How to Use a Lemon Squeezer Effectively

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When life gives you lemons, make lemonade…or salad dressing, or a delicious lemon curd pie. Whichever lemon-based dish strikes your fancy, you will need the best lemon squeezer. A good lemon squeezer extracts the optimum amount of juice possible from each fruit with the least effort on your part.

For most people, using a lemon squeezer seems to be pretty straight-forward: cut a lemon in half, place it into the lemon squeezer, and press hard. However, you might be surprised to learn that there are ways to juice a lemon.

Is the handheld press the best lemon squeezer? Are there ways to increase the juice output when squeezing a lemon?

Let’s find out!

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Three Ways to Juice a Lemon

Handheld Lemon Squeezer

You’ve probably seen a lemon squeezer being used by your favorite bartender. They’re super easy to use and work like a garlic press. After cutting the lemon in half, you place one half into the squeezer and squeeze the two handles together. As the squeezer moves downward, the dome shape squeezes out the juice and flips the lemon inside out. The juice sprays out through the holes, but the pulp and the seeds stay inside the squeezer.

Bartenders use this because the design allows the juice to be squeezed right into the drink. Clean-up is also a breeze because the pulp, seeds, and rind stay inside the squeezer. Just open it up, throw away the discarded parts, and you’re ready to squeeze again!

Lemon Reamer

A lemon reamer is composed of a dull cone with ridges on one end, and a handle on the other. After cutting the lemon in half, hold the half with one hand while gripping the reamer in the other. Pierce the pulp of the lemon with the cone and twist the reamer to juice the lemon.

Lemon reamers are popular because they are cheap, super easy to use and clean, and they don’t take up much drawer space. However, you will also extract the pulp and the seeds, so you’ll need to strain them out separately. Some people dislike using a lemon reamer because the lemon juice can squirt, causing the juices to go everywhere.  No one likes a sticky countertop!

All-in-One Juicer

Another type of juicer, the all-in-one juicer, works similarly to the lemon reamer but with two differences. First, all-in-one juicers come with a strainer that catches the pulp and seeds. Second, most all-in-one juices are placed on the table, and you juice the lemon by placing the half on top of the cone and pressing down.

This type of juicer is popular for those who might not have a lot of arm strength. Since it is placed on the table, you can put your weight down to extract the juice. This is perfect if you need a lot of lemon juice, like when you’re making lemonade. The built-in strainer is also highly useful because you don’t have to worry about removing pulp and seeds.

Is There a Right Way to Squeeze a Lemon?

Since lemon squeezers, even the best lemon squeezers, are pretty much simple in operation, you might think that you’d got the technique down. However, did you know that there’s a right way to squeeze a lemon?

Considering the domed-shaped design of a lemon squeezer, you might be putting the lemon into the container cut side up. But putting the lemon cut side down actually helps squeeze out more juice, even if it sounds counter-intuitive. What’s more, cutting a small piece of skin from the side of the fruit allows more air to pass through and push the juice out!

How to Extract More Juice from a Lemon

If you want to get more juice out of your lemon, here are two tricks you might want to try:

Rolling it on the Counter

Before cutting the lemon in half, place it on the counter and roll it against the surface. The rolling and pressing motion softens the pulp and releases more juices.

Microwave the Lemon

If you have a microwave, you can use it to make lemons easier to juice! Before cutting it in half, place the lemon in the microwave and heat it on high for 10 to 20 seconds. This process will also soften the pulp and extract more juice, but you won’t break a sweat!

Conclusion

Among the three types of juices, the best lemon squeezer is the handheld press. It catches the pulp and seeds, and it squeezes the juice directly into food or drink. If there’s one drawback, it’s that it takes a bit of elbow grease if you need a lot of juice. If you’re a fan of drinking lemonade or making lemon-flavored dishes, invest in the best lemon squeezer to make squeezing fun and easy!