Citrus juicers come in many forms; some easier to use than the rest

We recently revisited several gadgets designed to ease citrus juice extraction: a capped plastic spout, a handsome wooden reamer, a standard countertop juicer and the sleek, stainless-steel Screwpull.

Most of them yielded approximately the same amount of juice, although effort and cleanup varied dramatically. The Screwpull citrus juicer from Le Creuset is the easiest to use. Stick the whole fruit on the serrated center tube, which is designed to pierce the peel and separate out the seeds. The Screwpull can be placed directly over a glass for a quick morning hit of vitamin C, but the ensuing extraction of pulp and seeds can be quite tedious.

A spigotlike lemon spout inserted into an entire fruit is preferable when the recipe requires less juice than is contained in the lemon. The tube strains the pulp and seeds and makes for easy cleanup, and the clip-on cap keeps the remaining lemon fresh.

We found the wooden citrus reamer to be lovely to look at but less effectual than the others. The fruit first must be halved, the cut side tilted downward to avoid errant squirts of juice, and the reamer oiled occasionally.

Surprisingly, nothing outperformed the dowdy dome-shaped citrus juicer of yore, available at most grocery stores. Inexpensive and effective.

Various citrus squeezers are available at most specialty and grocery stores. The Screwpull is at some and at Williams-Sonoma locations. It is also available online from several sources; see www.screwpull.com.