Chef Scott Swartz from The Culinary Institute of America explains how to get the most juice from citrus fruits. He uses an orange as an example, but the technique works for any type of citrus, from lemons to grapefruit. First, he rolls the orange firmly on a counter top to break up the inner membranes and release the juice. Then he cuts the orange in half and uses a citrus reamer to release the juice. If you don't have a reamer, you can use a fork, pushing and twisting the tines into the membranes to release the juice.
For 60 years, The Culinary Institute of America has been setting the standard for excellence in professional culinary education. In this video series, experienced chefs and educators show you how to tackle essential cooking techniques.
Hi, I'm Chef Scott Swartz from the Culinary Institute of America, and I'm going to show you this kitchen basic: how to juice citrus.
Today we're going to start with juicing an orange, but the technique we're going to talk about is one you can use for lemons, limes, oranges -- any kind of citrus that you need juice from. The juice you're going to produce can be used for recipes for cooking, or just for drinking - whichever you prefer.
Before we go to cut our citrus, the important thing is to roll it on the table. I'm going to push down gently, and what I'm doing in this process is breaking up the membranes inside and allowing the juice to come out. When I feel my orange, or my lemon or lime, it should give; it should be able to push in very easily.
We'll cut it in half at this point. Now one technique is to use a citrus reamer. There are ones that are handheld, or ones like this that sit on the countertop. I'm just going to twist this fruit on the reamer, and you see how easily the juice comes out. Not everybody has a citrus reamer at home, so another technique is to take a fork and put it right into the middle, and I squeeze and twist, and I achieve the same result without having to buy a reamer. Sometimes you just need a little bit of juice for a recipe, so this is much faster.
Now I've got fresh-squeezed orange juice. And that's how you juice citrus.