Zulay Kitchen Cast-Iron Orange Juice Squeezer – Heavy-Duty, Easy-to-Clean, Professional Citrus Juicer – Durable Stainless Steel Lemon Squeezer – Sturdy Manual Citrus Press & Orange Squeezer (Black)

Built to last
Got this next-day – nothing like instant gratification. It arrived double-boxed, plus Amazon’s shipping box, though Amazon’s tape just barely held. Because of its off-size and heavy weight, Amazon should triple-tape it.I just used it this morning, so I will modify my rating over time if necessary.First, why I bought this. After all, I have a very nice Omega Juicer I’ve been totally pleased with for over a decade, still going strong. But it’s overkill and time-consuming for a quick lemon or orange juicing, plus cleanup. It’s excellent for a lot of juicing, but not quick one-offs like this citrus press. And I recently decided to dump sodas in favor of iced lemon-water, and also to drink a mixture of lemon/olive oil/honey in hot water first thing in the morning. You get older, mortality is tapping you on the shoulder, and I want to say Not Yet. I wanted something quicker and easier for use in these specific circumstances.After checking the reviews on competing products, I found the Zulay to have more people with a higher top rating than others, so sprang for it. I also liked the way it looked built and considered the pros and cons in reviews. I was afraid I’d have buyer’s remorse: yet another kitchen gadget? But instead, I became convinced it was exactly what I needed and I’d actually use it.Pros:1. It really is easy to clean the removable stainless steel parts. Just turn to unlock them from their little notches and they come right out. If you have a sprayer – that might be all you need.2. They don’t intend for you to remove the upper aluminum cone: just spritz it with a little water, wipe off. Easy.3. While it does take a little more effort than I expected to finish squeezing the press, it’s not bad. I’m pushing 70 and I can do it.4. It certainly appears to be built to last a lifetime. It is solidly made. I love things that look over-built.5. I bought the “gray” cast iron look instead of the painted ones. I’m not confident of any paint on most surfaces where food can come in contact with a kitchen device, and in addition, my taste in colors might change, or my kitchen colors might change. And I personally like the industrial/commercial look it has. And pretty as it might look, I would stay away from the chrome. While chrome technically doesn’t rust, the underlying steel or cast iron will, and you’re talking a wet environment in the kitchen, along with citrus acid.6. I didn’t realize it had a lifetime warranty. I like that, even though I know that “lifetime” really only means the lifetime of the company. Nevertheless, it gives me confidence that the company stands behind their product. Just register it.7. Pomegranates! I’d never even considered there was a better way to deal with this fruit. I’m looking forward to trying this. Some decent reviews here on this interesting application for this press.Cons:1. Zulay really should include a cheap Allen wrench to adjust the screws. I already have a set, but if you don’t, you’re going to want one. Mine arrived a little loose, and it will probably take some time to adjust the screws to my liking for both ease of travel, while not flopping down, but without being too hard to press. The one video showing it dropping like a rock is because the screws were loose: it’s not a fair concern. At any rate, ease of travel vs the difficulty of the actual press requires the Allen wrench. That’s going to vary according to the customer.2. As even the videos show and nearly everyone has said, it will tip unless you use your other hand to steady the rear of the base. I don’t find this a big deal, and it’s not much effort to steady it that way. Suction cups would probably be adequate, as another competitor has – but then you have to unstick the suction cups, if this press doesn’t have a permanent place on your counter. Mine will stay out while at home, but I’m still happy that it’s easy to move rather than more stuck to the surface. And in my particular case – I’m going camping with it in my little trailer, so it needs to move when not in use.3. I would like to see Zulay make the upper press cone which comes in contact with the top of the fruit, stainless steel as well, and removeable. This could be a notch-and-turn similar (if a little more tight) to the bottom 2 pieces. Despite assurances to the contrary by the health system, I’m not comfortable with aluminum and food, plus aluminum warps easily if stressed. This is a personal opinion, but I’m sharing it anyway. However, the cone is designed for the fruit and not likely to get warped, and it only is in contact with the top of the fruit, which you’re likely throwing away.4. Another reviewer mentioned misalignment. This is rather interesting, and I’ve taken pictures to try and show what’s happening. Basically, it is misaligned at the top of the travel, until you reach the point where you’re actually pressing on the fruit, at which point it is almost perfectly aligned. So, yes it is – but no, it isn’t, lol. So – Top of Travel = handle all the way up. Bottom of Travel, handle fully pressed down. It IS off just a touch, at least on my unit, but having seen it in action, I don’t see this as much of a defect.None of these cons are worth taking a star off for. Taken altogether, I might take a half-star off for them. But none of them came even close to being deal-killers, or make me wish I’d bought something else.So, if you’re in the market for a citrus press, or perhaps a pomegranate press, and you think you’ll use it a lot, I’d say it’s worth the investment. I intend mine to be twice-daily – and now that I’ve bought it, I need to justify the expense, lol.

Great product.
This is a beast. HEAVY duty and well designed. Everything looks like it will last forever, no delicate plastic molded parts here, even the washers and bolts are thick metal. I am very pleased with this purchase. It’s a fair price for the quality materials used. As other reviewers have commented, you do need to hold the rear base with one hand while you press with the other so it doesn’t tip over. It has enough length on the arm for leverage requiring little strength to press. My 10 year old granddaughter has no problem pressing little lemons or large grapefruit for example. The directions mention you might need to lubricate the arm from time to time and it comes with wrenches to tighten or adjust bolts when needed.

