How to store lemons at home

Lemons are the most common citrus on the table throughout the year. Few people can eat whole lemon, but always use it in small quantities. Tea with lemon in the morning will help you wake up and get a boost of energy for the whole day. Lemon contains a huge amount of vitamin C, which is necessary to support the immune system. It will help to survive the autumn-winter period without colds.

It is clear that every housewife wants to have at home a supply of lemons, use them when necessary and never need this citrus. But why store lemons if they can be bought at the store throughout the year? The fact is that at the end of autumn, the limonaria gives a harvest, there are a lot of fruits and they are quite cheap. It was during this period that experienced housewives purchase several kilograms of this citrus. And they’re doing it right, because after a few months the price of this fruit increases several times! And in order for the stocks to remain safe and sound, lemons must be properly stored.

How to choose lemons for long-term storage

Properly selected lemons are the basis of their long-term storage. Before buying, pay attention to the fruits - they must be whole, without damage and wormholes - such lemons will not be stored for a long time. Be sure to pay attention to the skin of the fruit, press on it. If the fruit is soft, most likely it was exposed to low temperatures, such citrus fruits do not need to be taken.

There is an opinion that smooth lemons are more suitable for long-term storage. In fact, both smooth and bumpy fruits can be stored for a long time. Their peel speaks only of the citrus variety.

Pay attention to the fruit stalk. The lemons with a small twig will be stored the longest. If there are leaves on the stem, they talk about the freshness of the lemon and the time of its collection. If there is no branch, and there is a barely noticeable black dot in the place of the stalk — you should refuse such lemons.

How to store whole lemons in the refrigerator

If you plan to eat lemons within a week, leave them in a vase on the kitchen table. Citrus not only gives the room a pleasant fresh aroma, but also decorates the kitchen. If you bought a lot of lemons that you can’t eat in the coming days, you need to keep them in the refrigerator. There are many ways to do this.

1. Wrap each lemon in a piece of parchment paper and put the fruits on the bottom shelf. In this form, they will remain for a month. Inspect citruses periodically - if the fruit begins to deteriorate, you need to cut off the damaged part, and use the rest of the lemon or pour it with sugar.
2. Lubricate each lemon with a thin layer of vegetable oil. After that, wrap the lemons with paper and put them in the refrigerator on the fruit shelf. This is one of the most effective ways to store lemons - in this form they do not deteriorate for three to four months.
3. You can put fresh lemons in vacuum bags, in which case their shelf life is reduced to two months.
4. If there are a lot of lemons and you are not sure that you can use them, citrus can be frozen. After defrosting, the lemon, of course, will lose its elasticity, however, all vitamins will be preserved completely.

Before storing the lemon in the refrigerator, do not wash the fruit - this will shorten its shelf life.

How to keep a lemon in a cut form

Eating the whole lemon is very difficult, so the question often arises - how to save part of the cut lemon?

Lemon should be placed on a saucer with the slice down so that the slice does not dry out and the fruit stays fresh longer. The slice can also be greased with egg white - in this case, you will seal the cut part, as it were, and the lemon will be stored for much longer. To keep the cut lemon fresh, it is dipped in a cup of water so that only the cut is on the surface.

The following recipe will help save lemons for half a year. Remove the peel from the lemons and cut the fruit into rings. Sterilize the jar and pour a little sugar on its bottom. Then put the lemon rings on the sugar. Thus, sugar must be sprinkled with all the lemon layers so that an equal amount of food is spent. That is, one kilogram of sugar should be spent on one kilogram of lemons. The jar must be closed with a sterilized lid and left at room temperature so that the sugar dissolves. Then store the jar in the refrigerator.

How else can you store lemons

There are many ways to preserve the taste, aroma and benefits of this fruit.

1. If you use lemons not only for tea, they can be stored in salt. Put strong fruits in a jar, and fill with very salt water. After this, citruses should be crushed and left in a cool place - for example, in a cellar. Such lemons are used to make meat or fish sauce.
2. If you have a basement or cellar, lemons can be stored there. Take a wooden box and put the fruit in there, after wrapping each with parchment paper. Between the citruses lay twigs of birch - they will scare away rodents and insects. Once every three months, lemons should be wiped with a dry cloth and sorted. Spoiled fruits are immediately seized.
3. Lemon can be stored in the sand. Wrap each citrus in a newspaper and drop it in a box of dry sand so that the fruits do not touch each other. Browse the crop once a month. Lemons can be stored in this form for about three months.
4. If part of the crop was originally spoiled, juice can be squeezed out of the cut lemons. Pour the juice into a clean and sterilized jar, add a little olive oil and roll up the lid. If you are preparing juice not for eating, but for cosmetic purposes, you can use almond or peach oil. Juice can also be successfully frozen in plastic bottles. If you pour the juice into an ice container, you will get refreshing lemon ice cubes that will be very beneficial for your skin.
5. Many housewives store lemon zest, using it for baking or desserts. Preparing the zest for long-term storage is not difficult. The yellow part of the fruit is carefully cut with a knife. Try not to touch the white layer - it makes the zest bitter. Cut off the parts you need to grind - either with a blender or with a knife. The zest is poured onto parchment and left to dry in a well-ventilated place. After a few days, when the zest dries, it will need to be poured into a glass jar with an airtight lid and removed in a cool and dark place. In winter, dried zest will give your desserts a subtle citrus flavor.

There are many ways to preserve lemons. Each housewife chooses the one that suits her. After all, the taste of the fruit is important for someone, someone tries to preserve its smell, and for someone it is most important to preserve the citrus vitamins.

Lemon is a unique fruit that attracts and repels at the same time. You can’t eat a lot of it, but without it, the taste becomes ordinary. Lemon is not only a very tasty and unusual citrus, but also a very useful fruit that has an antiseptic effect. Lemon is added to food, it is treated, cosmetic masks are prepared on the basis of lemon, lemon juice is used in everyday life to clean and whiten surfaces. Learn how to store lemon properly so that it serves you throughout the year.

Video: how to keep lemon from drying out