Electric Versus Manual Citrus Juicers
How to Choose the Best of Orange, Lemon and Lime Juice Machines
The thick, bitter rinds of citrus fruits makes standard juicers unsuitable. Special-purpose electrical juicers, manual reamers or presses are used instead.
Unlike a normal juicer, the entire fruit isn't pulped by a citrus juicer. The fruit is cut in half and placed in the juicer. The juice is squeezed out, leaving the bitter skin of the fruit intact and out of the juice.
Popular brands include Waring, Oster, Hamilton Beach and Metrokane.
Manual Citrus Reamers
Traditional manual reamers do work. The reamer faces upwards and the fruit is pressed by hand and rotated against the ribbed cone. Some have swappable large and small cones, suitable for grapefruit, oranges, lemons and limes.
They are best used for small quantities of juice, not for a full glass of orange juice.
Advantages
- Cheap, simple and reliable.
- Easy to clean.
- Can be kept in drawer.
- Depending on the size of the cone, can be suitable for large fruit such as grapefruit.
Disadvantages
- Not the best for squeezing out the most juice.
- Slow and requires hand strength.
Citrus Hand Presses
Orange/lemon/lime presses work like oversized garlic presses. While strong hands are required, leverage makes them easier to use compared to manual reamers. This makes them suitable for one or two cups of juice but not much more.
Different sizes are available for different-sized fruit.
Advantages
- Cheap, simple and reliable.
- Easy to clean.
- Small, can be kept in drawer.
- Can squeeze out a lot of juice.
Disadvantages
- Need strong hands to use.
- Most are designed for small or medium sized fruit. Larger fruit has to be cut into quarters.
- Because of the high pressure, juice can squirt all over the place if care is not taken.
Orange Lever Presses
These are like hand presses but are mounted on a stand, a bit like a vertical drill press. A lever arm (like a jackpot machine) is pulled down to squeeze the fruit.
Advantages
- Good leverage makes it easy to use, even by those with weak hands.
- Suitable for gallons of juice.
Disadvantages
- Takes up counter space.
- Expensive.
- Most are designed for small or medium sized fruit. Larger fruit has to be cut into quarters.
Motorized Reamers
Motorized juicers are like manual reamers. The difference is that an electric motor spins the cone. The fruit-half is held in the hand and pushed down on to the cone. Some are combined with a lever press to mechanically press the fruit against the rotating cone.
Heavy juicers are more stable, better able to resist the torque of the motor.
Some juicers have auto-reversing cones, changing direction to better squeeze out the pulp. Unfortunately the gearing required can be noisy and unreliable. Single-direction and gearless direct-drive motors are more reliable.
Advantages
- Suitable for gallons of juice.
- Depending on the size of the cone, can be suitable for large fruit such as grapefruit.
Disadvantages
- Takes up counter space.
- Expensive.
- Motors are often underpowered and unreliable. A 50 to 100 watt motor should be powerful enough. A five year warranty for the motor is rare, but possible to find.
The Best Orange Juicer
The right juicer depends on
- The size of the fruit (grapefruit, orange, lime).
- The amount of fruit to be juiced.
Motorized juicers are popular because they can quickly squeeze large amounts of fruit. However motor and gear reliability issues mean that lever press machines should also be considered.
For small amounts of juice, a citrus press is probably better than a manual cone reamer.
Stainless steel is best but plastic juicers can work well.
Juicing Oranges is Easy With the Right Equipment
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