Click here to buy the Sana 868 Wide Mouth Vertical Juicer
- UK Juicers
- £499
Key Features
- TypeThis is a slow juicer that can also make smoothies and sorbets.
Introduction
The Sana 868 Wide Mouth Vertical Juicer is one of a rare number of juicers that lets you make juices, smoothies, and sorbets simply by switching out attachments.
It’s also one of the few juicers I’ve tested that ships with pulp bins and juice containers, which makes it much easier to juice large batches of fruit and vegetable at one time, as opposed to juicing a glass at a time.
Its multi-function capabilities have seemingly been designed to maximise its appeal. As has its tall, space-saving design, array of cleaning tools and a number of additional safety and control features.
Design and features
- Tall, thin design uses minimal countertop space
- Ships with pulp and juice containers
- Feeding basket adds extra safety element
As its name suggests, the Sana 868 Vertical is tall and thin, as opposed to having a wide and thick design like many other juicers, such as the Ninja Cold Press Juicer JC100UK.
This means the juicer slots into smaller spaces and takes up less side space than many of its rivals – although this is counteracted slightly by the large number of attachments it comes with.
The power switch is located on the rear of the juicer’s heavy and solid base, and on top of this base is a juicing cup in which the auger and strainer are found. The juicing cup has a detachable juice tap that protrudes from the right, and a small chute which catches the pulp on the left.
The hopper with the feeding tube then twists into the top of the juicing cup. This feeding tube is made of dark coloured plastic, which makes it look cheaper than it is, and a little dated.
Due to the thin nature of this juicer, the feeding tube is only wide enough to fit slices of fruit or vegetables, despite describing itself as having a “wide mouth”.
If you want to juice large chunks of fruit, such as orange halves, you can lift the lid of the feeding tube and use the feeding basket.
This basket is designed as a safety measure to stop children from getting their hands or fingers inside the juicing cup, while also stopping you from overfilling the hopper.
The switch on the rear has two settings – On and Reverse. The switch will stay in the On position when flicked, yet you need to press and hold the switch to put the auger in reverse.
With previous juicers, I’ve complained about not being able to fit containers comfortably under the juice, and pulp spouts. The Sana 868 solves this problem by not only shipping with a glass measuring jug for the juice, but also a metal pulp bin that doesn’t look too dissimilar to a wine bucket. The curved nature of the lip on this pulp bin means it slots in place neatly under the pulp chute.
However, I ended up having a different problem with the juicer size. Due to the tall height of the Sana 868, it didn’t fit beneath my kitchen cupboards and even obstructed the cupboard doors. This means that what you gain in space on your kitchen side from the Sana 868’s thin design, you lose because you’re limited on where it can be positioned. This is made worse by the fact its short cable further restricts how far from a plug you can place it.
In addition to the jug and pulp bin, the Sana 868 comes with a host of attachments. This includes a: juicing strainer, for standard juicing; a coarse strainer, which allows more pulp and fibre through if you prefer thicker juices; a smoothie “screen” for milk based drinks, and a so-called “blank screen”. This has slightly larger holes and, when used with frozen fruit, is used to make sorbets.
Removing and replacing each strainer is easy and intuitive and this adds a huge amount of versatility to the Sana 868, even if it also adds to your kitchen clutter. This juicer also comes with multiple cleaning brushes, and a green plastic cleaning tool. This tool has detachable brushes attached to the inside and, when placed over a strainer, are twisted around the edges to remove residual pulp.
The downside to all of these moving parts and attachments is that the Sana 868 can be a little confusing and this takes away from how easy the juicer itself is to use, once set up.
Performance
- Produces clear, smooth juices with minimal froth and foam
- Surprisingly high yield for such a slow and quiet juicer
- Pulp regularly gets stuck in the chute
Once set up, you can place thin slices of fruit or vegetable into the feeding tube and they fall directly onto the spinning auger. If any of the food gets stuck, the juicer comes with a pusher, or you can reverse the spin to clear the blockage.
You do need to add slices individually, which can be a slow (not to mention messy) process because of how much you have to handle the slices of fruit.
It is possible to speed things up slightly by lifting the feeding tube lid and using the feeding basket. This lets you add larger pieces of fruit, or multiple types of fruit at the same time. Yet even this is somewhat limiting because the hopper doesn’t have loads of space, and the basket itself takes up part of this small space, preventing you from overfilling.
As a masticating, cold-press juicer, the auger squeezes against the fruit to extract the juice and filter the pulp. It spins relatively slowly but the thick, heavy design of the auger means it juices surprisingly fast. And because it spins so slowly, it’s almost whisper quiet while creating minimal foam and froth. The only fruit that produced any foam were apples. Oranges, pineapples, lemons and green juices all came out smooth and tasted fresh. In fact, the orange juice was among the most tasty I’ve made at home across any juicer I’ve tested.
The hole that connects the pulp chute to the juicing cup is too small and the pulp regularly gets backed up. I juiced three orange halves and had to open the juicer and remove some of the compacted pulp before I could continue. On the plus side, the strainer doesn’t let any pulp get through, meaning that your juices are completely clear.
Making smoothies, and sorbets is a similar process, with similar results. Due to the addition of liquid when making smoothies, the pulp chute doesn’t get anywhere near as backed up as when juicing. Cleaning the strainer is easier too.
Sorbets take a little longer than juices and smoothies, and that’s because it takes longer for the frozen fruit to break down. The texture of the sorbets are a little runnier than what I expected – closer to the kind of fruit ice you find in a cocktail rather than a dessert – but it’s a great novelty during hot summer days and my kids loved it!
The majority of parts on the Sana 868 can be easily cleaned by hand. The juicer ships with a number of brushes, designed to clear out the pulp chute, and clean the small holes in the strainers. I have tried cleaning this juicer without these brushes, but it makes it much more difficult and takes longer. In fact, trying to clear the small pulp hole by hand is virtually impossible.
Latest deals
Click here to buy the Sana 868 Wide Mouth Vertical Juicer
- UK Juicers
- £499
Should you buy it?
You’re looking to invest in a multifunctional juicer: Not only does this produce excellent juice, it can make smoothies and sorbets.
Kitchen space is at a premium: This juicer doesn’t take up much room, but it won’t fit under most kitchen cupboards.
Final Thoughts
The Sana 868 may not be the most attractive juicer I’ve tested, nor the most compact but its versatility and performance more than make up for it. I’d buy it for its juicing prowess alone, even if the process of getting that juice can be fiddly and time-consuming.
The fact it makes smoothies and sorbets is an added bonus, and a great way to get more fruit and vegetables into my diet and the diet of my kids. If you want something cheaper or different, check out our guide to the best juicers.
How we test
We test every juicer we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Used as our main juicer for the review period.
We test juicers with a variety of fruit to see how they cope and how much juice can be extracted.
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FAQs
It has different filters to allow it to make standard juice, smoothies and frozen sorbets.
Citrus fruit has to be peeled, but soft fruits can go in with the skin on.
Full specs
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Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
