Repurpose This Common Kitchen Unitasker To Make Juicing Key Limes Easier
Key limes taste like the perfect hint of summer, whether juiced for a cocktail, garnishing your beer or coke, or used for dessert in the world's most refreshing pie, these little citrus fruits always pack a punch of tropical flavor. Renowned for their tart, aromatic juice, these limes, while more common in the rest of the world than in the U.S.– despite being named for the Florida Keys (per Thrive Cuisine) — are a critical ingredient in many popular desserts including pie and cheesecake.
Unfortunately, Key limes are also smaller than the full-size limes you might be squeezing to make your fresh limeade or margaritas, which means you need a whole lot of them to make up a homemade pie and they're rather tricky to squeeze. While a standard juicer may not be an ideal tool for this job, thankfully, there is another common kitchen tool that is perfect for the job, and that, according to Taste of Home, is the garlic press.
Not just for garlic anymore
While we might not think of the garlic press as a unitasker, kitchen hack enthusiasts from YouTube to Reddit have discovered that it may have more uses than its name suggests. OXO, maker of Good Housekeeping's "easiest to use" garlic press title, even recommends using the tool to juice those hard-to-squeeze little limes. Simply cut the lime in half, insert it into your garlic press, and squeeze over a bowl or cup. The press is easy to use and keeps all the seed and pulp from the lime out of your juice.
LifeHacker does note that you may need a slightly larger garlic press to make sure the limes fit properly and reminds bakers to thoroughly clean and dry your press before juicing to avoid any garlicky residue in your pie. However, most of the time this will be an easy, quick way to get all your limes squeezed for your recipe. If you want to save even more time making your next key lime dessert, try out these individual key lime pie jars which bake in half the time and are perfect for an outdoor, summer treat.