Ok, so I got my juicer the other day, and I juiced about 50 pounds of apples. Between sanitizing, juicing, and cleanup, it took about 3.5 hours for my wife and I to make about 3 gallons of juice. It could have gone a little faster, but we had several different apple varieties, and we were splitting different amounts across the three batches. And since this is our first attempt at cider making, things went a little slow.
I used the Kitchen Aid Juicer & Sauce Stand Mixer Attachment, $140 from Sears. We already have a Kitchen Aid, so this seemed like the best use of space and money. The online reviews are very mixed. Some people love it, others hate it. My opinion: it was well worth the money. It's a slow but steady juicer, and the pulp was pretty dry. All but one of the parts can go in the dishwasher. The juicer I borrowed a couple weeks ago is a little faster, but it's more expensive.
Pros: Easy to use and clean. The pulp was very dry. It comes with other strainers for making sauce. It had no problems with my apples (the book suggests steaming apples first, but it's only a suggestion and I didn't follow it). The price point is good compared to standalone solutions.
Cons: The pulp shoot clogged once toward the end of the evening requiring a complete tear-down and rinsing (though to be fair, the other juicer clogged more while making less juice). You have to quarter big apples, but you don't have to peel or remove the seeds. The joint where the juicer connects to the mixer has grease in it, and this grease is exposed when you remove the juicer (be careful to not get grease on your cloths).
So, if you're not making a lot of juice, AND already have a Kitchen Aid (or want to buy one anyway), then I can recommend buying this from a place with an easy return policy. I've only made 4 gallons this year (3 with this one and 1 with a borrowed juicer), but I'm hoping to get another gallon made next month. I think I'll be happy with it until I decide to make more than 10 gallons in a season.
Oh, two last points... 1) Not all apples are good for juicing. We bought some Rosy Glows that turned to sauce, not juice. I don't know if another juicer would work better for them, but the Kitchen Aid juicer didn't work with them.
And 2) Unless you've got money to burn, I wouldn't suggest juicing apples you have to buy. I spent $64 for 50 pounds of apples that made about 3 gallons of juice (if you include the Rosy Glows). Not exactly economical. If you have access to trees in your neighborhood, then a juicer can make economic sense.
Edit: I attached a small, time-laps video of our juice making.
Edit 2: We made another gallon of juice last night. The juicer seemed to have a little more trouble with clogging this time. I think the apples were a little more dense, but I'm not entirely sure. On the whole, I still like this juicer.
View attachment Juicing (small).MOV