For the most part, we were very pleased with this juicer. It’s an old-school design that employs a lever to smash the you-know-what out of citrus halves. The Mueller forced the fruit onto a perforated metal cone and juice flowed through the holes and through a drain-like opening in the bottom. The juicing process is incredibly efficient, and it’s fun too; there’s a very satisfying pop you can feel when you fully lower the handle and split the peel of larger fruits.
For high-yield citrus juicing that won’t leave your hands covered in acidic juices and oils, the Müeller definitely gets the job done. When we compared it to an electric juicer, the Müeller extracted just as much juice, just as quickly and it was much easier to clean too. It also looks a lot cooler out on the counter.
What we didn’t love about the Müeller Professional Citrus Juicer
For a countertop juicer with a cast-iron base, this thing is shockingly unstable. You absolutely must have one hand pressing down on the main shaft while you use the other hand to operate the lever, otherwise the whole thing will come crashing down. This was an issue with the other manual countertop press we tried, too, but that one had a handle for this purpose. We felt much better about this issue after rewatching Sussman’s video; she has to keep a hand on the top of her $480 version too! Still, this style of press would be so much better if it were mounted to a counter or work table, or even if it had some sort of vise clamp for stabilization. It’s also a little tricky to clean, especially at first. The juicing cone can clog with pulp and pith, and you need to use something like a butter knife to remove just the cone for cleaning. Finally, this is very much not a pulp-control citrus juicer; there’s no built-in strainer, so if you want pulp-free juice, you’ll need to strain it.
How we tested manual citrus juicers
We juiced lemons, Meyer lemons, limes, Key limes, and—when possible—mandarins, navel oranges, and grapefruits in each of the juicers. We also measured the amount of juice extracted from them, but we tried not to focus too closely on very small differences because the actual yield is so dependent on each individual piece of fruit.
What we looked for
Ease of use
Did the juicer require a lot of hand strength to operate? Were the steps in that operation evident by looking at and holding it? For the most part, the juicers we tested were simple, but some included attachments or features, like measuring cups. We wanted to know if the attachments were worth the extra effort and space, or if they were mere gimmicks.
Yield
Did the juicer extract juice efficiently and effectively? In general, reamers and countertop presses extracted juice more effectively.
Size and weight
We wanted citrus juicers that wouldn’t take up too much space but still operated well. If a juicer was going to be a kitchen space hog, it had to be worth it.
Materials and construction
We paid close attention to the feel, weight, and overall quality of the materials—including any finishes, especially on metal. We looked for juicers that were built to last for a while.
Cleaning
Citrus juicers, especially handheld ones, shouldn't require complex disassembly for cleaning. While we appreciate dishwasher-safe parts, citrus juicers are easy tools to clean—especially because citrus juice is often used as a cleaning agent—and we didn’t deduct points for hand-wash-only parts.
Price and value
Did pricier juicers feel like they were worth the extra money? Even when looking at larger juicers for residential use, we wanted to stay well under $100.
Other reamers we tested
Oxo Good Grips Small Citrus Juicer
We love everything about the Oxo Good Grips Small Citrus Juicer. It’s a smaller version of our favorite reamer above, but with only one reamer dish that’s made for smaller citrus fruits. If you plan to use your reamer just for lemon juice and lime juice, this is a fantastic option, though it can handle smaller oranges in a pinch.
Oxo Good Grips Wooden Citrus Reamer
The Oxo Good Grips Wooden Citrus Reamer is the simplest, most affordable and best-looking citrus reamer we tried. It’s also the only one without any plastic whatsoever. And for what it is— a wooden handheld citrus reamer—it works really well on all types of citrus. It’s made of durable beechwood and the tip and ridges are surprisingly sharp and great at tearing into the fruit’s flesh. At about six inches long with no built-in doodads, it’s easy to tuck into a drawer and pretty much indestructible. But this no-frills reamer is far from a complete juicing solution. If you want pulp-free citrus juice, you need to juice into a container and then strain it. Still, it’s not a bad idea to have it tucked into your utensil drawer as a backup, especially because it costs less than ten bucks.
Trudeau Citrus Juicer
The Trudeau Citrus Juicer seemed like a cute, well-designed combination juicer and storage container. A plastic reamer sits atop a little plastic measuring cup. There’s a pour spout and a lid that goes over the reamer that’s supposed to work as a handle that you can use instead of your hands to twist the citrus against the reamer. But despite its many seemingly ingenious features, this tool was our biggest disappointment. Because the lid is rigid, it can’t squeeze the fruit against the reamer effectively—you only get juice from the very center of the fruit. Even if you ditch the lid and use your hands, the plastic collar on the reamer is too tall, making it difficult to grip the fruit around the sides and often leading to finger scrapes. It’s also nearly impossible to use with large diameter fruits like oranges. Hard pass.
