Freezing lemons is probably the easiest way to preserve lemons. I have a 35+ year old Meyer Lemons tree in my yard that produces hundreds, and I mean hundreds of lemons each year. I have more than I can use even after I’ve given bags and buckets away I still never use them all.
This year I’m making a big effort to pick every lemon and preserve everything. Here are the 5 ways I will be freezing my lemons.
- Freezing Lemons Whole
- Freezing Lemons Slices
- Freezing Lemon Zest
- Freezing Lemon Juice Cubes
- Freezing Lemonade Popsicle’s
Freezing Lemons Whole
Freezing Lemons whole is the easiest thing in the world. Just throw them in the freezer. Done! You can store in the freezer for about 6 months. Whole frozen lemons take about 10-15 minutes to thaw out in a bowl of warm water. The remain very juice. The longer that are frozen the softer they get once thawed but still remain very juice. You can also zest your lemons when they are frozen and it’s actually very easy to do so as long as your finger can handle the cold lemon.
They downside to freezing lemons whole is the space it takes. Throwing a couple lemons in the freezer before they go bad is great but not for a full 5 gallon bucket full of them. I freeze my lemons whole when I’m out of time or energy to juice and process any more lemons.
Freezing Lemon Slices
Freezing lemon slices takes a few more steps than freezing them whole. This method includes slicing, placing on cooking sheets with parchment or wax paper and freeze. Once frozen you can put in zip lock bags or air tight container and keep in the freezer for up to 6 months.
I use lemon slices two different ways. Number one, cooking fish or chicken. Fish is the main meat we eat in our house and I love flavoring it with lemon. Have lemon slices frozen and ready to place on top of the fish while it cooks adds a fresh flavor. You can do the same for chicken or even add a few slices of lemon to pasta. The second way is simple to add lemon slices in my water cup for a quick refresher. In our hot summer days a cool refreshing drink with natural electrolytes, as lemons have, is exactly what I need. Throw in a sprig of mint from the garden while I sit under our shade tree watching my children play outside describes a perfect summer day for me.
Freezing Lemon Zest
Freezing lemon zest is worth the work. The work is not necessarily hard, I just don’t like it zesting. But I love zest. First you use a grater or zester to grate the lemons. Then place on a sheet with parchment or wax paper and freeze, put it in your zip lock bags or air tight container. You can keep this in the freezer for up to a year.
The lemon peel and zest holds a lot of flavor as well as some weight loss benefits. If you are not used to using it in your recipes I highly encourage you do. The zest of a lemon adds just that much more lightness and citrus flavor to any meal.
Freezing Lemon Juice Cubes
Freezing lemon juice in ice cub trays is the number one way I freeze my lemons. I use all the lemons I just zested, cut them in half and juice them with my electric juicer, strain the pulp*, and pour into my ice cube trays to freeze. You can use a hand juicer or a press, I like my electric juicer when I’m juicing hundreds of lemons at a time.
One cube is approximately 3 table spoons of lemon juice. So when I have a recipe calling for a similar amount I just grab an ice cube, melt it, either by sitting in a bowl on the counter or a quick microwave or just tossing it in a hot pan then add it to my recipe. If you want the measurements to be exact, you can measure it out once its melted. The ice cube size is perfect for dropping in my water cup for some lemon water along with my lemon slice. Add a little honey and you have a sweet lemonade. I will also add a cube in our smoothies, or make frozen lemonade in the blender.
*tip, if you will be adding any lemon juice to a drink dispenser be sure to strain with a fine mesh strainer. The pulp will clog the nozzle and you will get a very slow pour if any./
Freezing Lemonade Popsicles
This is my kids favorite! I buy the a pack of 100-150 Popsicle Bags from Amazon and fill them up with lemonade for us to enjoy through out the summer. First I make the lemonade by heating up a ratio of 1 part lemon, 1/2 a part sugar and 3 parts water. Heat until the sugar is fully dissolved, let cool and then pour in the popsicle bag with a funnel. Seal the bags, freeze and enjoy all summer long!
This ratio is not always perfect and I also end up going by taste more than anything. I do like my lemonade a little tart. The Old Fashioned Lemonade ratio has the lemon and sugar at equal parts. My lemons are a little sweeter then most so I don’t add that much sugar. So feel free to experiment with the ratio to get your lemonade popsicles to your liking.
More Ways To Preserve Lemon?
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Quick links for a few kitchen tools I used in this post.
Electric Juicer, a must have for juicing over 100 lemons. There are fancier more expensive ones out there that I would be tempted to try but I’ve had this $15 (now $20) one for 8 years now and it has worked great for me this whole time. In the amazon description it says small but it holds 32oz just like the $40 one, so I don’t know why it says small.
Cheese Grater/Zester, This is the one I use, It’s a 4 in 1 box grater, with 4 different blade sizes. I use the small blade to zest my lemons.
Zester, smaller than a grater with just 1 size grater for if you don’t care for a bulky box grater this is the type my sister uses, it is the a smaller and easier to store.
Ice Cube Trays, These ice cube trays live in my freezer and always have ice in them. We are always making ice and in the lemon season lemon ice cubes.
Popsicle Bags, my kids love popsicles and these bags make it easy for me to make them in bulk to have all summer.
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