Kenwood AT641 Vita Pro-Active Continuous Juice Extractor

If the Kenwood Chief Juicer (A935) was a mere nightmare, the Centrifugal Kenwood AT641 is fabulous.  Thanks to the pulp ejecting mechanism that enables continuous juicing action.  Talking about the brand, Kenwood has been quite popular world over for innovation, quality and superb designs integrated in several of its products. Today, Kenwood is much more than ‘Kenwood Chef’ with a wide range of kitchen and domestic appliances. The Kenwood AT641 Vita Pro-Active Continuous Juice Extractor is perfect for making all fruits and veggie juices (excluding citrus fruits) including apple, pineapple, tomato, carrot and kiwi. The juicy news: You do not have to peel, de-seed or core the fruit before juicing. So, how good is the AT641 Juicer? Let us find out more on the juicer in this review.

Design Features:

The Kenwood AT641 Juicer costs quite a lot at about £100 online, but you could see why, the materials used and build quality are top notch. The plain white colour juicer comes with an extra large feed tube which can accept large or whole pieces of fruits. The feeding chute which is circular in shape is brilliant and most vegetables and fruits do not require peeling or chopping.

Key parts: The juicer has a lid which is to be fitted in a way that ensures the lid extension fits nicely over the bowl lip. There is a pusher inside the juicer built such that it does not clog the filter or overheat the juicer unit.  When you feed the produce into the juicer machine, it is torn up and thrown against the filter sides, where you find all the liquid drawn out of the pulp.

Filter basket: The continuous centrifugal juicer has a filter basket into the bowl and in case if the juicer vibrates because of uniform pulp distribution, you need to make sure you empty the pulp from the filter.

Juice spout: The juice spout is placed in a comfortable position from the counter that allows juicing into different types of containers.

Interlocking latches: The interlocking latches help lock the juicer into position. This is achieved by moving it out from the base, and then you need to lift and clip over the mouldings on the top of the lid. Finally, you have to push the latches in at the base for a secure fit.

1 litre juice jug: The juice apparently goes into the 1litre attachable juice jug, while there is a pulp container placed at the rear which means you do not need to stop to remove the pulp. The juice extractor features a foam filter which gives you a better texture of juice in comparison to other juice models available on the market.

Cutting blades: We found the cutting blades built on to the base of the juicer’s filter basket to be pretty sharp, therefore you should be careful while you are cleaning and handling the filter basket.

High speed liquidiser outlet: Like all the chef juice extractors, this juicer comes with a high speed liquidiser outlet which is great for use with the citrus juicer attachment. The connection is very easy and whilst the machine looks tricky to set up, it actually is so simple.

Speed settings: There are two speed settings namely 1 & 2. If you are looking for maximum performance, make use of speed 2 and ensure you do not exceed speed 2.

Using the juicer:

The non-stop centrifugal juicer is to be first assembled, ensuring that the grater disc and filter basket are tightly aligned into position and the juicer lid has to be fitted over the bowl lip. Making use of the latches, it is locked into position and the machine is attached to the high speed outlet. You need to turn it until it is tightly locked. The pulp collector is then slid into the lid and then the juice jug holder is pushed into its housing and you have to fit the lid into the jug. Make sure you remove any tough skins or stones when you cut the food to fit it into the feed tube. Set the Juicer speed settings on speed 1 unless your recipe states otherwise. You need not have to core most fruits, veggies or ginger before you juice them as everything like the skins and seeds are pulped. You can also pass the coconut flesh through the juicer machine for you to get nicely grated coconut for cooking.

Making juice: Just to make things a tad easier, you need to know the type of fruits that are suitable for juicing.  So, here is a brief note on the same as recommended by the manufacturer: Make sure you always choose the freshest and finest produce possible. Hard fruits that are a bit under-ripe are pretty much better than over-ripe fruits as they may turn to pulp and tend to lose its moisture. Fruits including mango, apricot and peach whose juices are pretty thick need to be diluted with water. When you are making mixed juices with the AT641 Centrifugal Juicer, it is best you keep things as simple as possible.

