The Best Citrus Juicers

We squeezed thirty pounds of oranges, lemons and limes to find the best citrus juicer, and we chose Urban Trend – Tango as the best manual citrus juicer. Its ergonomic design and two interchangeable reamer cones make this hand-held juicer ideal for a quick glass of fresh OJ as you’re running out the door. We also like the Dash – JB065AQ as the best electric citrus juicer for its seven pulp modes, ease of cleanup and great price.

Table of contents

• How we selected citrus juicers to test
• Compare the best citrus juicers
• How we tested
• Best electric juicer:Dash – JB065AQ
• Best manual juicer: Urban Trend – Tango
• Other citrus juicers we tested
• The bottom line

How we selected citrus juicers to test

If you’re dedicated to the juicing life, then you may already own a high-end juice extractor or blender like Vitamix, which we reviewed in our article about the best blenders. You could easily spend hundreds of dollars on a high-end model, but for this review, we focused on the small citrus juicers — manual and electric — in the $10-$25 price range.

After reading consumer reviews, we narrowed our search down from dozens of almost identical juicers to juicers with a unique feature, such as Urban Trend’s interchangeable reamer cones or Bnunwish’s twist-and-squeeze lid or the Sunhanny that can also separate an egg. Sometimes, simple is best, so we also chose to test the type of metallic handheld juicer, like the IMUSA, that you see used in every bar and restaurant,

There are several inexpensive electric juicers available, and we wanted to see if they were actually more convenient and user-friendly than the manual juicers. The primary advantage to using an electric citrus juicer is that you’re able to adjust how much (or little) pulp will be processed into the juice. The three electric juicers we tested had different modes for pulp adjustment, but only our top pick, Urban Trend, was effective.

Compare the best citrus juicers

How we tested

We tested the manual citrus juicers by squeezing Navel oranges, limes and lemons and measured how much juice was extracted. On average, the Navel oranges produced ¼ cup of juice, limes produced two tablespoons and lemons produced three tablespoons.

Factors we considered were:

• Was squeezing juice effortless, or did the juicer need a lot of hand strength?
• Did fruit pips and pulp get lodged in the juicer’s filter?
• Was the juicer easy and quick to clean?

For the electric juicers, we doubled the amount of fruits squeezed with the manual juicers, since their receptacles were designed to hold 25–32 ounces of juice. The electric juicers produced the same amount of juice per fruit, but two of the juicers’ filters were clogged by pulp and pips after juicing a single orange.

We also considered whether the pulp-adjustment feature worked, how easy the juicers were to clean and if it was indeed more convenient to use an electric juicer over a manual juicer.

Best electric juicer: Dash – JB065AQ

The Dash – JB065AQ beat the other two electric citrus juicers because it had, by far, the easiest pulp adjustment: a small lever on the container’s handle with seven choices for filtering pulp that can be adjusted any time while juicing.

The Dash has two reamer cones that nest and lock into place on top of the 25-ounce container. Halved fruit is placed on top of the reamer, and by pressing down, the juicer automatically starts; releasing pressure, it automatically stops. The Dash isn’t the quietest of the juicers we tested, but it won’t wake up sleeping housemates on Saturday morning either.

Like most electric juicers of this type, you can whiz through a bag of oranges in a couple of minutes. However, what we liked most about the Dash was that the pulp didn’t clog up the filter. Although the Black+Decker and the Cuisinart have larger capacity, it didn’t really matter, because we were continually stopping to unclog the filter, so it took longer to juice oranges. (This wasn’t an issue with lemons and limes, which have little pulp.)

Best Value: Dash - JB065AQ

The Dash has seven settings for pulp adjustment, is easy to clean, and at $15, you really can’t beat the price for this compact electric juicer.

See Price at Amazon.com

The smaller reamer cone was better shaped for lemons than for limes, but by simply moving the halved lime around the reamer — rather than holding it in place — all of its juice was extracted.

It comes with a lid so you can store squeezed juice in the refrigerator. Although the manufacturer claims the Dash can be machine washed, it’s made of plastic, and high-heat drying in a dishwasher will most likely damage it.

This isn’t a heavy-duty or sophisticated juicer, but its compact size and affordable price make it a good choice for a small kitchen, dorm room or camper.

Key takeaways:

• Easy to operate and easy to clean, the Dash – JB065AQ also effectively squeezes juice down to the skin in seconds.
• It has an excellent pulp-adjustment control that can be changed any time during juicing.
• The Dash’s reamer cones nest and snap into the juice receptacle for compact storage.

Best manual juicer: Urban Trend – Tango

The Urban Trend – Tango’s ergonomic design gave this finalist the edge over the other two manual citrus juicers we tested. It has two interchangeable reamers: one for oranges and grapefruit and another for lemons and limes. Each fits snugly into a ladle-shaped container that can hold 8 ounces (1 cup) of juice. The container has a non-slip base that stabilizes the juicer on a countertop or table.

Each head has a handle that snaps into the container’s handle, and the two halves form a handle that fits into the palm of your hand. As with all manual juicers, the halved fruit is twisted on top of the reamer, and pulp and seeds are trapped in the reamer’s filter while juice is strained into the container.

The Tango’s orange/grapefruit reamer was particularly effective in getting down to the orange’s skin and juicing every bit of fruit. The lemon/lime reamer was great with lemons, since its pointed shape fit perfectly into the halved fruit. Halved limes are more rounded, so we had to move the fruit around the reamer, but this took only seconds, and the reamer extracted two tablespoons of juice, which is the usual amount of juice that can be squeezed from a lime.

