Canning Lemonade Concentrate

Homemade lemonade is and will always be, by far, the best lemonade you will ever have. Store bought just can’t compare. Not only does it taste more fresh and vibrant but homemade doesn’t have all the added unhealthy preservative. Although I try to avoid the added preservatives in our home that lemonade powder is so convenient. To avoid the temptation of those convenient toxins I decided to make a large batch of lemonade concentrate. The idea being that the sugar and lemon juice are already melted and mixed into a syrup, sealed and canned and ready to be added to water whenever convenient.

This has been awesome. I made 23 pint jars full of lemonade concentrate. Canned and ready to be made into lemonade. To make them into lemonade is simple, I just mix the 1 pint of concentrate with 3 pints of water. Add a few ice cubes and you’ve got lemonade for all.

Our lemon tree was full and I needed to harvest it. My husband and I picked six, 5 gallon buckets worth of lemons. That’s roughly 150 lbs of lemons. The kids and I went to work on zesting, juicing, freezing and canning. If you’re interested in all the different ways I preserved my lemons, check out Preserving Lemons Seven Different Ways.

How to Make Lemonade concentrate

In order to make this large batch of lemonade you will need, a lot of lemons, a juicer, sugar, and a large pot.

1. Juice 10 cups of lemon juice. You can do this by hand or a hand juice but I highly recommend you use an electric juice. Yes, they are noisy but when doing gallons of juicing in one day, it comes in handy. Plus my kids really enjoy using it so getting them to help is easy.
2. Add 4-5 cups sugar to the juice in a large pot. I actually used 6 cups the first time I made this and it was too sweet and I lost the tangy taste of the lemon. So I suggest adding 4 cups and tasting it then adding more if needed.
3. Heat on medium to high heat until all the sugar is dissolved. Stir continuously to help the process. You want the sugar fully dissolved but you don’t need to boil it.

How to Can Lemonade Concentrate

To Can the lemonade concentrate you will need canning jars, lids, water bath canner, jar lifter, funnel, ladle, and a little vinegar on a clean rag.

1. First, sanitize your canning jars and lid. Wash in hot water, then boil/steam the jars in canner for 10 minutes. They don’t all have to be submerged, the steam will sanitize them. I also place all my lids and ring in my stainless steel colander and steam them on top of the jars while they boil.
2. When done place them on the counter on a kitchen towel, they will air dry.
3. Using the funnel, ladle the hot concentrate into prepared canning jars. Leaving 1/4 inch headspace from top.
4. Clean the top of the jars with little vinegar to insure a clean seal and put prepared lids and rings on finger tight. Don’t twist too tight or you may get a false seal.
5. Heat water in a water bath canner to 180 degrees or until steaming but not boiling. I also add a splash of vinegar to the water to help with any hard water spots on my can. I like them coming out clean and pretty.
6. Place jars with hot lemonade concentrate in the hot water bath canner. The goal is for the liquid in the can and the water in the canner to be of similar temperature. If the one is cold and one is hot it could break the glass. The cans need to be fully submerged giving at least an inch of water covering them.
7. Bring to a boil they may could take 20 minutes and boil for 10 minutes then turn off the heat and let sit for 5 minutes before taking them out.
8. Take them out using your jar lifter and set them on a kitchen towel on the counter. Let cool completely before taking the rings off.
9. Check for any false seals and store on a shelf for 12-18 months. To make lemonade, mix 1 pint of juice with 3 pints of water.