Make sure you remove stones from peaches, cherries, plums, etc. The tough skins from pineapples, melons, potatoes, cucumbers, etc should be completely removed. You need to wash soft-skinned and other several other fruits such as pears, apples, cabbage, radishes, lettuce, carrots, spinach, grapes, parsley, celery, strawberries, etc thoroughly before you go about juicing them. Coming to juicing citrus fruits, ensure you peel and remove the white pith or else the juice might be bitter. Make use of the citrus juice attachment which is offered separately by the manufacturer for best results. Fruits such as celery, fennel and broccoli that are strongly favoured are best made use of in smaller quantities with other veggies or fruits, therefore they are not overpowering. The AT641 juicer can also pulp potatoes for making rosti so that you can add to scones and breads. Remember that the remaining liquid consists of pretty starch that must be thrown away. The pulp from carrots can be made use of in bread or cakes too.

Comparison with the Kenwood AT312 & A935:

AT312: The manufacturer recommends that you do not go about juicing citrus fruits using     the Kenwood AT641 and instead make use of the AT312, its citrus juice press version. We understand it is quite the opposite of what we have mentioned in the previous section. So we decided to test it out if it can juice citrus fruits and the results proved nothing short of spectacular, though the downside is that it is not easy to peel them. When you make use of the press for juicing citrus fruits, one distinct advantage is that there is no need to remove the skin and all you need to do is simply cut the orange, grapefruit, lime or other citruses into halves and squeeze it with all your might. We know you need to wash it up a bit more, but it will do you no harm juicing citruses this way and pushing in all the other vegetables and fruits in this juice extractor. Simply mix the two once you are finished.

A935: Contrast the AT641 with the A935 which requires a separate container to collect juice extracted and pulp. Mind you if these were not at a suitable height, the pump will spray all over the kitchen, while the juice splashes all over the machine. Add to the woes, the shape of the feeding chute of the A935, which is comical. Its successor, the AT641 is not only an improvement over the A935, but has some good points as well.

Cleaning is a doddle: The juicer parts are not dishwasher safe and this means you need to wipe using a damp cloth which is a breeze. In case of any discolouration of the plastic, you need to rub it with a cloth which is dipped in vegetable oil to remove it. The filter basket can be cleaned using a soft brush.

Quality standards: The AT641 juicer is compliant with EC directive 2004/108/EC & 1935/2004 of 27/10/2004 on materials built for contact with food.

Instruction manual:

You are also provided with an instruction manual which gives you a few interesting recipes as well. Refer to this instruction book for added safety warnings.

Manufacturer Warranty:

The Kenwood AT641 Juicer is covered under a manufacturer’s warranty of 1 year that begins from the original purchase date.

Conclusion:

Measuring 27cm (L) x 20cm (W) x 31cm (H), the Kenwood AT641 weighs 2.74kg, so you should have no problem carrying it. There are certain features that the AT641 is built short of, particularly the rubber feet which gives stability to the machine when it is at full throttle and an integrated cord storage that will make sure the cables are kept in place giving greater safety without cluttering your cupboard. These things apart, the AT641 has a pretty large capacity and is simple to use which is better than most Kenwood’s earlier offerings.

Kenwood AT641 Juicer Machine – Technical Specification Details

Manufacturer Kenwood
Model Name AT641 Juicer
Product Code AT641
Available colour White
Type of Juicer Centrifugal
Speed settings 2
Housing Plastic
Chute Yes (Extra large feed tube)
Pusher Yes
Filter basket Yes
Juice spout Yes
Jug capacity 1 litre (plus lid)
Liquidiser outlet Yes
Pulp collector Yes
Key parts Bowl, juice jug holder (plus release button),
Interlocking latches
Rubber feet No
Integrated cord storage No
Dishwasher safe No
Instruction manual Yes
Quality standards EC directive 2004/108/EC; 1935/2004 of 27/10/2004
Dimension 27cm (L) x 20cm (W) x 31cm (H)
Weight 2.74kg
Wash instruction Wipe using damp cloth
Manufacturer warranty 1 year

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