Best For Juice On-the-Go: Urban Trend - Tango

Ergonomically designed to fit comfortably in your hand, you can squeeze a glass of fresh orange or grapefruit juice and wash the juicer in under a minute.

See Price at Amazon.com

The Tango’s filters are narrow enough on both reamers that seeds don’t get stuck in between, and with a quick rinse, the juicer is clean. The orange reamer nests on top of the lime reamer, so the entire juicer can fit into any drawer.

The Tango is perfect for juice on the go. If you want a glass of fresh OJ before rushing off to work, this juicer will get it done with little effort in under a minute.

Key takeaways:

• The Urban Trend – Tango has two interchangeable reamers that squeeze out every drop of juice from fruit.
• Its container has a non-skid base so the juicer won’t move on a countertop or table when you’re squeezing the fruit.
• The reamers nest into the container, so the Tango can be stored in any kitchen drawer.

Other juicers we tested

Bnunwish – AABK03

The Bnunwish – AABK03 manual juicer is a tall 16-ounce cup with a reamer-cone insert that has a webbed filter for catching pulp. The halved fruit is placed on top of the reamer, and the juicer’s lid goes on top of the fruit. You rotate the lid, pressing down, and when it connects with the cup, the fruit has been completely squeezed of juice. The Bnunwish actually extracted quite a lot of juice from all of the citrus fruits, but it was a pain to clean. Pulp got trapped in the webbing, and although a tool is included, it took too much time to pick out the pulp. For a single serving of juice, it wasn’t worth the effort.

Sunhanny

We confess that we wanted to test the Sunhanny because of its Amazon video that shows it can not only juice citrus fruits but also separate an egg. The Sunhanny has several pieces, and since no instructions were provided, we watched the video again to learn how to use it.

The Sunhanny’s odd petal-shaped piece for juicing oranges fits on top of the reamer, which then locks into the juicer’s 2-cup container. The Sunhanny worked very much like the Urban Trend – Tango, but lemon pips lodged into its reamer, which has slits like its pulp filter.

To separate an egg, the reamer is inverted, and when you crack an egg into it, the egg white is supposed to drip into the container. Sadly, it didn’t work, and half of the egg white clung stubbornly to the yolk.

Black+Decker – CJ650

The Black+Decker – CJ650 has only one reamer cone, which easily extracted juice from oranges. But the cone was too wide for lemons and limes, and they slipped off if we didn’t hold them firmly in place.

The pulp-adjustment switch is inside the filter, and once a setting is selected, it can’t be changed until juicing is complete. We tried each of the Black+Decker’s three pulp-adjustment settings; every time, after juicing only one orange, the filter got clogged with pulp and juice.

Cuisinart – CCJ-500

The Cuisinart – CCJ500 has three settings that can be adjusted by turning the reamer cone but only when the juicer is unplugged. The reamer cone itself has an unnecessary filter, so pulp got stuck in both the cone and filter, and juice just pooled in the pulp.

The Cuisinart has an additional feature we did like. Once the fruit is completely juiced, you can press down on the juicer’s lid, and it will spin a little more juice out of the collected pulp. However, like the Black+Decker, the filter gets clogged after juicing a single orange, which makes the juicer a hassle to clean. We don’t feel the Cuisinart’s inconvenience justifies its high price.

IMUSA USA – Victoria 70009

The IMUSA USA – Victoria 70009 is one of the most common and basic manual juicers. The IMUSA comes in three sizes for oranges, lemons and limes and is made of two aluminum cups with handles that are painted orange, yellow or green. We tested the size for oranges.

Half of a cut fruit is placed into one cup, which has slits for straining seeds, and the other cup is pressed down by gripping the handle.  Pulp isn’t extracted but is compressed instead, and it does require some hand strength to squeeze out juice.

This type of juicer is great for squeezing juice for a couple cocktails or adding some acidity to a sauce or saute. But if you need to squeeze more than two or three fruits at a time, it’s time-consuming and tiring.

The bottom line

The small and inexpensive citrus juicers that we tested squeezed lemons and limes equally well. Squeezing a glass of orange juice, however, was more of a challenge, especially — and surprisingly — for the electric juicers.

Our pick for best electric citrus juicer is the Dash – JB065AQ. The Dash juicer has seven settings for adjusting how much pulp is filtered into the juice that can be changed any time while you’re juicing. It’s easy to use, doesn’t clog with excess pulp, and clean-up is a snap. At less than $15, it’s also a great value.

The Urban Trend – Tango is our top pick for manual citrus juicer. It’s a simple, plastic, handheld juicer with two interchangeable and stackable reamer cones that squeeze out every last drop of juice. It has a smart, ergonomic design that fits comfortably in your hand, and its non-skid base prevents slippage when you’re squeezing juice on a countertop or table.

Best Electric Citrus Juicer: Dash - JB065AQ

The Dash’s compact size and affordable price make this electric citrus juicer a great choice for a small kitchen, dorm room or camper. It’s easy to operate, easy to clean, and at $15, its price can’t be beat.

See Price at Amazon.com

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Gene Gerrard, Writer

Gene Gerrard was recently voted as one of the top five personal chefs in Los Angeles. He created About.com's Meat and Wild Game Cooking website and published hundreds of recipes, interviews, cookbook reviews and blog posts about food trends. Gene is also a professional magician, and when he's not writing for Your Best Digs, he's performing at the World Famous Magic Castle in Hollywood.