Preserving Lemons

The rich, yellow glow that penetrates even the dullest winter afternoon reminds me, from my kitchen window, that my backyard is alive and very well. It’s lemon season and I love it.

I have three lemon trees of varying maturity – two in the backyard and one on my berm (naughty me) planted in an act of defiance last year in protest to a new council initiative to discourage berm gardening.  This year, with lemons dripping of my most mature tree, I am determined not to waste a single drop.

But it’s not just the juice of course, the zest itself is full of delicious, zingy oil that adds a special touch to baking, sauces, soups, dips, salsas and marinades.

In my quest to be a conscious consumer, to love food & hate waste, after juicing I have previously been freezing the remaining lemon rinds then grating them from frozen as the need arose. This has worked really well. But with bucketfuls of lemons, I wanted to preserve them all – juice, flesh, zest.

Preserving lemons is so very easy. You need the whole lemon, but in essence the skin is what you’ll be eating eventually and it’s marinating in its own juice.

How many lemons do you need? How many lemons have you got!

Find a preserving jar that will best fit. Obvious enough, larger lemons will need a wider mouth jar. Sorted. The jars and lids will need to be sterilized don’t forget. Don’t take short cuts and use old lids either!  This isn’t a refrigerator pickle, it will be shelf-steady for several months with a perfect seal lid.

Be also sure to wash and pat dry the lemons before preserving, taking off any dirt etc. If lemons have been purchased from the supermarket they are likely to have a layer of wax on the rind, or if gifted by a neighbour may have been sprayed, so be sure to give these an extra good scrub.

Peter Gordon says: ‘You must never, ever dilute the lemon juice with water. Lemon juice won’t go “off” as such, especially when mixed with so much salt.’

After much Googling, I was pleased to discover that it’s actually a very simple process and any recipe is just a slight adaption from the next.  You may wish to add in a bay leaf or two (as I did), or sprinkle in some coriander seeds, cloves, peppercorns or even add a cinnamon stick to your preserved lemon mix.

So, with no further a-do, I bring you:

Preserved Lemons

Ingredients

• whole lemons
• rock salt
• bay leaves (optional)
• extra lemon juice

Method

1. Sterilise your preserving jars and lids. Add one teaspoon of rock salt to the bottom of the jar.
2. Cut the nib off the end of your lemons (getting rid of the stalk), then cut each lemon into quarters — but not all the way down. Stop cutting approx 3/4 of the way to the bottom so the lemon stays ‘whole’ as much as possible. Gently prize open the lemon like a flower and add a teaspoon of rock salt into the middle, then close. Turn the lemon upside down and press into the bottom of the sterilised jar. It will splay slightly and the process of it pressing down, will squeeze out juice.
3. Add another teaspoon of rock salt to the jar between each layer of lemon, and repeat as above. I used 5 lemons in total and the natural juice was approximately half way up the jar. I squeezed additional lemons to ensure it was filled to the top, slided in a couple of fresh bay leaves from my newly purchased tree, gave my lemon layers and extra press to ensure they were submerged, then sealed.

It will take 2-3 weeks before they are ready. Every few days, I will rotate the jar, or unscrew the lid to press out any air bubbles that may have collected along the way. Once ready, it should last a good 6 months in the fridge.

I told you it was simple! Enjoy.