What’s the best way to juice a lemon?
Most of us know that getting as much juice as possible out of a lemon—--let alone what is asked for in a recipe—--can be a mind- and hand-numbing experience. How do you get the most juice from a lemon with the least amount of effort?
First of all, choose your lemons wisely. We’ve squeezed a lot of lemons in the test kitchen, and still we’re amazed at how one lemon can yield two to three times more juice than a seemingly identical lemon. We wondered if there was a way to tell which lemons contained the most juice so we bought lemons in all shapes and sizes and had a squeezing extravaganza.
We found that certain shapes and sizes can give a hint as to the amount of juice inside. Round lemons were slightly juicier than elliptical ones, and bigger lemons yielded more juice than smaller ones. But the best way to find the lemons with the most juice is to squeeze while you shop. Without fail, whole lemons that yielded under pressure contained more juice, even when the lemons were nearly identical in size, shape, and weight.
Cutting into two lemons showed us the reason. The harder lemons had a thicker pith (that spongy, bitter, white membrane that separates the pulp from the peel), meaning there was less space for juice inside the lemon.
Juicing Methods
We’ve tried countless methods and gizmos for juicing lemons and dismiss most of them. However, we do endorse rolling the lemon vigorously on a hard surface before slicing it open to be juiced. Why? Renee Goodrich, assistant professor of food science at the University of Florida’s Citrus Research and Education Center, explained that rolling a lemon on a hard surface is effective because it bruises, breaks up, and softens the rind’s tissues while it tears the membranes of the juice vesicles (tear-shaped juice sacs), thereby filling the inside of the lemon with juice even before it is squeezed. Once rolled, we recommend using either a wooden reamer, which effectively digs into and tears the lemon to extract as much juice as possible, or our recommended citrus juicer, which we found was especially easy and fast and equally as effective.
However, you squeeze it, we strongly recommend that you squeeze it at the last minute; testing has proven that its flavor mellows quickly and will taste bland in a short time.
Source: Published November 1, 2000. From Cook's Illustrated.