Skip to content

Top Navigation

Cooking Light Cooking Light
  • Recipes
  • Holidays
  • Cooking 101
  • Healthy Living
  • Shop
  • News
  • Good.Food.Fast
  • CL Diet

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Register/Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Email Preferences
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
Login
Logout
Pin FB

Explore Cooking Light

Cooking Light Cooking Light
  • Explore

    Explore

    • 31-Day Healthy Meal Plan

      Our 31-day calendar of meals and tips shows you how to cook more and love it with fun, family-friendly meals that come together quickly and deliciously. Read More Next
    • Dinner Tonight: Quick and Healthy Menus in 45 Minutes (or Less)

      Hundreds of delicious recipes, paired with simple sides, that can be on your table in 45 minutes or less. Read More Next
    • Our Favorite Healthy Air Fryer Recipes

      Who ever said that chicken wings, doughnuts, and pizza couldn't be healthy? Read More Next
  • Recipes

    Recipes

    See All Recipes
    • Breakfast & Brunch
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
    • Drinks
    • Recipe Makeovers
    • Quick & Healthy
    • Diabetic
    • Gluten-Free
    • Vegetarian
    • Cooking Light Live
  • Holidays

    Holidays

    See All Holidays
    • New Year, New You
    • Super Bowl
    • Valentines
    • Easter
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
  • Cooking 101

    Cooking 101

    See All Cooking 101
    • Essential Ingredients
    • Cooking Techniques
    • Meet the Chef
    • Cooking Resources
    • Budget Friendly
    • Smart Choices
  • Healthy Living

    Healthy Living

    See All Healthy Living
    • Weight-Loss
    • Health
    • Fitness
    • Home
    • Travel
    • Nutrition 101
  • Shop
  • News
  • Good.Food.Fast
  • CL Diet

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Register/Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Email Preferences
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
Login
Logout
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

CookingLight diet CookingLight diet
  1. Home Chevron Right
  2. Cooking 101 Chevron Right
  3. 10 Things to Know About Lemons 

10 Things to Know About Lemons 

By Text: Jason Horn
March 01, 2010
Skip gallery slides
Pin
Credit: Photo: Randy Mayor, 
The slice-of-sunshine perfection of fresh lemon―juice or zest―puts a little extra bounce in the step of any cook.
Start Slideshow

1 of 12

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

All About Lemons

Credit: Photo: Randy Mayor, 
From its nutritional benefits to how to make homemade lemon liqueur, find 10 fun things to know about lemons.

1. Please handle the fruit.
Most lemons are Eurekas or Lisbons. Eurekas have somewhat thicker rinds, but regardless of variety, look for a lemon that feels heavy in the hand and which, gently squeezed, gives nicely and doesn’t seem to have a thick, hard rind (less juice inside). Lemons turn from green to yellow because of temperature changes, not ripeness, so green patches are OK, but avoid those with brown spots, which indicate rot.

1 of 12

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 12

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Vitamin C

Credit: Photo: Randy Mayor, 
2. Power in the key of C
One lemon contains a full day’s supply of ascorbic acid, or vitamin C, but that’s the whole fruit; the juice holds about a third. Lemon juice is also about 5 percent citric acid, making it a natural for slowing the browning or oxidation of fresh, raw foods: apples, avocados, bananas, and other fruits. That power, and the C, makes the lemon a real health fruit.

2 of 12

3 of 12

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Preserved Lemons

Credit: Photo: Randy Mayor, 
3. Preserving lemons for savory zing
Lemons preserved in salt are a fragrant, distinctive flavoring in Moroccan and Middle Eastern stews, tagines, and other dishes. Find house-made preserved lemons at many Mediterranean/Middle Eastern groceries―we prefer these to the factory variety for their fresher flavor. Go easy: They’re salty!

3 of 12

Advertisement

4 of 12

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Limoncello

Credit: Photo: Randy Mayor, 
4. Homemade lemon liqueur is as easy as pie.
Limoncello is a southern Italian lemon liqueur traditionally served cold as a digestif. It’s ridiculously easy to make: Combine ½ cup lemon rind strips with 4 cups vodka, cover, and let stand for two weeks; strain and combine with simple syrup made from 3 cups water and 1½ cups sugar. The higher the proof of the vodka, the more lemon flavor your finished product will have.

