There are plenty of posh lemon and lime-juicing gadgets on the market these days. And there are times — about 15 minutes into squeezing limes for margaritas — when we would welcome an electric juicer with open arms.
But for the simple task of squeezing a half or two of citrus for a recipe, we love our cheap (in price only!) wooden reamer.
There are silicone versions out there, but just like we love our wooden spoons, this basic reamer just feels nice in our hand. And the wooden peaks seem to grab onto the fruit flesh so tenaciously, we can't imagine anything being more effective.
We used to use a fork, jammed into a lemon and twisted. But, one, we've stabbed our hand more than once with fork tines, and two, that method rarely cleans out a lemon like a bulb-shaped reamer. You can also use the end as a muddler if you're making mojitos.
Plus, the best part... This is one kitchen gadget that can be yours for less than $5. We'll admit the one above, from Williams-Sonoma, is $8.50 — overpriced, in our opinion, but we succumbed to the reamer-in-action photo.
You can buy less expensive, no-name wooden reamers from any number of kitchen supply stores. Or try Sur La Table, which sells a Wood Citrus Reamer for $3.95.
Related: Caring for Wooden Utensils
(Image: Williams-Sonoma)
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I have a plastic citrus reamer from IKEA. It's become one of my favorite kitchen tools.
I LOVE my wooden reamer. When it was lost I ran right out to get another.
I have an old glass one, the kind with a dish around it. It makes it really easy just to lean on the lemon and get all the juice out.
My bartender ex squeezed lemons in his hand while at home, but was quickly converted by a little dollar wood reamer like the one above. His hands are enormous and could manage to get the juice out, but this was much nicer when squeezing multiple lemons for home made lemonade.
i love mine. one of the most effortless and satisfying kitchen tools there are.
Oh, I love this! I recently tried to upgrade and bought a stainless steel citrus juicer with a built in strainer from Crate and Barrel, and it does NOTHING. After massacring two limes and getting almost no juice, I turned back to my trusty little reamer.
This was one of those things I never thought I would use but once I got one I love it.
A muddler! Of course! It's an Alton Brown-certified multi-tasker. Thanks for the tip.