I frequently go over to my dad’s and get a couple of grocery bags of oranges from his tree and juice the whole lot (usually 2-3 quarts per bag). And when I bought this unit I bought it because it is a name my mother trusted and it was inexpensive. It worked well for me and met my needs but this product is far from perfect.

If you want to see my choice for a citrus juicer, check out my youtube video on it.
http://www.youtube.com/user/alanlakeskitchen1?feature=mhum#p/u/2/BHYmcB1g5-E

How it works.
It is an electric reamer style citrus juicer. When the reamer unit is pressed down it begins to spin. The combination of the spinning motion and the pressure from the user forces the juice to be extracted from the juice. This unit can store a small amount of juice in a pitcher mounted right below the reamer and pulp collector, or the juice can flow immediately out of the unit into a waiting container.
The unit is completely automatic. There is no on/off switch and no way to change the speed. A very simple device.

What it comes with
Cover- A simple plastic cover that is used to protect the unit when it is stored.
Reamer with pulp scraper- A simple plastic reamer attached to the top of the unit. There is a plastic protrusion the continuously moves the pulp around so that the juice can more easily flow through the pulp catcher.
Straining unit- This basket fits on top of the pitcher and is designed to catch the pulp from the fruit.
Continuous juicing tray- This is an insert that goes between the straining unit and the pitcher. It is designed to divert the juice flow to an external container.
Pitcher/ juice holding container- holds approximately 14 ounces and it is mounted directly on base unit.
Motor/base unit- Houses the motor.
All of these pieces can be taken apart and easily cleaned.

How easy is it to use? Does the juice to jug method really work?
The ergonomics of this unit is pretty good for what you pay for. It is not easily tipped over and it does not slide off the counter very easily. The unit is completely automatic so you do not have to worry about setting anything. One of the main problems is you do have to work when you juice citrus. It does put a strain on your hands, which is why many of these machine collect dust.
The juice to jug method does not work that well and it takes a few changes to make it work. First the unit is not very tall, so you can only use medium sized glasses or short stout ones. Your tall glasses will not fit underneath the pour spout. I usually used my 5-cup Pyrex measuring container because it was short enough and easy to pour. My preference was to use the attached pitcher, before it cracked that is.

Strength of the motor
While not impressive, it does do the job. I found that I had to be careful how much pressure I used because it is very easy to apply too much and stop the unit. Because of this I could not juice as fast as I could have with a stronger motor. For the cost I am happy with the motor, but I would spend the money on a better motor if I wanted this style of juicer again.

Reverse action, does it work?
It does work. The feature is supposed to reduce the chance that the reamer unit pulp scraper would get stuck. I found that it was never a problem and this feature is just a gimmick in my eyes.

Does it remove the pulp?
The pulp strainer is very well designed and collects a lot of the pulp. I would say it collects about 70% of the pulp so you still have some mouth feel to the juice. If you really hated pulp then you would need to strain it further with a fine wire strainer or use cheese cloth. I have occasionally used the wire strainer when I didn’t want the pulp.
The problem with the design is the strainer gets clogged fast. I find that I usually have to clean the strainer basket before I have a full container of orange juice. The pulp clogging issue is not that bad when the citrus is juicy but it is when you are juicing navel oranges at the end of the season it can be particularly troublesome. The citrus press design does not have this problem.

Problems with this unit.
I’ve already mentioned:
-Requires arm strength to use.
-Straight to jug method does not work well.
-Weak motor.
But in addition I have had both the pitcher crack and the continuous juicer attachment break on me. The crack on the pitcher was along the seam and it leaked slowly out of the bottom onto the base unit. The continuous juicer pour spout had a small chip that interrupted the flow a little, so I ended up with a slightly messier counter top.
This unit also does not do large grapefruit well. You have to manipulate the fruit a little more to get all the juice out.

Problems with this style of citrus juicer
The first issue is that it is not an easy on your hands. But then again neither is the Metrokane. So if you have a medical issue with your hand then I would recommend you buy packaged juice instead of a juicer, because you will not use a juicer due to the pain involved in the process. Juicing fruit at home is a lot of work but very rewarding, especially if you have your own trees.
The second problem is these units not only juice the pulp but they also juice the skin. The skin is actually very bitter and some of these oils get scraped off the inside of the peel and blend in with the sweet juice. So you end up with a more bitter juice than you would with a press.

