I use a lot of lemons in my cooking… I just love lemon juice drizzled over fried eggplants, as part of a dressing or even to marinate tofu.
I never thought the way I squeeze the juice from the lemon was anything special, but watching so much food shows on TV I noticed no one on TV does it the way I do. The only person that does something similar is Anne Burrell. So I want to share it with you to maybe help you out getting as much juice out of your lemons.
HOW I SQUEEZE THE JUICE OUT OF A LEMON
1 lemon half Fork
- To get the most juice out of your lemon half, I insert the tines of a fork in the lemon pulp and squeeze away.
- I change the positioning of the fork so I can squeeze as much juice as possible out of the half I am working with.
Anne Burrell sticks the tip of a knife inside the pulp, but I think that is a bit dangerous. I was taught to do this when I was little by my dad. So this is a tried and true method that works with all types of lemons. And I’ve noticed that on yellow American lemons, it’s best if you take some of the rind off to make the pith more pliable and helps get more juice out.
Hope this new technique will help you get as much juice out of your lemons as possible. Especially when drizzling lemon juice on food at the table.
KarmaFree Cooking 
If the lemon is hard, just roll it back and forth on the counter while applying light pressure with the palm of your hand. This will “soften” the lemon, making it more pliable. You can also throw it into the microwave for 15 – 25 seconds.
Yeah Yvonne… I use the “roll on the counter method” too. I do not own a microwave for over a year now…
Like you, I use LOTS of lemon in my cooking.
Big Hint – if you massage the lemon on the counter before halving it, the lemon will give out more juice.
Also, better than the fork are those lemon squeezers that you press; I let go of my fork a long time ago when I found those lemon/lime squeezers!
@Adriana – I roll the lemons on the counter too and I have those lemon/lime squeezers too. I use them, but if I am at the table and I want to squirt some lemon juice on top of my empanada, I do it with the fork. Don’t need to dirty an extra implement…
Oh, at the table! *duh* my bad. Yes at the table, fork!
I saw AB do this on a show today and though how dangerous and wondered if anyone else had seen it! It is not a good tning to show to home cooks IMO.
putting a fork inside a lemon to squeeze out the juice is dangerous in your opinion??? You certainly live a sheltered life…