Breville Juice Fountain Plus Review: Is the JE98XL Worth It?

In our kitchen we put the Plus through the routines a busy family actually has, including a repeated morning run of beets, oranges, ginger, apple, pineapple, and celery and batch sessions of several pitchers at once so we did not have to juice every day. Fruit-only, mixed, and vegetable juices covered different tastes, and adding apples or pears made the vegetable blends sweet enough to appeal to younger drinkers.

The Plus pairs an 850W motor with a stainless cutting disc reinforced with titanium and a micro-mesh filter. It has a polymer body, and in the box we found the froth-separating jug, a detachable pulp bin, the food pusher, a cleaning brush, and a cord wrap for storage.

Dimensions vary with how you measure and whether the jug and pulp bin are attached, so leave extra room around the base.

The Plus works best with fruits and root vegetables. Match the speed to the produce and cut dense ingredients into smaller pieces.

Hard Fruits and Vegetables

Beets and sweet potatoes processed effectively and gave smooth juice, with apple and cucumber as the standouts. When we fed in hard pieces, they bounced upward in the chute until the pusher was in place, so we learned to seat the pusher before the motor reached full speed. Cutting the dense pieces smaller also quieted the strained motor sound, which made the whole run calmer.

Soft Fruits

Use the low setting here, since orange and celery juice came out thicker and pulpier than the apple and cucumber juice. Citrus results also depend on prep, so peel off the rind and pith first because leftover pith can add bitterness.

Leafy Greens and Wheatgrass

Wheatgrass, kale, and spinach left a large pile of unjuiced material for very little juice, because a fast spinning basket cannot press leaves the way a slow auger can. If greens are the point of owning a juicer, look elsewhere, but as an occasional add-in they can be fed between wet apple or cucumber pieces with modest yield.

Juice Texture, Foam and Pulp

The juice is smooth, with foam collecting above it, and the froth-separating jug holds most of that foam back while pouring. Residual pulp can stay wet and can leak when it builds up near the side, so empty the bin between batches.

On busy mornings with kids underfoot, the wide chute matters because it cuts prep work before the motor starts.

Feed Chute, Prep and Speed Settings

The 3-inch chute takes small whole apples, so there is less chopping, though larger produce still needs cutting and citrus rind and stone-fruit pits must come off. Always use the supplied pusher, never your fingers, and lock the cover before you run it.

Noise, Footprint and Storage

High-speed operation is intrusive in a quiet kitchen, and assembled, the machine occupies substantial counter space, though the cord wrap helps when you put it away.

The individual parts are simple to wash, but cleaning all of them takes time after every batch.

Cleaning the Filter Basket and Removable Parts

Rinse right after juicing and use the supplied brush to clean the mesh from the inside outward. Then hold the basket up to the light to check for clogged spots. The jug has recesses that sometimes need a soak, and if the pulp hood is seated incorrectly, residue gathers between the lid and the body, so check the fit each time.

Replacement Parts and Warranty

The US model carries a 1-year limited warranty, and the filter basket can be replaced, so get model-compatible parts through Breville support and confirm availability before ordering.

The Plus sits in the middle of Breville's centrifugal range, and all of them share the same basic trade of speed and a wide chute in exchange for foam and noise. For the full field, see our juicer reviews.

Juice Fountain Plus vs. Compact and Elite

Our Breville Juice Fountain Compact review covers the smaller 700W model. It saves counter space with an integrated pulp collector, but its fine mesh takes careful cleaning and it is loud. Our Breville Juice Fountain Elite review covers the 1000W metal-bodied model. It is strong on hard produce but heavy to move, and its larger motor does not fix leafy-green waste. The Cold is a separate model with a bigger jug, and its results should not be read as the Plus's.

When a Slow Juicer Makes More Sense

Slow, masticating juicers press leaves instead of flinging them, so yield is higher and foam is lower, though they are slower and need more prep.

Within Breville's family, the Plus suits most households, while the Compact fits a small counter, the Cold fits big batches with its larger jug, and the Elite fits heavy hard-produce use if you can live with its weight.