How to Blend Lemon Peel
Lemons make an elegant and versatile ingredient to any savory or sweet dish, from smoothies to meat dishes and beverages. Their zesty citrusy flavor adds zesty zest without bittering up your beverage; their peels can even be dehydrated and ground into powder for use as flavorful salt!
Sprinkle it onto scones or sugar cookies, use it as a scrubber in the shower, and scrub sinks with it!
Using a knife
Lemon zest is an invaluable ingredient, versatile enough to be used in many recipes. Packed with more flavor and essential oils than its juice counterpart, its bright citrusy flavor brings life and vibrancy to sweet or savory meals alike. Thanks to kitchen tools available today, you can get plenty of zest from one lemon using this technique; plus you can apply this same method on other fruit like limes and oranges too.
A sharp paring knife is a quick and efficient way to peel and zest fruit, but there are other tools available such as vegetable peelers or cheese graters that may work as well – they just require more precision when making cuts than with zesters.
One method is to purchase a double-duty tool combining both a zester and channel knife in one. These can help make long strips of lemon peel with precision while cutting through pulp as well as skin to produce just peel.
Create an elegant touch to any drink with a simple lemon twist garnish. All it requires is a knife and firm, fresh lemon with bumps or dimples for best results – as this will prevent overripeness from setting in.
Step one in making a lemon twist involves cutting a long strip of peel. You can trim its edges if necessary, to ensure all edges have uniform widths. Once your strip of peel is cut, gently twist it around a straw or chopstick end until its length allows you to twist into a Q-shape curl using heat from your hands – or create other designs using this method!
Lemon peels can quickly lose their flavor over time, so it is wise to find ways to reuse them before they turn rancid. Use them as an additive in homemade cleaners, or create candied lemon peels as a delicious treat!
Using a peeler
Lemon peels add zesty flavor and nutritional benefits, including vitamin C. Lemon peels can make healthy beverages without using expensive juicers or kitchen tools, like microplanes. You can use anything from a box grater and citrus zester, to microplanes. A box grater may even come equipped with an integrated channel knife on one side for easier cutting into citrus skin; peelers cost slightly more but provide greater zest than their cheaper counterparts.
Lemon peel contains D limonene, which gives its outermost layer its trademark yellow hue and fragrant scent. Meanwhile, its inner soft spongy white layer – known as pith – offers neutral to slightly bitter flavors with plenty of essential vitamins. Furthermore, consuming too much of its antioxidant-rich outer peel may prove harmful; too much D limonene may even prove fatal!
Use a peeler or paring knife to peel the outermost peel, which is an efficient way to obtain large quantities of zest quickly and cleanly. Or you could use either oven drying or dehydrating for larger pieces. Regardless of which method you choose, however, drying will ensure freshness and avoid clumping issues; in either case you can manage and control drying in less messy manners than dehydrators may allow.
Lemon peel powder has many applications, from adding zest to cocktails and baking to refreshing tea. It’s simple to make, storing it for up to six months in an airtight jar or container is optimal, it makes an excellent addition to Raspberry Siggi’s Greek Yogurt, homemade salad dressings or sprinkled over baked potatoes; plus it makes an excellent seasoning when grilling as a fantastic alternative to salt!
Using a zester
Lemon zest is the yellow outer layer of citrus fruits that contains all their flavor. You can use it to enhance recipes or as an alternative way of adding juice, while you can even dry lemon peel in an oven and use as seasoning – dry lemon peel can keep fresh for up to one year when stored airtight in an airtight container.
To create fresh, zesty lemon peel at home, first clean and cut away all of the white pith using either a sharp paring knife or zester. After this is complete, slice thin strips from your peel. Arrange these on a baking sheet before baking at low temperature in your oven – the length of time may depend on its thickness; typically between 30-60 minutes will do.
If you don’t own a zester, a cheese grater may work just as effectively; just be careful not to go too deep into the skin as this could result in bitter pith as well as zest. Or alternatively you may use a microplane zester tool designed specifically for zesting purposes.
An alternative way of extracting zest from lemons is rubbing them against a fine-meshed stainless steel kitchen peeler or vegetable peeler, available from most kitchen stores, which has fine mesh. The fine mesh will catch any pieces of zest as you rub against its surface, making the process less messy and more efficient than buying pre-made zest. A microplane can also provide very finely grated pieces of zest – which also happens to be more cost-effective!
Using a blender
If you want to make lemonade quickly but without spending hours juicing lemons, why not blend them instead? Blending can yield a smoother texture than simply smashing them with a spoon, while providing all of the flavors and nutrients of an entire lemon including its bitter pith – providing an effective way to boost vitamin C and other important vitamins without drinking juice or chewing lemons!
Begin by washing and peeling a lemon. Next, cut into quarters while removing seeds and pith before adding all ingredients to the blender – water, ice cubes, sugar, any desired flavors – until your smoothie reaches desired thickness and creamy consistency. Pour it out and enjoy!
Lemons are packed with essential vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin C, which helps the body combat infection while also reducing inflammation. Lemons also provide folate – essential during pregnancy – while their low caloric and fat intake makes them an excellent beverage choice for weight loss.
Though regular blenders can work to successfully combine whole lemons, high-speed blenders provide more effective results. Their more powerful design enables them to quickly crush and chop large chunks of fruits and vegetables for a smoother consistency.
The best blenders are also designed to withstand the high-speed blending heat and less likely to overheat and break down, creating superior-quality lemonade. If you need help selecting a model, read online reviews before purchasing one.
Making homemade lemon salt is another fantastic way to utilize whole lemons, and an economical and flavorful seasoning blend! Simply combine coarse sea salt, slices of lemon and rosemary in an airtight container at room temperature until your fragrant, delicious seasoning blend has set before refrigerating it or giving as a gift. Once made, store for several weeks!
