Lemon Squeezer Techniques

Choose a fresh, ripe fruit to ensure the best results from a lemon squeezer. Ripe fruits are easier to squeeze and produce better-tasting juice than unripe or aging fruit. Lightly squeeze a lemon to test for ripeness; an unripe lemon will be much harder than a ripe one. When you slice open the lemon, smell it to make sure it has a well-rounded scent, another indicator of ripeness. Old fruits may have a slightly foul odor and should be discarded. A fresh, ripe fruit will produce a flavorful juice suitable for a variety of recipes.

Before bringing a knife to the fruit, roll the fruit gently back and forth on a counter or tabletop. A fruit rolled with slight pressure in such a manner will produce more juice than an untouched fruit. Always cut the fruit in half along its shorter side. Cutting it in half lengthwise will create an oval that doesn't fit into the circular squeezer, and that yields less juice.

Squeeze the fruit over a sifter to filter out pulp and create a smooth juice. Alternatively, a coffee filter or tea screen can be used to filter the pulp. If necessary, filter the juice through the sifter several times to ensure all the pulp is caught in the grating. The pulp can be used separately for flavoring recipes that benefit from its texture.

Try to squeeze as much juice out as possible in the first squeeze, holding the squeeze until the lemon stops dripping. Subsequent squeezes will yield less juice, so try to get the most out of the first squeeze.