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Storing Lemons: How to Store Them Properly

If you want to store lemons, you have to consider a few things. With the right storage conditions, lemons stay fresh for several weeks – we’ll show you what’s important.

To store lemons properly, you should know their properties. Lemons are the fruit of the lemon tree and belong to the citrus fruits. They require an evenly warm and humid climate and are sensitive to drought and cold. Due to the cold winters, lemon trees do not thrive in Central Europe.

Lemons from conventional cultivation are usually treated with preservatives and wax so that they can be kept for as long as possible. It is therefore better to use organic lemons. Chemical-synthetic pesticides and artificial fertilizers are prohibited in organic farming. Organic lemons are only superficially cleaned and the natural wax layer of the fruit is preserved. If you buy organic lemons, you can also use the lemon zest. You also support sustainable agriculture.

Unfortunately, lemons are not native to Germany. To avoid long transport routes, you can use European lemons. Organic lemons from northern Italy are in season between November and July. You can buy Spanish organic lemons all year round.

Storing lemons: You should pay attention to this

With these tips you can store lemons properly:

Lemons should be stored in a cool, dark place.
The best temperature to store lemons is between ten and fifteen degrees Celsius.
A cool, windowless pantry or the dark basement is best suited for this.
Avoid storing lemons in the fridge as the fridge temperature is too low.
To avoid mold, you should keep a distance between the individual lemons. Therefore, be sure to remove the shopping bag if you want to store lemons longer. This makes it harder for mold to spread.
Spread an old newspaper under the lemons. The newspaper absorbs excess moisture, which reduces mold growth.
Avoid storing lemons near apples or tomatoes. The escaping ethylene greatly accelerates the ripening process of the lemons.
By the way: Organic lemons go moldy faster because no chemical-synthetic pesticides are used during cultivation. When buying, make sure that the lemons do not have bruises.

There are also a few tips for cut lemons. If you only need half a lemon when cooking or baking, you can store the other half in the fridge for a day or two:

Place the lemons cut-side down on a small plate.
Place the plate with the lemon half on the top shelf or in the refrigerator door. This is where the highest temperatures prevail.
Consume the lemon within a day or two.

Reserve the lemon juice

Store fresh lemon juice in a sealed container in the fridge. Fresh lemon juice will keep for a day or two.

If you want to extend the shelf life of lemon juice, you can freeze it. Even if you only need lemon juice very rarely and in small amounts, freezing is a good solution. Use small jars to freeze lemon juice. Alternatively, you can freeze it in ice cube trays. This way you always have a small amount of lemon juice available.

Lemon ice cubes are a great way to quickly prepare a cool, refreshing drink, especially in summer. Frozen lemon juice has a shelf life of at least six months.

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Food

Fruity Lemon Salt: A Two-ingredient Recipe

Lemon salt gives your dishes a particularly aromatic note. We’ll show you how easy it is to make your own.

Homemade lemon salt brings a refreshing and fruity change to your dishes. It goes particularly well with vegetable pans, salads or salad dressings and dips. We recommend choosing organic ingredients. This is how you avoid chemical-synthetic pesticides.

Lemon salt: A recipe to make yourself

This recipe gives you a supply of lemon salt that is sufficient for many dishes. For example, you can put the lemon salt in a large salt shaker or put it in a small mason jar.

Ingredients:

200g salt

1 organic lemon

Directions:

Wash the lemon with hot water and then dry it with a kitchen towel.
Grate the lemon zest with a grater.
Juice the lemon with a lemon squeezer. Pour the juice through a fine mesh strainer to remove the pulp. You only need the juice.
Mix the salt with the zest and the lemon juice.
Spread the lemon salt on a baking tray and put it in the oven at 100 degrees for 20 minutes. This step is important so that your lemon salt loses water and has a long shelf life.
Allow the lemon salt to cool completely and then pour it into a glass container.

