Juicing limes for margaritas: 50 limes without pain
How to work through a warehouse-club bag of limes for a party: the prep line, the technique, which press to use and how long it actually takes.
The job
A batch of margaritas for a dozen people wants roughly a quart of fresh lime juice, which is somewhere between forty and sixty limes depending on the fruit. Done by hand with a wooden reamer, that is an hour and a wrist that remembers it tomorrow. Done on a press, it is a job you finish before the ice is out of the freezer.
The two presses that suit this are the Power-Pro and the cast iron lever press, for different reasons.
Set up a line, not a pile
The mistake is juicing straight from the bag. Set up three stations instead: whole limes on the left, a board and knife in the middle, spent shells in a bowl on the right, with the press and a jug in front of you.
Roll every lime under your palm first, then cut the whole bag before you press anything. Halving fifty limes takes four minutes and turns the pressing into one uninterrupted rhythm instead of fifty little stops.
Technique for thin-skinned fruit
Limes are thinner-skinned than oranges and they tear. On an electric press, that means a lighter, steadier push: let the cone do the work and lift as soon as the flow stops. On the lever press, one committed pull is better than three tentative ones, and the shell should come out flat.
If you press hard enough to crush the peel, you are adding bitter oil to the jug. Stop at the point where the juice stops running.
How long it actually takes
Owner reports in this category converge on the same picture: two cups of lime juice in under five minutes, and a warehouse-club bag worked through in a quarter of the time it used to take. That matches what a press does to the job: the machine handles the twisting, and your hands only place and remove fruit.
On the lever press there is no duty cycle to think about. On an electric press, after a big run give the motor a couple of minutes before the next batch.
Storing what you squeezed
Fresh lime juice is at its best the day it is made and drinkable the next. Keep it cold, keep it covered, and keep it away from light. The aroma goes before the acidity does. For a party the day after, juice the night before and refrigerate in a sealed jar filled to the top.
Freezing works for cooking but changes the top notes: for cocktails, fresh is worth the four minutes.
Where to go next
About the author
Casey Whitmore writes the guides on this site. Casey squeezes citrus most days of the week, on every juicer we make, and keeps notes on what works, what breaks and what is worth the counter space. No certificates, no titles: just a lot of juiced limes.