Crush Kit Setup Guide
Everything you need arrived in one drop. Build the bar in the order below, squeeze as you go, and pour. No bartender, no equipment to figure out, and nothing to wash before we collect it. About ten minutes from box to first drink.
What is in your kit
- Hamilton Beach Commercial manual citrus juicer
- Rectangle bar mat
- Butcher's block
- Fresh oranges, counted to your drink total
- Waterman's Perfect Crush
- Soda or Sprite
- Pebble ice
- Cups, napkins and straws
You supply
- A knife. Ours do not travel, so bring a sharp one you trust.
- A trash can and a bin liner.
Build it in this order
- Rectangle bar mat, flat on the table. It catches the juice and stops everything above it from sliding while you work.
- Butcher's block on the mat. Centre it. This is your cutting surface and the juicer's footing, so it wants to sit dead flat.
- Juicer on the block. Set it toward the back so the handle has a clear arc, and press down until the grip feet bite. Give the handle one dry pull before you load fruit.
Lay the bar out left to right
Set it up in the order a drink gets made, so a guest starts at one end and leaves at the other: fruit and your knife, then the juicer, then cups, then the Perfect Crush and soda, then ice, then napkins and straws.
Five steps, in this order
- Pebble ice. Fill the cup. A crush is named after the ice.
- Fresh orange juice. Squeezed, not poured from a carton.
- The spirits. Waterman's Perfect Crush goes in here.
- Top with soda. Less soda, less sweet.
- Flip to mix. Pour the full cup into a second cup. That is the mix, and there is nothing to wash.
One crush, by the numbers
- Oranges: 1 per drink
- Perfect Crush: 3 oz
- Soda or Sprite: a splash, or 2 oz
- Ice: pebble, to the top
Scale straight up. Ten drinks means ten oranges.
Working the juicer
- Halve the orange across the middle. Not pole to pole. Cut across the equator so every segment is open to the cone.
- Swing the drip cup aside and put your cup there instead.
- Cut side down onto the cone. Centre it. Sitting it off-centre is what makes a half squirt out sideways.
- Pull the arm down in one smooth motion. Steady pressure beats force. Let the arm do the work and stop when it stops.
- Lift, discard, repeat. Pulp left on the cone slows the next one down.
Tips and tricks
- Room-temperature fruit gives more. Ten minutes out of the cooler is worth real juice.
- Roll it first. Press and roll the orange on the block before you cut it and the yield jumps.
- Juice a batch ahead. Squeeze a pitcher's worth before guests arrive, then top it up between rounds.
- One orange, one drink. Count your oranges and you know how many crushes you have.
- Rinse the cone between batches. Pulp builds up and steals juice from the next pull.
Staying safe
- The arm presses with about 2000 lbs of force. Keep fingers clear of the cone and the bell while you pull, and never reach in to reposition a half mid-pull.
- The knife is the real hazard. Cut on the butcher's block, never in your hand, and put the knife down away from the edge every time.
- Keep the mat dry underfoot. Juice on a floor is slick. Wipe spills as they happen.
- Set it back from the edge so a pull cannot walk the juicer off the table.
- Nothing here plugs in. The juicer is fully manual, so there are no cords and no water near electricity.
Sending it back clean
Equipment comes back to us clean. We collect it the next business day, you do not need to be there, and any leftover supplies are yours to keep.
- Lift out the strainer cone and the funnel. Both come out by hand and they are the two parts that actually get dirty.
- Wash them in warm water and dish soap. Citrus comes off easily the same night.
- Wipe the body and the arm with a damp cloth. The finish is acid resistant.
- Rinse the drip cup. It swings out and lifts off.
- Scrub the butcher's block, hose the mat and stand it on edge to drain.
Ordering
Crush Kits need 24 hours' notice. Serving Virginia Beach and the greater Hampton Roads area. Call 757-995-5855 or build an estimate and tell us the day and the headcount.