Tips for your homemade lemon salt

These tips will make your lemon salt even more aromatic:

You can mix your lemon salt with herbs of your choice. Add the fresh and chopped herbs in the fourth step. You can add already dried herbs after the salt has come out of the oven and cooled down. For example, rosemary can complement lemon salt wonderfully.
When grating the lemon zest, make sure that you do not rub off any or only a little of the white skin. This is just below the yellow peel and would add a bitter note to your lemon salt.
Of course, the salt can also be made with other citrus fruits. You can also use an orange or lime in place of the lemon.
Choose a salt of your choice. For example, you can use fine-grain sea salt or coarse-grain rock salt. The coarse-grained lemon salt is suitable for filling a salt mill with it. You may also want to leave the coarse-grained salt in the oven a few minutes longer so that your lemon salt is really dry.
Incidentally, homemade lemon salt with its refreshing yellowish color is a wonderful gift idea. You can still decorate the glass and you already have a homemade souvenir.

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Food

10 Interesting Facts About Lemon

What do we know about lemon? Sour, aromatic, delicious in tea, an irreplaceable remedy for colds. But there are other, very interesting facts that we will tell you about today.

  1. India and China are considered to be the homeland of lemon. There is a theory according to which lemons came to Greece with the soldiers of Alexander the Great after their campaign in India. Then the lemon was called the Indian apple. Another theory says that the Arabs brought the lemon to Europe and the Middle East.
  2. But in the distant 17th century in Russia, there were no lemons. Only the rich could eat them: they ordered salted lemons from Holland.
  3. The origin of the word “lemon” is attributed to the Malay and Chinese languages. Le-mo in Malay and li-mung in Chinese means good for mothers.
  4. They even make riddles about lemons and write funny stories. From them you can learn that with the help of lemon you can disrupt the performance of a brass band: it is enough to eat a lemon in front of the musicians. Those will begin to salivate profusely, and they will not be able to play the wind instruments.
  5. There is a theory that the lemon was the bone of contention in the Bible. According to another theory, it was a pomegranate, as we have already written about.
  6. Despite the “bone of contention” from the theory above, lemon is considered the fruit of friendship. Otto Schmidt, a famous polar explorer, inoculated a lemon in 1940 – before that the tree was grafted by breeder Zorin. Since then, an interesting tradition has started: people from different countries began to graft this tree. In 1957, the lemon tree was named the Friendship tree. By this time, 167 vaccinations have been given to lemon. Today there are more than 3,000 of them, just imagine! Yes, the tree is still alive and growing in Sochi.
  7. Foreign journalists call some athletes lemons. For example, the French called Evgeny Kafelnikov a lemon – he was taciturn, cold, and did not make contact.
  8. Lemon is often found in Spanish folklore. There he symbolizes unhappy love. But the orange is responsible for the happy one.
  9. Every year, 14 million tons of lemons are harvested in the world. Most lemons are harvested in Mexico and India.
  10. Lemon was listed in the Guinness Book of Records. A simple Israeli farmer has grown a lemon weighing more than 5 kilograms on his plot. Can you imagine what size it should be? By the way, the record cannot be broken for 14 years already.
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Australia

Barramundi with Lemon Butter Sauce: Pan-fry barramundi fillets and serve with a tangy lemon butter sauce.

Ingredients for Pan-Fried Barramundi with Lemon Butter Sauce

If you’re looking for a delicious and healthy meal option, pan-fried barramundi with lemon butter sauce is a great choice. Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this dish:

  • 4 barramundi fillets (skin on)
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons of butter
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley

Steps to Prepare Pan-Fried Barramundi with Lemon Butter Sauce

Follow these simple steps to prepare pan-fried barramundi with lemon butter sauce:

  1. Season the barramundi fillets with salt and pepper on both sides.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the barramundi fillets, skin side down.
  3. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the skin is crispy, then flip the fillets over and cook for another 2-3 minutes until cooked through.
  4. Remove the fillets from the pan and set them aside.
  5. In the same pan, melt the butter and add the lemon juice. Cook for 1-2 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly.
  6. Add the chopped parsley to the sauce and stir to combine.
  7. Pour the lemon butter sauce over the barramundi fillets and serve immediately.

Serving Pan-Fried Barramundi with Tangy Lemon Butter Sauce

Pan-fried barramundi with lemon butter sauce is a delicious and healthy meal that can be served with a variety of sides. Here are some options to consider:

  • Steamed vegetables, such as broccoli or green beans
  • Roasted potatoes or sweet potatoes
  • Rice or quinoa

To serve, place the barramundi fillets on a plate and spoon the lemon butter sauce over the top. Add your chosen side dish to the plate and enjoy! This dish is perfect for a dinner party or a special meal at home.

