Kuvings Auto8 review: Getting your 5-a-day fix just got easier
The Kuvings Auto 8 Hands-Free Slow juicer is a great way to add extra fruit and veggies into your diet through pulp-free fresh juices or smooth sorbet. Its sleek design makes it look good on the countertop (if it fits under your cupboards — and that’s a big ‘if’), and the operation is quiet enough that it won’t wake the whole house in the morning.
It could be one of the best juicers out there, but I have a few personal qualms with it. It’s on the heavier side, making it hard to take in and out of storage. But most of all, it’s super difficult to clean, and it took me about 20 minutes between uses to get it clean.
It’s also a little expensive, but if you’re a juice fanatic, it could be the one for you. You can find out more by reading this full Kuvings Auto8 review.
Kuvings Auto8 review: Cheat sheet
- What is it? A hands-free slow juicer that can make pulp-free juices or sorbet
- Who is it for? Juicing fanatics without a restrained budget
- How much does it cost? The Kuvings Auto8 Hands-Free Slow Juicer is available for £450 on the Kuvings U.K. online store.
- What do we like about it? It makes great fresh juices and sorbet with a quiet operation, and looks good doing it
- What don’t we like about it? It’s very tall and hard to store, heavy, difficult to clean, and on the expensive side
Kuvings Auto8 review: Specs
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Price |
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Dimensions |
17.9 x 8.9 x 7.2 inches |
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Weight |
11 pounds |
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Power |
200W |
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Type |
Low-speed compression |
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Colors |
Light Silver, Black Pearl, Matte Pearl White |
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Strainers included |
Juicing strainer, ice cream strainer |
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Optional attachments |
Citrus module, mesh net |
Kuvings Auto8 review: Price & availability
The Kuvings Auto8 Juicer is available at the Kuvings U.K. online store for £450. It is available in three colorways: Light Silver, Black Pearl, and Matte Pearl White. I tested the white color, which looks super clean-cut on the countertop.
The Auto8 sits on the more expensive side of juicers, but other juicers perform well for a much lower price if you’re new to juicing and don’t want to splash the big bucks right away. The AMZCHEF Cold Press Juicer costs £100 and offers a minimal setup just for juicing.
But the Auto8 also has an attachment that makes sorbet, and if you want a juicer that can do more, look at the Nama C2. This is significantly larger and can handle more ingredients for larger batches. However, the Nama will set you back a whopping £842, so it is for the more seasoned juicers among you.
Kuvings Auto8 review: Design
There’s no denying that the Kuvings Auto8 Hands-Free Slow Juicer looks sleek. The three colors it comes in are all very understated and can fit into any kitchen setup, yet still look stylish.
It’s pretty heavy to lift, as the juicer weighs in at 11 pounds. It’s pretty bulky. But with that bulk comes a lot of power in a small package. The juicer only measures 17.9 x 8.9 x 7.2 inches, so it’s smaller than other models in the Kuvings range, such as the Auto6 (£360) and the Auto10S (£539).
Since the components are all stacked on top of one another, the juicer gets pretty tall. Because of this, if you have floating cabinets in your kitchen like me, you won’t be able to store them on the countertop. Finding extra storage can be a little annoying, but it’s worth it if you’re a juice fanatic.
An auto hopper with a latch lid feeds the produce through to the juicing drum rather than having to feed each piece of fruit or veg through one by one, which makes juicing a complete breeze. But if you choose to do so, there is also a hole in the lid for a more controlled experience, and a pusher to get larger pieces through the hole.
The hopper locks on top of the juicing drum, which has two spouts: one for the pulp and one for the juice. Inside the drum is an interchangeable juicing strainer for separating the pulp from the juice, which can be swapped for the blank strainer to make ice cream or sorbet. The hopper and drum sit on top of the motor, where the 200-watt motor powers the juicing screw inside the strainer. The motor is powerful and means the pulp is ejected from the machine with force, so not much gets stuck inside.
