Freezing Lemons

 

It's citrus season.  My tree is not very healthy, but it's putting out more lemons than I can use.  I'm still working on the last of the preserved lemons from last year.

What I didn't realize is how much lemons cost in the market these days.  I asked at work if anyone wanted some, and two people jumped at the offer.  So I figured I should find another way to preserve my harvest, preferably one with less salt involved.

It turns out you can freeze citrus.  There are multiple ways to do it, and ways to use them once they are frozen.  You can put them in whole and grate off the amount you need while it's still a solid sphere, seeds and all.  You can wedge or slice them prior to freezing.  You can juice them and freeze the juice in ice trays to drop into whatever recipe needs a bit of lemon juice.  And while dehydrated or freeze-dried zest is best for using in recipes if you don't have fresh, frozen works too.

I chose to quarter a few and freeze the smallest one whole.  I set them on the toaster oven's broiler pan that had been lined with wax paper.  I froze them flat like that for two hours, then transferred them to a freezer baggie for storage.  The next time I want a squeeze of fresh lemon and don't have any ready on the tree, I can pull one out a couple of hours before and have my lemon wedge.  That won't be for a while, since the 18 lemons I could reach without a ladder barely made a dent.