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health

Lemon Juice Against Norovirus

Lemon juice is not only acidic and gives dishes a fresh note: it may prevent people from being infected with noroviruses. According to a study by the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), lemon juice could help against noroviruses because it is suitable as a disinfectant. EAT SMARTER presents the research results.

The study

Can lemon juice help against norovirus? The virologists can already prove through earlier research that fruit extracts such as orange or pomegranate juice can reduce the infectivity of noroviruses. In recent studies, Grant Hansman, a researcher at the German Cancer Research Center, found that the virus particles change their shape after binding to the citrate. A subsequent X-ray structure analysis showed that the citrate from lemon juice or from citrate-containing disinfectants binds to exactly the point where the virus comes into contact with the body cells during the infection process.

These results are proof that the citrate reduces the ability of noroviruses to become infectious and that lemon juice could help against noroviruses: “Perhaps a few drops of lemon juice, which one usually drizzles on the oyster, are a good protection against infection,” speculates virologist Grant Hansman. He also estimates that the amount of citrate in the juice of lemon could be enough to decontaminate hands.

The norovirus

The violent pathogens trigger severe gastrointestinal complaints and are the most common cause of gastrointestinal outbreaks in schools and hospitals. The extremely contagious virus is transmitted “fecal-orally”, i.e. via contaminated hands or food.

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Food

Sea Buckthorn: The Trendy “Lemon of the North”

The sea buckthorn now shines bright orange from the meter-high bushes. The sour berry is also known to many as the “Lemon of the North”: It has earned this nickname because it is full of vitamin C. EAT SMARTER explains here why sea buckthorn is so healthy and which products you can use it for.

Sea Buckthorn: “Lemon of the North”

Sea buckthorn belongs to the willow family and also goes by the names red sloe, willow thorn, or lemon of the north. On the North Sea and Baltic Sea, the small berries are mainly found on the coastal strips – or in local gardens. Only female shrubs, which can grow up to five meters tall and four meters wide, bear the bright fruits. Therefore, two female and one male sea buckthorn bush must always be planted together in order to be able to harvest plenty of berries.

Harvest sea buckthorn

Autumn is the perfect season for sea buckthorn harvesting. From mid-September, hobby gardeners and harvest workers have almost four weeks to harvest the lemon of the north. Because the precious, orange-colored berries quickly become overripe: the valuable vitamin C content then decreases rapidly and butyric acid is produced, which makes the sea buckthorn inedible. The harvest itself is manual work. The hard-working helpers separate the supporting branches from the bushes, strip or shake off the berries and transport the harvested crops to the freezer: the sea buckthorn is frozen to minus 120° degrees, making it more durable.

Process the “Lemon of the North”

Thanks to the strong sour taste of the sea buckthorn, the berries are not only eaten pure, but also processed in large numbers. As a juice, sea buckthorn jelly, sea buckthorn smoothie, or sea buckthorn jam, the sea buckthorn is then available in the supermarket or homemade in the kitchen cupboard. The combination of sea buckthorn with, for example, apricots, oranges, or apples ensures a great taste experience.

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Food

Juicy Lemon Chicken

A feast not only for the taste buds. Because even the olfactory nerves get their money’s worth with this delicious chicken.

Ingredients for 4 persons

  • 1 chicken
  • Salt pepper
  • 4 unwaxed lemons
  • 2 small sprigs of rosemary
  • 3/8 – ½ liter hot chicken broth
  • wooden skewers and kitchen twine

