Kitchen Hero

I have been squeezing juice from limes, lemons, and oranges with my hands, a process both messy and inefficient. Too much juice is left un-squeezed, which is a sin against frugality. Yet I could not talk myself into buying a juicer that would steal space in an already over crowded kitchen.

But what if a tool I already owned could do double duty?

And so I experimented with my potato ricer. The ricer makes the world's best mashed potatoes. It fluffs them. It aerates them so that when they are whipped with butter and cream, they float on culinary clouds.

But the ricer works by crushing. And crushing an orange releases juice.

Did it work?

It worked very well. Cut the orange in half, lay it cut side down in the ricer and squeeze the orange flat. Then fold the flattened orange and squeeze again. And again. This will push out all the juice.


So next time you go to an estate sale and see a potato ricer for a buck, buy it. But be warned! It must be rinsed off right after use. If you leave it unwashed in the sink overnight you will be soaking it for hours the next day to soften the dried on pulp-