The Cluttered Pantry

Ok, I know, this is a product review that I should have written in 1930, but I wasn’t born yet, so…meh. It’s for a fabulous product that I really do use. Why?

If you read the post on making limoncello, you understand that this is a house that often has large quantities of citrus on hand…once all those peels are off and into the vat of vodka we are left with a giant pile of naked lemons just begging to be turned into all sorts of excellent things.

Lemonade is obvious, and a big hit with the Wee Kahunas of course. The lemon bars I intended to make wound up being a kitchen accident that turned into a cross between lemon bars and coconut macaroons, with a candied lemon peel crust on top, that we are now calling “Lemorroon Pie”. The next batch of candied lemon peel will go into the lemon pound cake the Wee K’s and I will be making this weekend, and next I’m going to try lemon sorbet and pecan shortbread cookies with a lemon glaze (those recipes will be posted next week).

Back to the product review. It is with great joy (and a somewhat sore right arm) that I give you…The Juice-O-Mat. A thoroughly sleek and perfect invention (and there aren’t many kitchen appliances that I would call perfect). This thing does exactly what it was designed to do; it juices. It juices fast and easy and without electricity or mess and it’s even easy to clean. It has a little cup that the juice collects into and the strainer that collects the seeds and big pulp that comes right off for quick cleaning, and it’s strong. You don’t have to muscle your way through the juicing process (much); the lever action smooshes even the toughest lemons with rind and gets all the juice and none of the bitter pith.

For those of you new the O-Mat kitchen appliance world, a bit of history: The O-Mat line used to be sold by the Rival Corporation based in Kansas City, MO. They first hit the stores in the 1930’s and stopped being sold in the early 1960’s.

I found this page from a Rival Cook Book that shows the different models. Mine is the all-chrome compact table top model, but they came in enameled colors as well. You can find them in most vintage stores, cheap.

We also own, and use, a Can-O-Mat and an Ice-O-Mat (we prefer the models that fit onto the hinge you screw to your wall). I think we paid a whopping $18 for our J-O-M, and a quick search on google shows them as low as $12 in several fun enamel colors. We certainly think they are a perfect addition to our home, a Chicago – Greystone Row-House built in the 1890’s with a kitchen that is a mixture of eras but exudes the 1930’s the most. The girls still get excited whenever we use the Can-O-Mat to open something, and the Ice-O-Mat makes the perfect chipped ice for Martini’s and G&T’s.

The Juice-O-Mat. I highly recommend you pick one up the next time you see one. Slow down a bit, stand in your kitchen, and make some juice with none of the whirring chaos that a modern juicer brings.

And a post-script. This last juicing fest, from the limoncello batch of 30 lemons, made two mason jars of juice…enough for some serious citrusy yum.

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