Preparation

  1. Wash the chicken inside and out and pat dry with paper towels. Then season the chicken generously inside and out with salt and pepper.
  2. Wash the lemons in hot water and dry them. Roughly chop 2 lemons. Wash the rosemary and pluck off the needles. Then push the lemon pieces and the rosemary into the abdominal cavity.
  3. To close, press the opening together and insert wooden skewers. Tie the skewers crosswise with kitchen twine and knot.
  4. Thread a long piece of kitchen twine from both sides over the wings to the breast tip and cross underneath. Then wrap the thread around the club ends and tie them tightly together so they don’t stick out and burn.
  5. Roast the chicken on the drip tray in the preheated oven for approx. 1 ½ hour. After 30 minutes, pour in the broth. Peel the zest from 1 lemon and cut into strips.
  6. About 10 minutes before the end of the roasting time, drizzle the chicken with the lemon juice, sprinkle with the lemon strips and arrange the lemon wedges. Cut up the chicken. Season the roast to taste and serve extra. Roasted potatoes or bread go very well with this. Good Appetite

Useful additional knowledge

Like all poultry, the chicken should always be well-done. It is, therefore, best to do a cooking test at the end of the roasting time. Use a wooden skewer to pierce between the breast and the leg. If clear liquid comes out of the puncture site, the chicken is done. If it’s still pink, it needs to continue cooking.

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Food

Ginger Lemon Iced Tea: Recipe For The Best Summer Drink in The World – Without Alcohol

Are you looking for the perfect summer drink? Then you should try this ginger elderflower lemon ice tea with honey. The alcohol-free refreshment tastes delicious and is really healthy. Here is the recipe.

Recipe: Ginger-lemon iced tea with honey and elderflower

You need this for one liter of iced tea
A thumb-sized piece of ginger
Three to four tablespoons of elderflower syrup*
A tablespoon of honey
juice of a lemon
It’s that easy
Wash ginger and cut into thin slices
Pour a liter of boiling water over it and let it steep for at least 10 minutes
Add elderflower syrup, honey and lemon juice
Remove pieces of ginger, stir, allow to cool, add ice cubes and enjoy
A few more tips
You can peel the ginger, but you don’t have to – just wash it
The longer you let the ginger steep, the more intense or spicier the tea will be
If the iced tea tastes too sweet according to the recipe, simply reduce the amount of syrup and honey accordingly

By the way: You can easily grow ginger in a pot or in the garden yourself. Cut a thumb-sized piece with a “bud” off a ginger root, soak it in water overnight, and plant it the next day, about an inch deep. Water regularly and after just a few months you will have your own ginger plant at home, whose bulb you can harvest and eat as soon as the leaves turn brown. I’ve tried it myself, it works – even if the tuber harvested was admittedly not very large.

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Food

Lemon Balm Tea: Effect, Application and Recipe to Make Yourself

Lemon balm tea is a refreshing drink and at the same time good for your health. It helps with many ailments and is prepared within a few minutes.

Lemon balm tea: Old medicinal plant with great effects

Lemon balm has a long tradition: the Greeks and Romans valued lemon balm as a medicinal plant. The name derives from the Greek word “Melitta”, which means honey bee. Even today it is very popular among beekeepers and is often used as bee food.

Lemon balm originally comes from the Mediterranean region, but today it is widespread all over the world. There are four common types, with lemon balm being the most well-known. It belongs to the mint family and reaches a height of up to 90 centimeters.
What few people know: under ideal conditions, the plant can live up to 30 years.

Effect of lemon balm tea and ingredients

Lemon balm not only scores with its unmistakable scent, you can also benefit from its ingredients. These include, among others:
essential oils
flavonoids
glycosides
rosmarinic acid
bitter substances
vitamin C
Numerous healing effects are attributed to the substances. Among other things, lemon balm helps with:
Inner restlessness or tension: Hildegard von Bingen said that lemon balm “makes the heart happy”. Studies subsequently confirm this thesis. The medicinal plant has a calming, anxiolytic and mood-enhancing effect (study).
Nervousness during exams: Lemon balm is also said to increase the ability to concentrate.
Sleep problems: The medicinal plant can significantly reduce sleep problems. In this way, subjects in a study were not only able to fall asleep more easily, but also to sleep better (study).
Cold sores: The medicinal plant has an antiviral and anti-inflammatory effect. It has been proven that cold sores heal much faster when applied externally (study).
Digestive problems: The bitter substances contained ensure that the body produces more digestive juices. The plant also has a calming effect on the intestinal muscles. Lemon balm can relieve flatulence and reduce a feeling of fullness.
Menstrual cramps: The medicinal plant is nicknamed lady’s herb because the antispasmodic effect can help with menstrual pain.