Alternatives
The first alternative, and the one I recommend, is a citrus press. The citrus press presses the fruit so that only the juice is squeezed out. You do not squeeze out the bitter oils in the skin and you do not get very much pulp, even from navels. I was amazed at the difference between our pressed grapefruit juice and the grapefruit that was used on this machine. Since the oils are not pressed out in a citrus press, you do not get that bitterness in the juice. So the pressed juice was incredibly sweet, and this was from one of my grapefruit trees (I forgot the species but it is a juicing grapefruit with a slightly sweeter taste.) No sugar was needed. Just make sure you have one with a long arm to increase the leverage and get a larger cup design if you primarily do large fruit like grapefruit.
The second option is a centrifuge juicer. They are roughly the same price as the citrus press (depending on options and quality of the piece). The main reason I do not use my centrifuge juicer for citrus is because you have to peel the entire fruit because of the bitter oils in the skin.
The third option is a corkscrew/grinder type juicer. They are generally more expensive. And just like the centrifuge juicer, you need to remove all of the peel and any white parts stuck to the fruit.
The fourth option, and cheapest, is go buy a reamer. It is a small handheld device that you stick in a citrus fruit (usually cut in half) and manually twist the reamer yourself. I have seen a lot of cooking hosts use this method instead of the top three.

Durability
When I trashed the unit the main container had a crack in it and the pour spout on the continuous juicing tray attachment was chipped. Because of the crack in the main container I was forced to use the juice to jug method only. I am also concerned about the plastic and I doubt that the unit would survive a fall onto the kitchen floor. Other than that it was functioning normally. During that time that I owned it, I am guess that I have juiced over 200 lbs of Valencia and Navel oranges as well as a lot of lemons and tangerines. So the motor held up the beating it got. And yes, my dad does have two HUGE trees. (Now if only there was a way to transplant those big trees in my back yard.)

Cleaning the unit
Oster states that this unit is NOT dishwasher safe. You should only clean it by hand with soap.
If you keep up with my other reviews then you know that I hate to clean and I put everything in my dishwasher. This includes this unit. For the first 2-3 years I had no problems or damage from cleaning it this way. But some time between the second and third year of ownership the pitcher started to crack at the seam. My guess is the dishwasher had something to do with it but I’ll never really know. What I do know is the plastic on Oster products are not the most durable out there and the pitcher looked like it was made out of two molds and put together. It really did need to be made out of one whole mold.

Capacity and Dimensions.
Data listed on Amazon.com
Capacity: 14-oz,
Dimensions: 11 x 6 x 6-in.

My view on Oster
My mother and other family members has a lot of Oster products and they lasted for quite a while. The main reason is that Oster makes inexpensive products very well. Every product that I can remember died because the body broke, I do not remember a single motor dying on me or a family member with the Oster name on it. If you don’t have much money or you want an inexpensive wedding gift, then I would recommend this company. For me personally, I feel my money is better spent on higher quality products now that I can afford them.

About the rating
I am giving it a two because I am taking price into consideration. You are getting a good deal for the price. But if price was not taken into account then I would give it a one because this style of juicing brings out too much bitterness in the fruit and the plastic is too cheap to handle my typical abuse that I give these products.

Summary
This is a very inexpensive, reamer style citrus juicer. In short it is a good product for the money but it does have flaws. The major problems are that it is messy, the pitcher has a low capacity, the continuous juicing tray requires shorter glassware, weak motor, it brings out the bitter oils in the fruit, and it is not dishwasher safe. I cannot recommend this product because the end product is not as good as it could be due to the design of this style of juicer.

Here is my video on the Jack LaLanne juicer that I love.
http://www.youtube.com/user/alanlakeskitchen1?feature=mhum#p/u/1/vPk3PfgDDf8

Other reviews on juicers.
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: No

Amount Paid (US$): 25