How to store lemons at home

Lemons - this is the most common citrus, which is present on the table throughout the year. Few people can eat whole lemon, but it is always consumed in small amounts. Tea with lemon in the morning will help to wake up and get a charge of vivacity for the whole day. Lemon contains a huge amount of vitamin C, which is necessary to support immunity. It will help to survive the autumn-winter period without colds.

It is clear that every housewife would like to have a supply of lemons at home, use them if necessary and never need this citrus. But why keep lemons, if you can buy them in the store throughout the year? The fact is that at the end of the fall, lemoneries produce crops, a lot of fruits and they are quite cheap. It was during this period that experienced housewives purchase several kilograms of this citrus.And rightly so, because after a few months the price of this fruit increases several times! And in order to keep supplies safe and sound, lemons should be properly stored.

How to choose lemons for long-term storage

Properly chosen 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, push down on it. If the fruit is soft, most likely it has been exposed to low temperatures, such citrus fruits should not 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 citrus varieties.

Pay attention to the fruit stem. Lemons will be stored for the longest time with a small sprig. If there are leaves on the stem, they talk about the freshness of the lemon and the time it is harvested. If there are no branches, and there is a barely noticeable black dot at the place of the stalk - such lemons should be discarded.

How to store lemons whole in the fridge

If you plan to eat lemons during the 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 cannot eat in the coming days, you need to keep them in the fridge. There are many ways to do this.

1. Wrap each lemon in a piece of parchment paper and remove the fruit on the bottom shelf. As such, they will persist for a month. Periodically inspect citruses - if the fruit began to deteriorate, you need to cut off the damaged part, and use the rest of the lemon or pour it with sugar.
2. Grease each lemon with a thin layer of vegetable oil. After that, wrap the lemons in paper and refrigerate on a shelf for fruit. 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 this 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 eat them, citrus can be frozen.After defrosting the lemon, of course, will lose its elasticity, but all the vitamins will remain completely.

Before you put the lemon in storage in the fridge, do not wash the fruit - as you shorten its storage.

How to keep lemon in cut form

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

Lemon should be put on a saucer cut down so that the cut does not dry out and the fruit remains fresh longer. The cut point can also be smeared with egg white - in this case, you kind of seal the cut part, 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 the surface is only the cut point.

Save the lemons for six months will help the following recipe. Peel off the lemons and cut the fruits into rings. Sterilize the jar and put some sugar on its bottom. After that, put the lemon rings on the sugar. Thus, you need to pour all the lemon layers of sugar so that an equal amount of food is spent.That is, one kilogram of lemons should be consumed one kilogram of sugar. The jar should be closed with a sterilized cap and left at room temperature to dissolve the sugar. Then store the jar in the refrigerator.

How else can you store lemons

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

1. If you use lemons not only for tea, you can save them in salt. Put strong fruit in a jar, and fill it with very salty water. After that, citrus fruits should be applied with a load and left in a cool place - for example, in a cellar. These lemons are used to make sauces for meat or fish.
2. If you have a basement or cellar, lemons can be stored there. Take the wooden box and put the fruit there, after wrapping each parchment paper. Put birch branches between citrus trees - they will scare away rodents and insects. Every three months, lemons should be wiped with a dry cloth and sorted. Damaged fruits immediately withdraw.
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.Once a month look through the harvest. Lemons can be stored in this form for about three months.
4. If part of the crop was initially spoiled, juice can be squeezed out of the cut lemons. Pour the prepared juice into a clean and sterilized jar, add a little olive oil and roll up the lid. If you are preparing the juice is not for ingestion, but for cosmetic purposes, you can use almond or peach oil. Juice can also be successfully frozen in plastic bottles. If you pour juice into an ice-making container, you will get refreshing lemon ice cubes, which will be very useful for your skin.
5. Many housewives store lemon zest, using it to make pastries or desserts. Prepare zest for long-term storage is not difficult. Carefully cut the yellow part of the fruit with a knife. Try not to touch the white layer - it makes the zest bitter. Cut off the parts to grind - or a blender, or a knife. The zest is poured onto the 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 put away in a cool and dark place.In winter, dried peel will give your desserts a delicate citrus aroma.

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

Lemon is a unique fruit that attracts and repels at the same time. It can not be eaten a lot, but without it the taste becomes mundane. Lemon is not only a very tasty and unusual citrus, but also a very healthy fruit with antiseptic effect. Lemon is added to food, they are treated, cosmetic masks are prepared on the basis of lemon, lemon juice is used in everyday life for cleansing and bleaching surfaces. Learn to store lemon properly so that it will serve you throughout the year.

Video: how to keep lemon from drying out