4 of 12

5 of 12

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Natural Cleaners

Credit: Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner, 
5. Makes a versatile household cleaner
Dip a halved lemon in salt for a bit of gentle abrasive power, then scour brass, copper, or stainless-steel pots, pans, and sinks. Rub a cut lemon (sans salt) on aluminum to brighten it. Used lemons tossed in the disposal will deodorize it.

6. Get the most from every fruit.
Before juicing, roll a room-temperature lemon under your palm to break down the cells inside the fruit that hold liquid. If a fruit is especially hard (and sometimes it’s hard to find a good one in an entire supermarket bin), microwave the fruit for 20 seconds. You should get 2 to 3 tablespoons of juice per fruit.

5 of 12

6 of 12

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Bottled Lemon Juice

Credit: Photo: Randy Mayor, 
7. In a pinch, is this a good lemon substitute?
We think not. Those cute little plastic lemons do contain lemon juice, but after the juice is reconstituted and mixed with preservatives the taste is notably off, not fresh, a bit harsh and thin. It lasts for months but doesn’t really add that divine fresh-lemon essence.

6 of 12

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 12

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Lemongrass

Credit: Photo: Randy Mayor, 
8. Is lemongrass related to lemon?
No, although some of this tough Southeast Asian herb’s exotic citrus character comes from citral, an essential oil also found in lemon rind. Very thin strips can be sliced in salads and added to Thai curries and stir-fries; a whole bulb, bruised, adds perfume to soups or stews.

7 of 12

8 of 12

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Meyer Lemons

Credit: Photo: Randy Mayor, 
9. The special case of the Meyer
In 1908, USDA employee Frank Nicholas Meyer brought a little fruit back from China that looked like an orange-yellow lemon but tasted much sweeter. The Meyer “lemon” is thought to be a cross between lemon and mandarin orange. Lemon-fragrant with a sugary soul, Meyers are fun to experiment with in both sweet and savory dishes.

8 of 12

9 of 12

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Using the Peel

Credit: Photo: Randy Mayor, 
10. Peel is versatile, but wash fruit and consider organic. Click through the following slides for various ways with lemon peel.

Zester: Round holes yield long, thin strips of lemon rind, perfect for ­garnishing soups or desserts such as cheesecake or ice cream

9 of 12

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 12

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Microplanes

Credit: Photo: Randy Mayor, 
Razor-sharp tiny blades yield finely grated bits that distribute lemon flavor throughout; good for baking or salad dressings.

  

10 of 12

11 of 12

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Channel Knife

Credit: Photo: Randy Mayor, 
U-shaped blade yields long, curling strips, used as the twist in cocktails. Squeezing releases lemon oils into the drink.

11 of 12

12 of 12

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Vegetable Peeler

Credit: Photo: Randy Mayor, 
Long blade yields wide strips of rind that are perfect for candying or making limoncello.

12 of 12

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Text: Jason Horn

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook
Advertisement
Skip slide summaries

Everything in This Slideshow

Advertisement

View All

1 of 12 All About Lemons
2 of 12 Vitamin C
3 of 12 Preserved Lemons
4 of 12 Limoncello
5 of 12 Natural Cleaners
6 of 12 Bottled Lemon Juice
7 of 12 Lemongrass
8 of 12 Meyer Lemons
9 of 12 Using the Peel
10 of 12 Microplanes
11 of 12 Channel Knife
12 of 12 Vegetable Peeler

Share options

Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message
Cooking Light

Magazines & More

Learn More

  • Cooking Light Diet this link opens in a new tab
  • Customer Service this link opens in a new tab
  • Advertise
  • Content Licensing
  • Sitemap

Connect

Follow Us
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Other Meredith Sites

Other Meredith Sites

  • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
  • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
  • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
  • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
  • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
  • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
  • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
  • Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
  • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
  • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
  • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
  • More this link opens in a new tab
  • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
  • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
  • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
  • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
  • Parents this link opens in a new tab
  • People this link opens in a new tab
  • People en Español this link opens in a new tab
  • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
  • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
  • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
  • Shape this link opens in a new tab
  • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
  • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
  • Travel & Leisure this link opens in a new tab
Cooking Light is part of the Allrecipes Food Group. © Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Cooking Light may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.cookinglight.com

View image

10 Things to Know About Lemons 
this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.