There is a juice jug and pulp catch included with the juicer that make it easy to catch all of the pulp with no spills. There are also optional attachments to make the Auto8 even more versatile. You can purchase a citrus attachment to make fresh orange juice, or a mesh net for catching the finer pulp, although the juice strainer does the job well already.
Kuvings Auto8 review: Juicing performance
I was impressed at how well the Kuvings Auto 8 Hands-Free Slow Juicer was able to extract all of the liquid from my ingredients. It’s versatile, too: I was able to make fresh sorbet or ice cream in minutes — the perfect sweet treat — giving the Ninja Creami ($229) a run for its money.
It’s not loud either, as the juicer operates between 57 and 60 decibels, which is about the same volume as a normal conversation. The crushing sound isn’t very loud, which is aided by the juicing screw, and works to effectively tear apart the produce as it feeds it through to the juicing drum.
Apple juice
To test how powerful the juicer is, I made a large batch of apple juice. I chopped six apples into quarters and put them in the hopper. All of the apples fit into the hopper, which meant I didn’t need to constantly keep adding to the juicer; I could simply wait for it to be done instead.
The machine took around seven minutes to juice the apples and produced 20 ounces of juice. The Nama J3 juicer is faster, taking just two minutes to make a glass of juice. I was very impressed with the juice it produced. It was refreshing and entirely pulp-free. The juice strainer did a great job of directing the larger pulp out of the spout and filtering the finer pulp out too.
Making this juice was straightforward, and it creates a simple way to get one of your five a day every day.
Mango sorbet
My favorite thing about the Kuvings Auto8 is the option to make ice creams and sorbets — and it’s seriously easy to create a delicious sweet treat. All I had to do was switch out the juicing strainer for the blank strainer.
To create mango sorbet, I defrosted some frozen mango cubes for 10 minutes and put them in the hopper at the top of the juicer. Because there is no straining involved, the sorbet comes out of the spout on the left-hand side, which would usually be for the pulp when juicing. The pressure helps to push out the sorbet so nothing’s left behind.
I had to wait for the ingredients to defrost first, but with the Nama C2 juicer, it immediately makes sorbet even with totally frozen ingredients.
The sorbet was delicious and totally smooth — the perfect texture — in just 5 minutes. The blender also comes with a small booklet of recipes, giving me lots of ideas as to what I could make. But the mango sorbet was by far my favorite.
Kuvings Auto8 review: Cleaning
While I loved the results I achieved with the Kuvongs Auto8 Hands-Free Slow Juicer, I can’t get past the fact that it’s an absolute nightmare to clean. I mean, there are a lot of moving parts here, as with any juicer, but this one seems… unnecessarily finicky.
The blender comes with a spoolie and cleaning brush to help you get into all of the crevices of the machine. Kuvings even has videos on its website to show you the best ways to use these accessories so you get the deepest clean possible. But between using the back of the brush to get into the joints of the BPA-free plastic and using the bristles of the brush to scrub all the way around the juicing filter, it just took too long.
The juicer is great to use in the morning to have a refreshing start to the day, but with the length of time it takes to clean, it’s not exactly a quick fix in the morning. And sure, you can make batches of your favorite juices, but I’d still be stuck with at least 20 minutes of clean-up afterwards.
Kuvings Auto8 review: Verdict
The Kuvings Auto 8 Hands-Free Slow Juicer is a great choice for juicing fanatics who also want the ability to swap out components to make it an ice cream and sorbet maker. It has a premium price tag of $ 450, but it delivers pulp-free juicing results and super-smooth sorbet in an instant.
However, I find it difficult to recommend this juicer to anyone new to juicing or not relying on it, as the cleaning process is arduous and takes me around 20 minutes. Its tall design also means that it can’t be stored on the countertop if you have floating cabinets, and it’s pretty heavy too.
But for anyone who loves juicing and wants a premium-looking upgrade and doesn’t mind finding extra storage, this juicer could be the perfect way to get in your five-a-day.
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