Weapon of Choice: Citrus Juicer

Back in the late 80's, a friend turned me onto a book called "Fit for Life". One of the main premises of the book was starting each day with significant helpings of high-water content fruits and vegetables in the form of fruit juice. I embraced the book and went from 193 pounds down to 177 pounds and was a hardcore juicer for years. I also went through a lot of different juicers.

Fast-forward to 2012 and you'll find that we have two heavy duty juicing machines in our home. Both are made by Breville. The Breville Juice Extractor doesn't get used as much as it used to as we have embraced the Whole 9 concept of eating whole fruits and vegetables to realize the benefit of the fiber. But we still use the citrus juicer for marinades and Judy's incredible Key Lime Pie.

The Breville 800CPXL Citrus Juicer (pictured above) is built like a Sherman tank. It's made of professional-grade stainless steel and has an industrial-grade motor...this beast tips the scales at 15+ pounds. It comes with two different filters that let you choose between high or low pulp for your  juice. This beast will turn out juice faster than any other citrus juicer on the market...and extract every single drop from your fruit. But greatness comes at a price...it will set you back $200. It's available at both Amazon.com and Williams Sonoma.

Because it is not used every day, it does not warrant regular counter space. For light duty juicing, I don't want to always haul a 15-pound appliance out of storage, so I also own a hand juicer...the Chef'n Juicester Citrus Juicer. This little sweetheart of  a juicer weighs just ounces and is 2" X 3" X 7". It has two different reamers on the top, a small one for limes and lemons and a big one for oranges. While it takes a little elbow grease to use it, it works really well. It's a breeze to clean and then I just toss it back in the drawer. I also find the measuring marks on the base to be incredibly handy. This little gem will set you back $12.49 at Amazon.com. Check it out here: http://www.amazon.com/Chefn-Juicester-Citrus-Juicer-Reamer/dp/B0035WYD4Y/ref=sr_1_9?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1340718921&sr=1-9&keywords=hand+juicer