Chef'n Citrus Orange Squeezer and Juicer, 15-inches

Most Helpful Review

"We bought this juicer to replace the ubiquitous all metal powder coated juicers (lemon and lime) we had for years. The old juicers were beginning to lose their powder coating and the pot metal was exposed to the juice. This is a problem because most pot metal contains lead which can leach into acidic solutions like citrus juice. This device has a more complex construction and attempts to use compound leverage and a gear/rack to do a better job at juicing. It somewhat succeeds at this in that I find it very easy to use and it requires little force on the handles to extract the juice. The parts that come in contact with your juice are either nylon plastic or chromed metal (probably pot metal). I don't put mine in the dishwasher every time, but instead hand wash it and carefully clean the acidic oils and liquids off the chrome part so it will last longer. Yes, as many have pointed out, you do have to sometimes use both hands to start a squeeze. And yes, do be careful with exerting too much force on the handles - I can easily see this being a point of failure. One thing I should note about juicing: squeezing the living daylights out of a lime or lemon is NOT the best way to go. When you squeeze citrus too hard, the extremely bitter oils in the skin are extracted in greater quantity resulting in very harsh tasting juice. If you are just doing some stupid cleanse BS and don't care about subtleties of taste and flavor, then by all means pankcake the crap out of your citrus. If however, you want just juice that is bright and appropriately limey or lemony, then squeeze carefully and stop before the skin begins to give up all that oil. Which bring us back to this Chef'n juicer. Because the handles do flex a bit it lets you avoid over squeezing. When the "piston" reaches the end of its travel and the handles start to flex then STOP - you are done and your juice is perfect. Did it get every last molecule of juice out of that poor half lime? No, but it did extract the best tasting juice and that is what most normal people want.So what do we have here? We have a juicer that has succeeded for the most part in making juicing more effective and easier. It extracts very tasty juice when used properly. The shortcomings are actually a result of Chef'ns attempt to improve the process. The mechanism has plastic parts that can, will and do fail. They had to use plastic to keep the product affordable. Does the juicer fail if you use it carefully? I don't know, but I'll get back to you on that. Do I recommend this juicer? Yes I do, but be aware what you are buying.Update 02/26/21 : Still using this juicer at least once a week. No issues that alter performance. There is a little bit of gunk collected around a hinge pin but it is not in contact with the juice and is strictly cosmetic. We do not put it in the dishwasher as I feel that would shorten it's' life. This is a very good juicer for lemons and limes and if you treat it nice it will last a long time"