Citrus Juicers – Everything You Need to Know

What Is A Citrus Juicer?

Planning to include fresh homemade juice in your diet? You are probably trying to decide what type of juicer to buy. Well, if you need the juicer mainly for lemons and other citrus fruits, you should indeed consider getting a citrus juicer.

A citrus juicer is precisely what the name indicates – an appliance designed to extract juice from citrus fruits like oranges and mosambi (sweet lemon). This is a very compact appliance compared to other types of juicers, such as cold press juicers and centrifugal juicers.

It also happens to be much simpler and serves a narrower range of functions. Let’s have a look at the working principle of a citrus juicer.

a citrus juicer

How Does A Citrus Juicer Work?

In the past, it mostly referred to a common kitchen tool that served the same purpose but had to be used manually. An electric citrus juicer follows the same working principle but works much faster and delivers greater juice yield. Just like the manual citrus juicers of the past, these appliances use a conical part to dig into the fruits and extract the juice.

The conical part mentioned earlier lies at the top, like a hat. Once you push the fruits into the cone and turn on the juicer, the motor inside it starts rotating the cone. You just have to hold the fruit in place while the rotating cone crushes it into pulp and extracts the juice.

The area around the cone is a cage-like structure with patterned gaps cut into it. The juice trickles down and flows through these gaps into a container attached underneath. You can take out the juice through a spout built into the container.

Advantages Of Citrus Juicer

1. High Nutritional Content

Citrus juicers are very popular among health freaks, thanks to the high nutritional content of the juice produced. Unlike centrifugal juicers and juicer mixer grinders, the best citrus juicer does not destroy essential nutrients present in the fruits. Especially when you drink juice fresh out of a citrus juicer, it’s rich in nutrients and much healthier than the juice produced from some of the other types of juicers.

2. Easy To Use

Another huge perk of a citrus juicer is the ease of use it offers. As you read earlier, the working principle of a citrus juicer is very simple. A citrus juicer takes less time to assemble, set up, and use compared to other juicers in the market. All you have to do is hold the fruit against the juicing cone and turn on the juicer.

3. Ease Of Cleaning

The simplicity of a citrus juicer also makes it very easy to clean. No hard-to-reach corners or blades take a lot of time to clean after use. You can simply wash the juicing components and the juice container underneath to prevent them from getting sticky from the juice. Ease of cleaning is always a great benefit to have, especially if you lead a busy lifestyle.

4. Low Noise Generation

The operation of a citrus juicer is also much quieter compared to juicer mixer grinders and centrifugal juicers. Noisy juicers can be rather unpleasant to use, besides causing a distraction and disturbance to anyone at home. The low-noise performance of citrus juicers gives them an upper hand over other juicers too.

5. Affordable Pricing

This is another reason why you should consider getting a citrus juicer. You can get a good citrus juicer at a much cheaper price than other juicers. This makes it a great choice for those seeking a pocket-friendly appliance for juicing. If you plan to juice mostly citrus fruits, it would be cost-effective to get a citrus juicer.

citrus juicer

Disadvantages Of Citrus Juicer

1. Limited Application

This is the biggest drawback of citrus juicers. Their range of applications is far smaller than other, more comprehensive juicers. Unlike a cold press juicer, which you can also use for juicing hard fruits and nuts, a citrus juicer can juice only citrus fruits. If you plan to juice a wide variety of fruits and veggies, a citrus juicer won’t suit your needs well.

2. It Requires Manual Effort

Using a citrus juicer requires you to put in the manual effort by pushing the fruits against the juicing cone. This isn’t an issue with other electric juicers, where you simply send in the fruits, and the machine does the whole work. This can make a citrus juicer feel a bit laborious to use.

3. The Juice Might Be A Little Bitter

As you might know, the peel and the pith of citrus fruits tend to be bitter. This is simply because they contain certain bitter-tasting oils. When using a citrus juicer, you might end up extracting some of this oil. This can somewhat ruin the taste of the extracted juice by adding a bitter taste to it.

4. Low Juice Yield

A citrus juicer doesn’t extract juice as efficiently as a cold press juicer. This means it would waste some of the juice, resulting in a lower overall juice yield. If you plan to juice large quantities of fruits and vegetables, this can lead to a significant amount of juice getting wasted.

Parts Of An Electric Citrus Juicer

Juicing Cone

This conical structure is the part that digs into the fruits and extracts the juice. It’s connected to the shaft of a motor underneath. The component isn’t a perfect cone – it has raised fins or ridge-like structures on it that allow it to bite into the fruit and grind out the juice effectively. Many citrus juicers come with juicing cones of two or more sizes.

Filter

Lying right under the juicing cone, the filter separates the juice from the pulp and allows the juice to flow through. The design and material of the filter may vary quite a bit among different juicers. While some have stainless steel filters, others may have grids cut into a plastic surface around the cone.

Juice Collector

This is the tank that holds the extracted juice. Upon passing through the filter, the juice flows right into this container. The size of the juice collector determines how much juice you can make before you have to empty it. The container has an output spout built into it.

Motor Housing

This is the bottom-most part of the citrus juicer. As the name indicates, it houses the motor and other electrical components. The design prevents any juice from leaking into the motor housing, while the shaft of the motor protrudes up all the way to the juicing cone. It usually has feet or a base built under it to keep the appliance stable.

Fruit Dome

Some electric citrus juicers have a dome built on the top, usually with a handle. This dome is designed to hold the fruit in place while you simply apply some pressure on the handle to push it down against the cone. This significantly reduces the manual effort needed while juicing and ensures a more comfortable experience.

Using citrus juicer

How To Use An Electric Citrus Juicer?

  • Step 1: Assemble all the parts and attach the right cone depending on the size of the fruit.
  • Step 2: Cut the fruit into two halves.
  • Step 3: Take one half of the fruit and place it on the cone, such that the tip of the cone touches the center of the fruit and the peel lies on the top.
  • Step 4: If the juicer has a fruit dome, bring it down over the fruit. Else, just hold the fruit in place with your hand and turn on the juicer.
  • Step 5: The rotating cone will crush the fruit and extract the juice. Keep pushing the fruit down against the cone until only the peel is left.

Is A Citrus Juicer Worth It?

Generally speaking, a citrus juicer is a great value for money if you consider its pocket-friendly pricing. However, it’s not the ideal juicer for everyone. If you only plan to make juices of oranges or mosambis, go for it.

However, there’s no point in getting a citrus juicer if you want to extract juices from a wide range of fruits and veggies. In such a case, compare it with other juicers to find out the best option for you. As long as you are looking for an affordable appliance to juice citrus fruits, this type of juicer will be worth your money.

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