Lemon juice is widely used in cooking. It is used in the preparation of sweet pastries, refreshing drinks, marinades and sauces for meat dishes and in many other recipes.
In addition to a pleasant taste, this citrus fruit is rich in many vitamins and is very useful.
How to squeeze a lemon with a juicer
You can get lemon juice in various ways. But it is not always possible to squeeze the fruit completely, and part of the juice remains in the pulp.
You can squeeze juice out of lemon with a juicer as well as improvised means.
Juicers are manual and electric. If the question is how to quickly squeeze the juice from the lemon, then modern appliances with good power are able to process the whole lemon, together with the peel in the shortest possible time. The resulting juice is usually filtered to get rid of the flesh, the remnants of the peel or seeds. About 50-60 ml of juice is obtained from one medium-sized lemon.
A manual juicer will require more time and effort.
With proper use, you can get almost the same amount of lemon juice.
How to get lemon juice without a juicer
How to squeeze juice from a lemon if a juicer is not at hand? Other methods may be used.
- The easiest way: cut the fruit in half, then squeeze the juice alternately from each half. At the same time, you can simultaneously knead the pulp with a convenient cutlery (for example, a fork).
- You can cut the lemon into small pieces, place in a piece of gauze of sufficient size and squeeze the juice from the lemon as in the first method. But in this case, it will take effort to get more product.
- A not very common, but very effective method is the heat treatment of lemon. It must be held a little in hot water (about 1 minute). Or put in the microwave for 15 -20 seconds, after making a few punctures in the fetus. After such preparation, you can squeeze the juice from the lemon, as described above. Thanks to the heat treatment, the fruit will give the juice completely.
- You can peel the citrus, cut it into 4-6 parts (depending on size), place in a bowl and knead with a fork. This method does not always help to get a large amount of juice. It can be used if the recipe involves the use of fruit pulp along with juice.
Recommendations: how best to squeeze juice from a lemon
The process of obtaining juice is not difficult for any housewife. But a few tips will help speed up and simplify it:
- Lemons should always be washed thoroughly under running water. It does not depend on whether it will be used with or without peel.
- Before squeezing the juice, it is recommended to knead the fruit with your hands or roll on the table for several seconds, firmly pressing it with your palm. This is necessary so that the membranes in which the juice is burst under the pressure of the hands. After such manipulations, the fruit will give the juice completely.
- Heat treatment also helps release juice from the membranes. Only in this case is this due to an increase in temperature, and not due to mechanical stress.
- If you need very little juice, then it is not necessary to use the whole lemon. It is enough to puncture it with a skewer or knitting needle. Then you can squeeze out the required amount of juice. And keep the lemon in the refrigerator until the next use.
Juicy Lemon Tips
Knowing how to squeeze out more juice from a lemon, it remains only to acquire juicy ripe fruits.
- Ripe fruit is easy to distinguish from unripe lemon on its peel. In ripe citrus, it has a brilliance. In this case, the color of the peel does not matter.
- The density of the fruit also indicates its properties. Ripe lemon should spring slightly when pressed, without losing shape and remaining firm.
- If the lemon is soft, then it is ripe. Such a fruit loses all its taste and healing properties. Acquiring it is not recommended.
- First-harvest lemons often have a smooth skin. Such fruits have more vitamins and benefits.
- The hilly peel of a lemon, as a rule, is very thick. The fruit will weigh a lot, and the pulp and juice in it will be small.
- The skin should not be stained or damaged.
If an unripe fruit was accidentally purchased, it must be put aside and after a while, when the lemon ripens, you can use it.