Fresh lemons are always a welcome addition to the fridge, and will keep fresh for a week or more in the crisper drawer.
However, if you want to preserve them for a bit longer, it’s important to store lemons properly. They are prone to drying out at room temperature, so you need to find the right way to store them to keep them as fresh as possible for the longest time.
Refrigerator
Lemons are a popular citrus fruit that has plenty of uses in many dishes. Whether you are making cocktails, desserts or just using them in your water, you need to know how to store lemons properly so that they stay fresh longer.
The best place to store fresh lemons is in the refrigerator, where they will keep for at least a week when stored in a sealed container or zip-top bag. If you’re looking to keep them fresh longer, you can also freeze them in a zip-top bag for up to four months.
To ensure your lemons are at their optimum freshness, make sure you store them in the crisper drawer or door pocket of your fridge. This will help prevent them from getting bruised and squished by other items in your fridge.
If you don’t have a crisper drawer or door pocket, then you can store whole lemons in a plastic storage bag and press out the air before closing it. This will help keep them fresh for about a week or more, according to food storage company Glad.
Alternatively, you can try storing whole lemons in the freezer by wrapping them in a food-safe plastic bag or putting them in a zip-top bag and removing all of the air before sealing it. This will keep them fresh for up to four months, but make sure you don’t store them with other fruits that produce ethylene gas.
Freezer
Freezing lemons is a great way to save them from being thrown out when you’re running low on them. The whole process is easy and extends their shelf life by months.
To freeze whole lemons, wash them thoroughly before putting them in a freezer-safe container or bag. Rinse them with cold water to remove pesticides. Then wrap them tightly in plastic or foil and place in the freezer.
The freezer is also a good place to store leftover zest from recipes. To make zest a bit easier to grate, you can freeze it in small zip-top bags and pull what you need out when you need it.
If you’re using a lot of lemons, freeze them together in ice cube trays or a container that can hold small amounts of ice to keep them fresher longer. To thaw them, let them sit in a bowl of cold water for about 15 minutes or zap them in the microwave for a few seconds.
You can also use a food dehydrator or a low-heat oven to dry out lemons before freezing them. This helps to preserve their flavour, though they’ll lose their sourness and sharpness.
It’s also a great way to use up extra lemon slices. To freeze lemon slices, lay them out on a cookie sheet and pop them in the freezer. Once frozen, collect them in a storage bag to prevent clumping.
Crisper Drawer
Lemons are a staple in many recipes, from lemon cocktails and smoothies to savory dishes like grilled chicken with fresh lemon juice. It’s easy to want to keep them on your counter or table to serve with your dinner, but the best way to preserve lemons is by storing them in the fridge.
The crisper drawer in your refrigerator is designed to store fruits and vegetables. It’s an ingenious way to keep them fresher for longer, and there are a few things you should know about how to use your drawers effectively.
Crisper drawers are typically made up of two plastic compartments. Each one has a ventilation system that allows air to enter or leave the drawer as needed. These vents control the amount of humidity and gas that gets emitted from food stored in the drawer, making them a great choice for storing a wide variety of produce.
If you have two crisper drawers in your refrigerator, it’s important to designate one drawer for low-humidity items, and one for high-humidity items. This helps to control ethylene gas that fruits produce that can affect the shelf life of other foods, says New York City-based registered dietitian Alena Kharlamenko.
You should also avoid storing apples, bananas, pears and stone fruit together with lemons. These produce items release ethylene gas as they ripen, which can speed up the aging process of other fruits and veggies. If you have to store these fruits with lemons, keep them in one drawer and store all of the other fruit and veggies in another.
Lastly, some sources recommend putting your lemons in a sealed container or zip-top bag before storing them in the crisper drawer to make sure that they don’t dry out and spoil. This method can extend the shelf life of your lemons by a week or more.
Mason Jar
One of the most common problems in the kitchen is a bunch of lemons in the crisper drawer that are wrinkled and soft. But there is a simple trick that will keep your lemons fresh for up to a month!
Ideally, you want to store your lemons in an airtight container, like a glass jar. This will help to prevent moisture from getting trapped inside the jar, which can cause the lemons to dry out and go bad more quickly. If you don’t have an airtight container, however, you can still keep your lemons fresh by storing them in a plastic bag at room temperature and allowing the air to escape.
If you have a large jar, you can store your lemons in this way for a long time! You can even freeze them if you want to use them up before they start to spoil.
To freeze your lemons, simply place them in a freezer-safe container and place them in the freezer. This will preserve them for a long time, making your lemon water nice and cold.
When you need to use them, take the lemons out of the freezer and put them in your recipe. You can also use them in smoothies, iced tea, and cocktails!
Another great tip to keep your lemons from going bad is to salt them. This will help to keep them fresh for a longer period of time, as it will help to release the juice from the lemons.
For the best results, use fresh lemons that are without blemishes. This will allow the salt to get in all of the parts of the lemon, helping to keep it from becoming hard and dried out.
Once you’ve trimmed the lemons off of their ends, slice them lengthwise into quarters (you don’t have to cut all the way through). The quarters should still be connected at the base, but it is fine to cut them into half pieces as well.