The perfect Orange juicer: Metrokane Chef's Juicer.
Written: Aug 15 '04 (Updated Dec 15 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Produces sweet tasting juice, the best juicer for oranges, easy to clean.
Cons: It is manually operated. Handle needs to be longer. Best for medium citrus.
The Bottom Line: This is the best juicer for citrus and a must have item if you have your own trees.
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| yakkowarner's Full Review: Metrokane Chef's Juicer 1500/1503 |
Note: I have replaced this with the
Jupiter heavy duty citrus press by OrangeX
This is a citrus press or a citrus juicer. It is completely manual and can only be used for citrus or round, soft flesh fruit. The greatest advantage of this product is it does not extract juice out of the peel. This leaves the bitterness in the used portion of the fruit, not in the juice.
Setup and how to use.
There is nothing to assemble, unless you consider putting a cup on the stand part of assembling it.
To use it all you do is put the stainless steel cup under the plunger device. Then put the halved citrus fruit on top of the cup. Then grab the arm and force the plunger device to press the citrus against the cup top. This squeezes the juice, and some pulp, into the stainless steel cup. Release the arm, dispose of the fruit and repeat the process.
The stainless steel cup can hold 16 ounces of juice.
Cleanup
For the main unit you just wipe it down with a damp cloth.
The cup and cup lid you easily hand wash it with a sponge. Takes about 30 seconds (a lot easier than a centrifuge juicer.)
Why is this juicer better than an electric model?
When you use an electric model citrus juicer you are basically chopping at the fruit. You break apart the pulp and that finds it’s way into your juice. You break apart the skin and that releases bitter oils that are pretty nasty to taste.
The same beating occurs in a centrifuge juicer. But you have to remove the skin first otherwise you juice the bitter tasting skin. Another step that is unnecessary for the Metrokane.
The first fruit in my grove to become ripe were my grapefruit. These are not eating grape fruit, they are juicing grapefruit, so that helps. But after they were juiced they were incredibly sweet. I remember juicing them on my old Oster electric the year before and they were slightly bitter, and nowhere near as sweet as with this juicer.
Also, all of the juice has less pulp and is sweeter.
How well does it juice…
Valencia oranges: This is a juicing orange and the size is perfect for this device. The perfect orange. Juice came out great.
Naval oranges: This is an eating orange but you can juice it when Valencia’s are out of season. My Navel’s are slightly too large for this machine but it still works. When I used my electric Oster on Navel’s I found that I got a lot of pulp in the juice. I was almost like eating an orange instead of drinking one. But this juicer does not let in a lot of pulp.
Tangerines: These can be a little too small for the unit and sometimes a little difficult to put on the cup top. But the juice was great and relatively pulp free.
Grapefruit: My grapefruit are juicing grapefruit and are perfect for this type of machine. The problem is the cup lid is a little too small for this fruit. But when I juiced these for the first time I was blown away by how sweet the juice was. As soon as I juiced these I knew this was a worthwhile purchase.
Limes: These can be a little too small for the unit and sometimes a little difficult to put on the cup top. They do juice well but make sure you get some sweet ones or the juice will be horrible.
Meyers lemons: These can be a little too small for the unit and sometimes a little difficult to put on the cup top. They also do not juice all the way to the top because of their shape.
Eureka lemons: These suckers have thick skins and are a big fruit. And when you juice you smell the acid all over the kitchen and adjoining rooms. These are a little too big for this machine because they are as big as a large grapefruit. They also require more effort to juice.
Pomello: These can grow bigger than a grapefruit and I have to cut them into quarters to use them. Sadly my tree is doing very poorly and the fruit is very dry. So the juice was a big disappointment.
Pomegranates: Works great. The only problem is that you can have splashing of juice because of the size of the fruit. Clean it up quick because it can stain. If you like grenadine then use this as a substitute for better results.
How easy is it to use? …or rather how hard.
If you juice just enough for a large glass then it will not tire you out. But if you picked off all the Myers lemons to freeze the juice, like I did, then you will be very sore after you squeeze all of the fruit. I would only juice half a sink full at a time (I had about 6 sinks worth on my tree.) I was very sore after that day, but I am glad I did it this way because I got good quality juice with little pulp. (note: If you have Popeye muscles then disregard this previous paragraph.)
Storage
Because of the size it may be difficult to store. I store mine in the compressed state in the highest cupboard I have. The highest cupboards have extra headroom and this is where I store a lot of my kitchen toys. At the compressed height it is 15.75 inches high.
Weight and storage.
Main Unit weight: 6.5 lbs
Cup weight: 4.75 ounces
Cup lid weight: 4.75 ounces
Base dimensions: 6.7 x 5.5 inches
Height extended: 19.25 inches
Height compressed: 15.75 inches
Advantages over an electric juicer
-The peel is not juiced.
-Not as much pulp is juiced.
-The basket does not clog very quickly.
Problems
-It requires more muscle strength than other juicers.
-It is about 20% slower than an electric juicer (this will vary from person to person.)
-This juicer needs a longer arm to increase leverage.
-There is only one citrus cup size (geared toward a medium sized orange.)
-It can be a little difficult to store.
Why the rating, and a recommendation.
I gave it a 4 because it still has a couple of problems that I do not like (mentioned above.) But it is still a worthwhile buy if you are leery of spending more money.
I love this juicer and I will not replace it for something better any time soon, but had I done it over again I would have spent twice as much as I did to get a better one. I recommend that if you are in the market then do not get a cheaper one than this model because the cheaper you go the more effort will be required to juice citrus.
I recommend purchasing a larger one with a longer arm. This increases the leverage and increases pressure applied for the same amount of effort. The problem with the more expensive ones is price and it will be so big that you probably will only be able to store it on the counter.
Summary:
This is the perfect orange juicer. If you love fresh squeezed then this is the ideal way to juice oranges. It is expensive but once you buy it you will not be disappointed with spending the money. What this unit needs is various cup sizes (the cup the citrus rests on when it is pressed) and the arm needs to be longer to increase leverage (easier for the user.)
Update: I have replaced this because it is getting harder to use. The connections are a little wabbly and I bought a new juicer to replace it. Will I still keep it? Sure I'll still use it if we need to juice a ton of citrus, but otherwise it is keeping a spot in the garage warm.
Other juicing products.
Jack LaLane Juicer
Metrokane Chef's Juicer
Oster electric juicer
Xango, Mangosteen fruit juice.
My Juicer Buying Guide
Jupiter heavy duty citrus press by OrangeX
Recommended:
Yes
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