Citrus Squeezers

To use a citrus squeezer properly, follow these simple steps to get the most juice with minimal mess:

Cut the fruit in half – Slice your lemon, lime, or small orange horizontally across the middle, not top to bottom.

Place the fruit cut-side down – This is the key part! Put the fruit half into the bowl of the squeezer with the cut side facing the holes, and the peel facing up toward the pressing side. It may look upside down, but this position maximises juice extraction and prevents the peel from getting in the way.

Align over a bowl or glass – Hold the squeezer over your container to catch the juice.

Press firmly – Squeeze the handles together with steady pressure. The fruit will invert, pushing the juice through the holes while trapping most seeds and pulp.

Empty and repeat – Discard the squeezed fruit and repeat with the next half.

💡 Pro tip: Roll the fruit on the counter before cutting it—this loosens the juice inside and makes squeezing even easier.

Using the correct positioning (cut side down) ensures you get maximum juice with minimum effort, fewer seeds, and less splatter.

Yes, you can use a lemon squeezer for limes, but it's not ideal for oranges, especially larger ones. Lemon and lime squeezers are generally the same tool and work well for both fruits because they're similar in size and structure. Some squeezers are even labeled “lemon/lime” for that reason.

However, oranges are often too big to fit comfortably in a lemon squeezer, which means you won’t extract all the juice and may end up with a mess. If you frequently juice oranges or larger citrus like grapefruits, it’s better to use a larger citrus press or a manual reamer, which can handle the size more efficiently.

💡 Tip: If you only have a lemon squeezer and need to juice an orange, you can cut the orange into quarters instead of halves—it’s not perfect, but it helps!

Whether a citrus squeezer or a reamer is better depends on your preferences and how you plan to use it. A citrus squeezer is quick, easy to use, and keeps your hands clean. It's especially convenient for lemons and limes, as it extracts juice efficiently and usually catches most of the seeds. However, it can be bulky to store and may not work as well with larger fruits like oranges. On the other hand, a citrus reamer is compact, simple to use, and works with all citrus sizes. It gives you more control over how much juice you extract, but it can be messier, often allowing seeds and juice to splatter, and requires more manual effort. While a squeezer offers speed and cleaner handling, a reamer is more versatile and easier to store. Many home cooks find it helpful to have both tools—using a squeezer for quick tasks and a reamer when they need more juice or are working with larger citrus fruits.