A lot is known about the benefits of lemon . This citrus helps the body fight respiratory diseases, tonsillitis, flu, runny nose and fever. It is characterized by a high content of vitamin C, which persists in these fruits even after prolonged storage. Thanks to this, lemons are equally useful in both winter and summer. The main thing is to learn how to store them correctly so that they do not deteriorate ahead of time. We will tell you about where to store lemons at home in our article. Here we will consider how to freeze lemon properly in order to preserve all the benefits of vitamins in it.
How to store lemons in the refrigerator
Lemons in the refrigerator can be stored in whole or in cut form. It all depends on where you plan to use them after. There are several ways to do this, but we suggest you familiarize yourself with the two most popular. So, how to store lemons in the refrigerator whole, in the same form in which they were sold in a store? Read!
- The first way is to place the washed and dried citrus fruits in a plastic container with a lid or pack them in a special zip package. In this form, they must be sent to the compartment for storing vegetables and fruits, where they can be up to 4-5 weeks.
- The second way is that whole lemons will be stored in a jar of water. Thanks to this, they will retain their juiciness, and their peel will not have time to dry. So, lemons are simply placed in a jar, filled with water and sent to the refrigerator on the middle shelf. Water needs to be changed every day, and lemons should be used as needed.
Sometimes it is recommended to store lemons, pre-wrapping them in parchment or greasing with vegetable oil. But, as a rule, such methods are ineffective and allow you to save fruits from spoilage for a period of not more than 1 month.
Other ways to store whole lemons
There are other ways to store lemons at home and without using a refrigerator. In the first case, wax is used as a preservative, with which the fruit is carefully rubbed on all sides. Wax limits the access of oxygen to the surface, so that the fruits do not deteriorate.
You can also use the second method. How to store lemons at home? To do this, the fruit is completely buried in the sand, and as necessary get out. Instead of sand, they can also be placed in sawdust, but then the fruits will first need to be wrapped in parchment paper.
How to store sliced lemons with sugar
Many housewives prefer to store citrus fruits, after cutting them into slices and pouring them with sugar. This option is more like making fresh fruit jam. For this, lemons are cut into thin slices no more than 5 mm thick and sprinkled with sugar in a 1: 1 ratio (1 kg of lemons and 1 kg of sugar).
There is another way how to store lemons as a blank. To do this, the fruit, along with the peel, is twisted through a meat grinder and mixed in the same way with sugar in a 1: 1 ratio. In both the first and second cases, lemons should be stored in a glass jar in the refrigerator for two months.
Canned Lemons (with salt)
Not all people can use the previous method of storing lemons, in which they are sprinkled with sugar. It is unlikely that they can then be used in the preparation of fish dishes or sauces for meat. Then the question arises: "How to store lemons in this case?" To preserve a unique aroma and at the same time remove the bitterness from the zest, lemons can be preserved using ordinary table salt as a preservative.
At the very beginning, it is necessary to prepare a liter jar, having previously sterilized it. Then, carefully wash the lemons (6-8 pieces), cut off the ends on both sides, put the fruits on a slice and cut them crosswise. Pour ½ tablespoon of salt into the formed incisions and squeeze the lemons into a jar. After all the fruits are stacked, on top of them you will need to fill with more salt (1 tbsp.spoon). You need to ram the lemons tightly using a mortar or other improvised means, until they are completely covered with juice. After that, the jar can be rolled up with a lid.
How to store lemons at home? To begin with, put the jar in a cool, dark place for a week, shaking daily so that the salt is evenly distributed. Then the container must be rearranged in the refrigerator and stored for up to 6 months.
Frozen lemons
Useful vitamins and minerals remain in lemons with any storage method, including during freezing. The rest of this article details how to store lemons in a freezer.
To begin with, clean fruits are cut into thin circles or slices and laid out in one layer on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. As such, citruses are sent to the freezer for 3 hours. After that, they can be transferred to a bag or container and sent to the freezer for storage throughout the year.
Frozen lemon can be used in the preparation of various dishes or drinks, add it to tea, etc. To taste, it almost does not differ from fresh fruit.
How to freeze lemon juice and zest
Many housewives liked the next way to freeze citrus fruits. It consists in the fact that zest and juice are separately frozen, which in some cases is much more convenient than ordinary frozen lemon.
So, for starters, the zest is removed from the washed fruits so as not to touch the white part of the peel. It can immediately be folded into a container and sent to the freezer. Frozen zest can be added to pastries, used in the preparation of sauces and marinades, etc.
Before preparing the juice, lemons (without zest) are recommended to be slightly wrinkled with a palm or rolled on a table. Then, juice is squeezed out of them using a manual juicer or two forks and poured into ice molds, after which they are sent to the freezer. The volume of one cell usually corresponds to 1 tablespoon of liquid. From frozen lemon juice, you can prepare a rinse for sore throat. It can be added to tea, to dressings for salads, etc.
How to store lemons: tips and tricks
And some more useful tips on how to keep lemons at home. Here are some of them:
- Never leave the fruits in the package in which they were brought home. In this form, they will not lie for three days.
- How to store lemons at home in a room without a refrigerator? The whole fruit can be stored at room temperature for about two weeks, and the cut fruit can last only 5-7 days, after which it begins to dry out and mold.
- The sliced lemon can be stored in the refrigerator on the saucer for about 15 days, if you lower it with a slice down in sugar or salt.