Kitchen essentials | the lemon squeezer

If you want to squeeze a lemon, a lime, or an orange, the hardware manufacturers are eager to take your money from you. A lot of money, in some cases. Electric counter-top juicers, sleek utensils from famous designers, juicers forming part of food processors - these items begin at around £15 and can quickly get much more expensive.

If you want to squeeze a lemon, a lime, or an orange, the hardware manufacturers are eager to take your money from you. A lot of money, in some cases. Electric counter-top juicers, sleek utensils from famous designers, juicers forming part of food processors - these items begin at around £15 and can quickly get much more expensive.

Orange juice fanatics, performing massive squeezings on a daily basis, should look into electric models from good manufacturers. Their powerful motors knock pulp out of fruit faster than you can say, "Vitamin C." Juicers that come with food processors can be mediocre. Most designer doodads, especially the famous Philippe Starck juicer, are lovely and useless.

For 99 per cent of juicing individuals, the object of choice is a hand-held reamer. It looks a bit like a baby pineapple on a stick. Hold the halved fruit in one hand and squash the tip of the pineapple into the pulp. Move it about. The juice gives up without a fight. Reamers are low-maintenance kitchen-friends. Cleaning: a quick rinse. Storage: in a drawer. When you need to buy a new one... no, hang on. You never need to buy a new one. It will outlive you and your heirs.

The classic reamer (widely available) is wood and may cost as little as £2. The modern reamer combines metal and plastic, as in the Prestige version (shown left), £3.50 (tel: 01282 473700 for stockists). Go on, spend ten times more on something that works either no better or much worse. It's a free country.