We purchased this unit from Amazon in the spring of 2022, after trying a variety of manual and electric juicers, in North America, and while we lived in Europe. We had carefully read reviews on this item.This unit clearly rates a 5 out of 5 for a number of reasons.I feel that most adverse comments in other reviews were either inaccurate or, if valid, did not represent the vast majority of purchases of the Zulay juicer.EASE OF USE: From the outset, I was truly impressed with the engineering, ease of use, speed, efficiency and heavy duty quality for the price. This is, overall, a professional grade of product. For those who feel that it takes extra strength at times, I have found that this happens if if you use navel oranges with thick peels or thick navels. Simply place the orange half slightly off to one side, and you will find a dramatic difference when squeezing! Takes a little practice, so why not select oranges with a thinner skin?EXTRACTION EFFICIENCY: There is a thin inner rim of the orange that does not get squeezed completely in larger oranges, but when I extract juice from that area using another method, it amounts to less than a teaspoon per 3 oranges. So the complaints of loss of 30% or more juice are unfounded. If you buy a #5 Allen key, you could loosen the lower cup assembly and raise it sightly to get a tighter squeeze, I suppose. I found that using small to medium oranges js the most efficient.An important part of the design is the physics. As the operator gets to the end of the downswing, there is a final thrust that brings the squeeze cup down precisely such that the iron handle moves forward into the locking position.COMPARISON WITH OTHER JUICERS: When a juicing method is used that basically scrapes the interior of the fruit, such as with electric units, there is far too much pulp dumped into the juice. The Zulay leaves only a small amount of pulp, absolutely ideal, in my opinion.I also ordered a Gowintech juicer that advertised a greater height to allow taller cups to fit under the press. It looks almost exactly like the Zulay. Unfortunately, the set screw location on the vertical support is too high. This means that the operator can never bring the press arm down and back to meet the press in a lock. That last part of the swing is very easy on the Zulay. Instead, the handle is hung up much higher, making it almost impossible for my wife to apply enough pressure to squeeze even small orange. Whether this is a design flaw or poor quality control is unknown, because support does not respond to my concern. So, Zulay far outperforms the Gowintech.CLEANING: The conical strainer and cup are very easily removed and washed quickly. The upper compression cup and base of the unit can be wiped with ease. The complaints of half of the juice squirting out of the apparatus are bizarre, in my opinion. Only occasionally have I seen a tiny errant squirt with an aggressive squeeze. So not much cleaning is needed beyond the cups.COUNTER SPACE: The unit has a small footprint, although it is tall, even with the lever in the down position. Because it uses so little space, it is of necessity vertically oriented, and it makes sense to hold the base with one hand while pushing the lever down to keep it from tipping when juicing more dense fruit. Why anyone would complain about that is odd. The handle has to be heavy to make the process efficient. Always lower it when juicing is completed. Common sense.MAINTENANCE: Any heavy duty mechanical device such as this, especially if used often, requires at least some minimal maintenance, so complaints about this will usually fall on deaf ears for those who understand this. Here are my comments: The vertical steel rod attached to the plunger can be oiled occasionally, just where it travels through the mid support, using olive oil, and it makes a difference. You can test this by raising and lowering the arm with no fruit in the cup. If there is any drag at all, just apply a little oil with your finger.Check the tightness of the lowest pair of circular nuts on either side of the bottom of the plunger, as they can loosen with rigorous use. They are fastened by stainless steel #4 Allen-headed screws, pass through a total of 4 white plastic washers, and are threaded into a horizontal steel rod. It is worthwhile to keep a small, inexpensive #4 Allen key in your cutlery drawer for tightening purposes, although hand tightening is usually sufficient. To eliminate having to do this, though, you can buy a very small tube of Locktite at a hardware store, apply some on the tips of the screws, which should keep the screws in place, perhaps forever, although you can easily remove them if needed, with a firm twist.If you let the nuts get too loose, the entire plunger can wobble and misalign when you are juicing, and suddenly the downward force needed to extract becomes extraordinary. I have found this to be true. However, just re-tightening fixes the problem and it has not recurred.SUPPORT: I called recently with a technical question and found the agent to be especially professional, knowledgeable, and helpful in every way.OTHER COMMENTS: There was a concern from a bar owner about the strainer not being high enough for tall glasses. Zulay also makes an extra tall unit for the usual price.Because of the superiority of this product, I would give it 5 stars. I am planning on buying a second unit for our vacation property. Nothing can compare with the amazing aromatics generated by using this juicer. A breakfast restaurant we frequent charges almost $5.00 US per glass, so we can do this for far less.

Funktioniert super. Das Teil ist sehr stabil. Würde ich wieder kaufen.

Diese Zitruspresse ist vor allem für das Pressen größerer Mengen von Zitrusfrüchten, z.B. Fruchtsäfte und Cocktails, praktisch, leicht zu reinigen und durch – im Gegensatz zum Original – zugänglichen Befestigungen selbst wieder zu justieren, wenn sie nach montatelangem Gebrauch etwas ausgeleiert ist.