What do I have to look out for with lemon balm tea?

Tip: No matter what type of lemon balm you choose, you can easily grow it yourself. The plant needs a lot of light and loose, nutrient-rich soil. You can also plant them on the balcony or even in the apartment.

For a delicious lemon balm tea you can use both the fresh twigs and dried leaves. If you choose tea made from fresh plant parts, as a rule of thumb you can use around twice the amount of dried herbs. For tea, you should definitely harvest lemon balm before it blooms.

To dry the leaves, simply tie each branch individually to a piece of string and hang them in a room protected from light.

If you prefer to buy the leaves, it is best to use organic loose tea. All parts of the plant containing active ingredients are used, while it is free of flavorings and other additives and pesticides. You can also improve your climate balance if you rely on regional herbs.

Recipe: Make lemon balm tea yourself – instructions

Preparation of the lemon balm tea:
For 250 milliliters of tea (one cup) you need two teaspoons of dried lemon balm.
Because of the volatile essential oils, do not boil the water over the leaves.
Let the tea steep for about ten minutes.
Note: As various interactions have been found in the laboratory, you should not use lemon balm tea if you are taking thyroid hormones.

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Food

Lemon Balm: A Versatile and Tasty Medicinal Herb

Lemon balm is a versatile medicinal herb that can alleviate a variety of ailments. We will show you how to grow lemon balm at home and how you can use it fresh or dried all year round.

Lemon balm has been a popular medicinal herb since ancient times.
calming and anxiolytic,
relaxes the intestines (against flatulence and a feeling of fullness),
against the first signs of cold sores (as a high-dose cream).
Thus, the lemon balm can help against various ailments.

Lemon balm: application and cultivation

You can use the lemon balm in many ways. For example as:
relaxing tea,
refreshing syrup or as
delicious herb in the kitchen.
If you want to grow the plant yourself, you can plant it in a large pot where it can spread well. The lemon balm is a perennial shrub. Once planted, you can harvest the leaves for many years.

The lemon balm…
…likes a sunny spot,
…needs a relatively large amount of water,
…also grows well in a herb spiral,
…needs no fertilizer,
…should overwinter on the windowsill.
In winter, the plant continues to grow slowly on the warm window sill, so that you have something of it all year round.

Cut and propagate lemon balm

When fresh shoots sprout from the lemon balm in the spring, you can cut them back and plant these shoots. For this type of propagation you should only use strong young shoots that serve as cuttings.

How to successfully plant a cutting:
To pull a new plant from the shoot, you only leave the top two leaves on the shoot. Cut off all other leaves. You should use a sharp, clean knife for this.
Put some potting soil in a pot and plant the cutting so that the top two leaves are sticking out.
Place the cutting in a warm place and water it thoroughly.
You can also propagate lemon balm by dividing it. To do this, carefully remove the perennial from the pot and free the roots from the soil. With a sharp, clean knife, cut the root system in two. Make sure each half of the plant has young shoots.

Tip: No matter which method you choose, remember that the plant needs more water than usual, so you should water it more.

Harvest and dry lemon balm

In winter you can still grow the lemon balm on the windowsill. However, it does not grow as quickly in the cold season as it does in summer. Therefore, you can always harvest a few strands to dry in summer and early autumn. From the first rays of sunshine in spring, the plant will thrive again and sprout.
You can use the dried leaves as a relaxing tea or as a culinary herb.

How to dry lemon balm:
First, cut off individual strands from the plant.
Pluck off the lower leaves.
Tie some stems together loosely with a rubber band.
Use string to hang the bouquets upside down in a dark, dry place.
The lemon balm should be dry within two weeks.
Caution: Other recipes recommend drying the lemon balm in the oven. However, this requires leaving the oven door open or preheating the oven and turning it off before adding the leaves. These processes require a lot of energy – that’s why we at Utopia advise you to dry herbs better in the air. If you have a dehydrator, you can use that as well.

The smell of lemon balm changes slightly when you dry the leaves. They no longer smell so strongly of lemon. But don’t worry: If you infuse the leaves as a tea, the typical taste and smell will come back.

After drying, you can store the leaves in a tightly sealed screw-top jar in the cupboard.

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