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Auger & Pulp

Citrus Juicers

From a hand squeezer in a drawer to a die-cast lever press. The choice is almost entirely about how much citrus you actually squeeze.

By Brijon M. · Last reviewed October 2, 2026

Citrus is the one kind of produce that does not need a juicer at all. The fruit is already full of liquid in soft segments, so the only job is pressure. That is why this category spans $20 to $280 for machines that all do the same thing, and why the right answer depends almost entirely on how much citrus you squeeze in a week.

There are three mechanisms, and the difference between them is who supplies the force.

The three mechanisms

Hand squeezers and reamers -- you supply the force

A hinged squeezer or a ribbed cone, and your hand. Chef'n's FreshForce uses a dual-gear hinge to multiply your grip, and OXO's 2-in-1 is a two-size reamer over a measuring jug with a strainer built in. Both are dishwasher safe, both live in a drawer, and both cost less than a takeout lunch. For a few lemons and limes a week this is the correct purchase and everything else is overkill. See the best manual citrus juicers.

Electric reamers -- a motor supplies the spin, you supply the push

A motorized cone spins while you press the fruit down onto it. The useful feature here is pulp control: Cuisinart states three settings on the CCJ-500, which is the difference between pulpy breakfast juice and clear juice for a recipe. Electric reamers sit in the sweet spot for a daily glass of orange juice without a big machine. See the best electric citrus juicers.

Lever presses -- a lever supplies the force

A long arm multiplies a short pull into enough pressure to empty half an orange in one motion. Breville's 800CPXL adds a motor to the cone as well, and states adjustable pulp control and four dishwasher-safe parts. Zulay's cast-iron press has no motor at all and never fails. Presses are what bars and cafes use, and they are the only mechanism here that is genuinely kind to hands and wrists. See the best citrus presses.

Fresh oranges beside a glass of orange juice
Volume is the deciding variable in this category. Everything else is secondary to how many fruit you go through in a week.

The rule, stated plainly

How much citrus per weekWhat to buyWhy
A few lemons or limesA hand squeezerNothing else justifies the counter space or the cost
A glass of orange juice most morningsAn electric reamerA motor removes the effort; pulp settings remove the arguing
Breakfast for a household, or a home barA lever pressForce multiplication and a bigger cup, so volume stops being work
Your hands ache or grip is limitedA lever press, at any volumeA lever replaces twisting pressure with a downward pull -- see citrus juicers for arthritic hands

What a citrus juicer will not do

It will not juice celery, carrots, kale, apples or ginger. Not slowly, not badly -- not at all. A citrus juicer has no cutting mechanism and no screen designed for fiber; it is a pressure device for soft segmented fruit. If you want citrus and vegetables from one machine, you are shopping in the cold press category or the centrifugal category, and you will squeeze peeled oranges through it. Several slow juicers handle peeled citrus fine -- see juicers for oranges for how that works and what you give up.

Yield, pulp and cleanup in this category

Yield claims here are mostly unverifiable in the same way they are everywhere else on this site. Chef'n claims 20 percent more juice than a conventional handheld juicer, without stating what it was compared against. Breville says the Quadra-Fin cone maximizes extraction, with no figure. We report those as the manufacturer claims they are. What we can tell you concretely is how many parts you will wash, and whether they are dishwasher safe -- and in this category that is usually the real decision, because a four-part press is a genuinely different daily experience from a one-piece squeezer.

How much juice you get from one lemon, lime or orange covers the practical question most people are actually asking when they search for yield.

Start here

Each of these carries its own picks, the four-criteria table and a source label on every figure.

Guides in this section

Questions people ask

Do I need an electric citrus juicer?
Only if you squeeze citrus most days. For a few lemons or limes a week a $20 hand squeezer does the same job, washes in seconds and lives in a drawer. Volume is the deciding factor, not quality of juice.
What is the difference between a citrus juicer, a reamer and a press?
Who supplies the force. A reamer is a ribbed cone you twist fruit onto by hand. A citrus juicer usually means a motorized reamer. A press uses a lever to multiply a short pull into high pressure. Our full comparison breaks down all three.
Can a citrus juicer juice other fruit and vegetables?
No. There is no cutting mechanism and no fiber screen -- it is a pressure device for soft segmented fruit. For mixed produce you need a cold press or centrifugal machine.
Which citrus juicer is best if my hands hurt?
A lever press. It replaces the sustained twisting grip a reamer requires with a single downward pull, which is a very different demand on hands and wrists. We cover the options on citrus juicers for arthritic hands.
Are citrus presses hard to clean?
They have more parts than a hand squeezer but the parts are simple, with no fine mesh fiber screen to scrub. Breville states that the cone, collector, filter and fruit dome on the 800CPXL are dishwasher safe, and Zulay states the same for its cast-iron press.

Sources