Customer Reviews

OXO Good Grips Citrus Juicer

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I logged onto Amazon, my eyes still red from my loss. The tragic passing of my vintage glass citrus reamer still fresh in my mind. I could still hear that sound in my head... a crack followed by the tinkling of hundreds of glass shards landing on the floor. For sixty years various citrus met their fate at the unforgiving tip of that glass implement, but those times finally came to their inevitable end.

Through tear smeared eyes I browsed amazon to find something to fill the void. The OXO Good Grips Citrus Juicer caught my attention as it was both "Good" and perhaps would help me come to "Grips" with my loss. The good price overcame any fears and in no time it was at my door.

My heart was heavy yet ripe with anticipation as I halved a lemon for the test. I chose the smaller of the two reamer sides and started the familiar press and twist. Amazingly the well designed reamer tore through the lemon and in no time I was left holding an empty shell - scraped clean of all its lemony goodness. Seeds and rinds remained on the top and tart juice filled the measuring cup below. As much as I missed the nostalgia and whimsy of my old glass friend, the performance and design of my new partner was exciting! I threw the OXO on the ground to see if I would be betrayed, but it simply bounced and came to a rest with a durable clunk comforting my mind. Since then dozens of lemons, limes, and oranges have met their end. The sadness is gone and my kitchen more efficient than ever thanks to another well designed product from OXO.

I learned about the effectiveness of this product on "America's Test Kitchen," and the product review on cooksillustrated.com in an article discussing citrus juicers and reamers. Part of the review is copied here, since it's a subscription site, I can't just link it!

"After testing nine models, I found that the better models have a pointed tip, which effectively pierces the core of the lemon and grabs hold. Without the pointed tip, the lemon slips right off the head. The second important feature is the sharpness of the ridges. Those with sharp, pointed ridges "gripped" the lemon well, making it easy to extract maximum juice with minimum effort, while those with rounded ridges caused the lemon to slide around, making for difficult juicing.

The two winners of our tests were the plastic Oxo Good Grips Citrus Juicer ($11.99) and the Fox Run Wood Lemon Reamer ($2.99). They both juiced lemons quickly and efficiently. The Oxo Citrus Juicer features a unique design with two open, ridged heads (for large and small citrus fruit) and a non-skid bowl for juice collection. The Fox Run reamer has a classic design and an especially comfortable handle."

I have found ATK/CI equipment reviews to be reliable and am ordering it on their recommendation!

This juicer has two juicer attachments to juice large fruits, (grapefruits) or small fruits, (lemons and limes). Very easy to use, but not ready for the dishwasher. Very easy to take it apart and hand-wash. The first juicer became warped when we put it in the dishwasher. This purchase was simply a replacement.

It is an in adequate design. Easy to clean in the dishwasher is the only positive about it.

It takes assembling three sections to use. I would live with one size borer and have it fixed in place instead of fiddling with the reversible bore, and lining up and inserting the little tab in place. The shape is awkward.

The holes below the borer are too big, so you have the seeds falling into the juice which is another step for getting them out.

I like the old fashioned ones with a flat cup and a lid and tiny holes so the juice is filtered.

I would not buy it again, and I am still looking for the easy and practical old style lemon squeezer. If I find it, this one is getting thrown out.

I used to have a Zyliss juicer, which went with a relationship. Since then I have been using a wooding hand juicer for those small jobs. Recently started doing the Master Cleanse, and since that involves 8-12 lemons a day, sometimes all at once as I am getting ready for a day on the road, I needed something easy to use for larger quantities.

I came across this on in a store, and it was the only one I could find. So I picked it up. While it squeeze well, I have found it hard to clean. Seeds and pulp end up inside the unit, and its really difficult to get to the inside surfaces.

Pouring the juice sometimes had seeds fall out as well. When trying to lift the top portion off the bottom, the reamer part would separate from its hold, leaving me with three things to hold instead of two.

I do like that it has two sizes, and for the small organic lemons I am using, the larger reamer actually worked very well.

Its also going to take more space to store, and won't fit as one piece into a drawer. It will have to go into a cabinet.

Yesterday I found a juicer from Progressive, and I am now giving that a try. I can't find it on Amazon. It has a wide, low profile.

Maybe I can find a used Zyliss one. That one worked really well, and was so easy to clean it was worth it for just one squeeze.

I squint and squint, but even with reading glasses and good light, I'm pretty much forced to have to pour the juice out into another measuring cup to see if I've squeezed the amount the recipe calls for. And yes, as someone else mentioned, an occasional seed falls through. Other than that, I find this a breeze to use, it's easy on the wrist and all in all makes a very useful addition to my kitchen gadgetry. And I like that it comes in three pieces...makes cleaning so easy.

Addenda March 2011: Contrary to a report from another reviewer, I've been washing this on the top rack of my dishwasher--disassembled, of course--from the get-go in 2007 with no problems whatsoever.

Not great for squeezing orange juice. I give it two stars because it's better than squeezing orange sections by hand into a bowl. However, I've used better juicers.
Its faults:
1) The reamer is hollow and has large triangular cuttouts instead of ribs. As a result, it tends to scrape the pulp off the skin and accumulate it inside the reamer instead of actually mashing the juice sacs flat. This wastes juice.
2) The reamer is held loosely in its frame. It pops out when you turn the sieve upside down to dump the pulp into the trash unless you hold it in place with your hand Then you end up with a handful of pulp and seeds.
3) The sieve/reamer assembly is hard to remove from the cup when your hands are wet with, for instance, orange pulp.
4) The sieve/reamer assembly needs a dam to hold back the pulp and seeds when you pour the juice out of the cup.
5) The sieve/reamer assembly leaks if you try to use it directly over a glass instead of using the supplied cup.

No complaints here - this juicer does a great job with lemons, limes and oranges. Larger grapefruits may be a bit of a challenge, but I haven't actually tried one either. The two sided part is handy and I do agree that the holes that strain the juice are generous, but I rarely get a seed in the cup and if they were smaller I think they'd clog with pulp. The grippy bottom is nice so it doesn't scoot all over the counter while you're using it. Finally, it's solid enough that I'd have to really work to break it - a real plus in my kitchen!

In addition to all the points Alrian raises, this is also a very large, bulky item for its purpose. It takes up way too much room in the cupboard and in the dishwasher.

PROS

Alight I do in fact like how well made this item is. It is also BPA free among many other strong selling points to us aware people/parents. It's very easy to use for many sized fruits, to remove all of the fruit & pulp into the easy to pour container. With very little juice lost. It does collect seeds in middle for removal after. I removed the middle piece you juice on first before pouring to not have any fall in. They still may fall in, as the holes/slots are quite large. This also serves up great pulp due to that. I suggest hand washing for this item, with pipe cleaner or brush. Rubber bottom is meant to grip more, unlike a basic plastic bottom. You could place extra liquid in fridge in container with plastic wrap on top.


CONS
Even with rubber bottom it's very easy to tip item over while trying to use it. Not kid friendly. Lid is hard to remove from base. Had to remove middle juicer part to keep seeds from falling threw large slots, lots of pulp if you don't like pulp. No lid for fridge storage. It's not very dishwasher safe. After one wash TOP rack, it appears very used. I dont use heat dry either. I hand dry my items. Does not hold much liquid. Does require more space then average drawer. Not compact able.

Over all decent product. I would suggest to buy ff you want old fashioned elbow greased juice that's BPA free, well made, have space or large drawers, like pulp, don't mind picking seeds, are coordinated enough to NOT tip by accident, don't mind something new looking old after one run in dishwasher then this is the juicer for you. Esp for the cost, it's not a bad item.