Intrigued by how my nanny used to juice an orange, I set out on a quest to get my hands on one such manual juicer. To my delight! Mom had a similar less-orangey juicer sitting in the depths of a kitchen drawer that has never been opened since it got stuffed full with new and exciting apparatus we never use. The juicer does a great job at seeding out seeds and pulp but not so shining performance when it comes to cleaning up.

Last night I juiced a lemon using a fork. I have found this to be more efficient and economical than using a manual juicer. Instead of trying to manhandle a thick-skinned fruit, we stab right at the core of the fruit and drain its life out. Pulp is easily taken care of by keeping it tight between skin and fork while visible seed can be seeded out prior to juicing. I’ve also tried this method with a knife but more often than not, the knife cuts right through the skin and threatens to slice my hand too. It also showed my lack of arm strength, something I am not happy about!

However, we use a lot of lemon in our cooking so I have to have a better solution than daily reminder of how weak my bat-like arms are.

I have Eli.

How do you juice your citrus fruits?