Did you know all Juiced Rite, LLC machines are made with stainless steel as the primary material? Not only is stainless steel 100% recyclable (which is pretty great for our planet) but it’s also incredibly food safe (which is pretty great for juice). And we owe that food safety to a process called Passivation. Even more specifically for Juiced Rite cold press juicers, an advanced form of passivation called Electropolish.

Electropolish is more than just a fancy word we throw around in kitchen equipment manufacturing. As we said earlier, it’s the advanced process used to make stainless steel food safe but it also prolongs the life of stainless steel machines. Knowing how it works and why you want it is pretty important, especially if you’re making juice.  

Why Electropolish Matters 

In super technical terms, the process of electropolishing is an advanced passivation (passiva-what?) that creates a protective layer of oxidation on your stainless steel press. This layer defends against corrosion and more importantly, safeguards your juice from contamination.

Electropolish also makes your stainless steel cold press machine super shiny (and sparkle, in just the right light).

Stainless Steel is the Star of the Show

Before we get too deep into passivation (like what the heck it is), we need to talk a little about stainless steel, which all Juiced Rite, LLC cold press juice machines are made of.

Stainless steel is an alloy of mostly iron and carbon– iron being the one we want to focus on here. When you picture stainless steel, you likely imagine a shiny silver surface, like your fancy kitchen knife or appliances. But it wasn’t always that way.

When Stainless Steel Wasn’t Always so Shiny

Through the process of creating, cutting, shaping and using stainless steel, iron particles get freed up and move to the surface. We call these free irons and even though we didn’t pay for them, we still don’t want them hanging around.

It’s easier to understand what’s happening with the free irons when we get a little microscopic. Let’s imagine we’re looking at some cut stainless steel, really, really close. At this level, the molecules are jagged and uneven, with peaks and valleys. These dull particles are lined with rolled over edges like a serrated knife. This unevenness is caused by the free irons and other particles that have climbed to the surface during the work with the stainless steel. These free iron molecules react with the air and begin to create a discolored, dull, grey and “greasy” look. Not very shiny, indeed.

To make matters worse, if you recall from chemistry class, iron causes rust when it is exposed to air and moisture. Over time, this rust can erode the stainless steel and damage the machine (and do gross stuff to your juice!).

Fortunately, there’s a process all Juiced Rite Cold Press Machines undergo that bosses around all those yucky free iron bad guys. (Hint: it starts with ‘E’ and ends with ‘sh’)

How We Passivate (You’re Welcome)

Two potential ways you can tame those free irons are to use Chemical Passivation, a standard method, or you can step it up a bit, get fancy, and use Electropolish.

Standard Chemical Passivation is the process in which the stainless steel is set in a “bath” of chemicals. These chemicals erode the jagged edges, push the iron particles down and promote an oxidized surface layer that resists corrosion. And chemical passivation works pretty well for most purposes with stainless steel. You know– if you’re good with “pretty well”.

Electropolish, on the other hand, is similar to typical chemical passivation, as it also uses a bath, but takes it up a notch (or node, actually). This process uses an electrolyte bath and includes strategically placed electric nodes on the metal to direct the current.

With this hyper erosion using electricity, the molecules on the surface of the stainless steel are eaten away, including the free iron. This oxidization moves the iron molecules to a deeper level which prevents your shiny stainless steel from being prone to rusting.  The remaining surface layer particles align and smooth out becoming like little “mirrors” that create that shiny reflection of your smiling face.

Another magical thing (not really though, it’s actually super sciency) that happens during this process is a “melting” of the molecules tips which adds to the strength and hardness of the surface.

High Quality- It’s What We Do

As you can see, electropolish isn’t just a fancy word after all. It’s actually an incredible process that strengthens the surface of your machine and more. And every Juiced Rite cold press machine is electropolished with our specific, high standard parameters. Standards that ensure your machine is smooth, shiny and free of irons that can get into your juice. Quality in the surface of your machine that makes quality juice you can be proud of.

For a bonus, this passivation is also easy to maintain with regular cleaning of your machine with an alkaline wash after every use (we have an article for that too!).

Yay for electropolish!