In the Kitchen...Citrus Juicers

There are lots of ways to get citrus juice besides from a green bottle…Myrna and my favorite citrus juice tools are both very old and well-used.  We both like simple reamers…hers is the aluminum over-the-cup model from Foley, and mine is the glass version…both strain out the seed and are easy to use.  Myrna has a bigger glass versions for oranges or grapefruit, mine is for lemons.  There are modern versions of these, but the most fun way to get them is from Grandma, or at flea markets and thrift stores, or antique shops or booths in antique malls that specialize in glassware and kitchen items.

I have tried the wood and plastic reamers with handles, but I find they are all quite sharp, and actually get bitter juice from the pith and don't have a really good way to catch the juice so you can measure it.

Then there are the lemon squeezers; neither of us has the hand strength to use these effectively and again, they don't really catch the juice easily.

If I had more room, money and need to juice a lot of fruit, I would imitate Ina Garten and buy one of these Braun Citromatic Deluxe Citrus Juicers.  We love watching her juice up all that fruit in seconds…

For the foreseeable future, I guess Myrna and I will use our tried and true reamer juicers, they do the job and store in a small space, and take us back to simpler times.

Here are a few of our favorite recipes to use our lemon juicers:

Lemon Nut Bread from Farm Journal – my husband’s absolute favorite

Frosty Lemon Squares

Sole Meuniere

Lemon Butter Bars

Citrus Curd