Other handheld squeezers we tested
Chef’n FreshForce Citrus Juicer
In previous testing, the Chef’n FreshForce was our top pick, and for good reason: It’s a sturdy citrus squeezer with a nice weight and features a big, burly geared hinge that looks almost industrial. The company says the mechanism allows the juicer to squeeze out 20% more juice than “conventional models,” but we found it comparable to our top pick, and considering every piece of fruit has a different amount of juice, this claim is hard to substantiate. It did require less force than some other models, and we appreciate the slits in the bottom (as opposed to holes), which help direct the juice into a cup and to contain seeds. This is another great citrus squeezer we’d be happy to use at home, it just got upstaged by the KitchenAid this year.
Williams-Sonoma Citrus Press
The Williams-Sonoma Citrus Press is the Chef’n Fresh Force, but with the store-exclusive feature of an attached measuring cup. The cup snaps on flush to catch every drop, and the bottom is angled so you can rest it on the counter at a comfortable position while you press. Resting it on the counter allowed additional leverage and the cup kept the spray of juice well contained. However, the cup is small—its graduated measures only go up to 2.5 ounces. More important, the measurements are not that accurate (probably because of the angled bottom). We cross-tested the volume with a measuring cylinder and it was short by about ¼ ounce. This version is also far heavier (about four ounces) than the original Chef’n, and the bowl is a bit wider. It’s pricier too.
Joseph Joseph Helix Juicer
To operate the Joseph Joseph Helix Juicer, you thread two detachable handles together and then twist them toward each other instead of pressing them. It’s supposed to require less hand strength than traditional lemon squeezers, but it also felt kind of like a Thighmaster for our forearms. This juicer efficiently extracted juice from lemons, limes, and mandarins (larger oranges and grapefruit won’t fit), and it left a neat little compact puck each time. It seemed that all of the pulp and seeds got pressed back into the rind, which made cleanup super easy. There’s really nothing we didn’t like about this sturdy squeezer, it just wasn’t as great as our top pick.
Oxo Good Grips Citrus Squeezer
The Oxo Good Grips Citrus Squeezer is Oxo’s handheld citrus press, made from coated die-cast aluminum. It looks like most others but offers a few extras. The “soft touch” handles have a rubberized area that makes them a little less slippery when squeezing, and the center of the bowl is raised up in the middle. The company says this mimics a traditional reamer, allowing for more juice extraction. However, this model didn’t do better than any of the other squeezers we tried, and there was always some juice left behind. The way the top and bottom fit together with the center bump made it more awkward to squeeze the fruit. Also, the tool is several ounces lighter than other squeezers, which is a good thing for those who have trouble holding heavy things, but it also makes it feel less sturdy.
Zulay Metal Lemon-Lime Squeezer
The Zulay Metal Lemon-Lime Squeezer is marketed as a 2-in-1 squeezer because it can juice both lemons and limes. That feels gimmicky to say the least. Lemons and limes are pretty damn similar, and the additional lime plate/flap seems totally unnecessary. The juice yield from this squeezer was fine, but it definitely required a little more effort than similar models. Though this is meant for lemons and limes, it can also handle mandarins and other small oranges.
Zulay Stainless-Steel Lemon Squeezer
The Zulay’s Stainless-Steel Lemon Squeezer is the brand’s “heavy-duty” handheld citrus juicer. It doesn’t have an extra flap for limes, but it doesn’t need one and can handle lemons, limes, and small mandarins. When we reviewed this juicer in 2019, it was all stainless steel and it’s since been updated with silicone-coated handles. The handles come in a variety of colors and help with grip, but this squeezer doesn’t compare to our top picks in any category, and it actually takes more effort to extract less juice.
Other countertop citrus presses we tested
Chef’n Fresh Force Tabletop Citrus Press
Because the Chef’n FreshForce handheld citrus juicer was our top pick in previous years, we were excited to try the brand’s countertop press, the Chef’n Fresh Force Tabletop Citrus Press. We really liked the modern, minimalist look of the matte white body and simple wood handles, and though customer reviews were mixed, we thought it came a very close second to the Müeller. The Chef’n extracts juice from oranges and grapefruits just as efficiently as the Müeller, though the yield was slightly lower with smaller fruits. The hard plastic parts are easier to remove and clean, and the removable parts are dishwasher-safe too. We also really like that the juice is directed into a spout instead of falling through the bottom. But even with the built-in stabilization handle, stabilizing this press juicer takes more effort than stabilizing the Müeller, and with some fruits, juice would shoot out of the top piece of the press apparatus.
The takeaway
If you want the efficiency of a reamer and the convenience of a built-in measuring cup, we recommend the Oxo Good Grips 2-in-1 Citrus Juicer. It does everything you need a citrus juicer to do, and then some. If you prefer a handheld citrus squeezer, the KitchenAid Citrus Squeezer is a fantastic take on a classic tool that stores and pours the juice, and doesn’t require massive amounts of hand strength. For high-volume juicing, the industrial-looking Müeller Professional Citrus Juicer is a fast and efficient extractor. It’s a restaurant-style juicer with a home cook-friendly price tag.
Looking for the best electric citrus juicer? We tested and reviewed motorized models from Black + Decker, Breville, and Cuisinart, as well as the Proctor Silex Alex’s Lemonade Stand Citrus Juicer.
