Lemon Juice in the jars....for the Winter

Discussion in 'Food Preservation and Storage' started by waretrop, Sep 26, 2014.

  1. waretrop

    waretrop Strong Ash Plants Contributor

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    Just finished squeezing and canning about 35 half pints of lime juice today.

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    They are all washed and ready for my labels. Going out to eat first and then they will be put on the shelves next to the lemon juice......

    Big day for me today. Squeezing over 200 of them......I dropped myself into the hot tub and don't want to do anything else today.... :p

    I did save out some for hubbies jar in the fridge. That means he won't open a freshly canned jar for a month....that's good.

    He pays well for I get to go out to dinner this evening...... :D :D
     
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  3. mart

    mart Strong Ash

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    Your hubby must love lemonade or lemon tea. What do you use that much lemon juice for? That's something I rarely need and with lemons 4 for a dollar, I just pick up a few at the store.
     
  4. waretrop

    waretrop Strong Ash Plants Contributor

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    Lime iced tea is his favorite. He uses lemon in tea for a change. I also have powdered lime rind that I make chicken with. I also use dehydrated lime rind for cooking.

    I squeezed 220 limes and 420 lemons January 2014 and all the lime is gone and we had about 6 lemon left until yesterday.
     
  5. mart

    mart Strong Ash

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    Yes I read that wrong, I thought it was more lemon juice. Never tried lime in tea. Are they cheap where you are ? They are here,,you can get a bag of limes for $2. or less.
     



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  6. Sjoerd

    Sjoerd Mighty Oak

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    You have to be the Juice Queen of this website!
    I am a bit partial to lime juice as well. I use it in tea and as a marinade for chook, fish and schnitzels...and on salads.

    We aren't tropical here and the costs are not as inexpensive as where you folks are. It would be fantastic if I could have that much lime juice in my cupboard. hahaha.

    Nice work, Ware.
     
  7. waretrop

    waretrop Strong Ash Plants Contributor

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    We have these huge country markets over an hour from us with some produce people who sell there. I seem to find both lime and lemon cheap from Sept to Jan at some. When I find anything cheap and it's not at the end of it's life, I buy huge amounts. This batch I bought 2 cases. There are from 90 to 120 fruits in each case. I think I paid about 8 or 10 dollars for each.

    I don't look forward to it but as the Winter arrives I would be willing to pick up a few more of each to carry us until next Fall.

    I do need to find more half pint jars or I will be putting it in pints next time.
     
  8. mart

    mart Strong Ash

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    Around here finding half pints would be difficult this time of year. Most people use them for jams and jelly and after season they are scarce. I could use a couple of cases of half pints as well but I still have plenty of pints since I don`t carry over some things from year to year.
     
  9. GardenSketch

    GardenSketch New Seed

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    Oh my goodness! Seriously humbled by how many lemons you must have juiced and (all by yourself too). Admiring all those bottles and your hard work. Hope it was a lovely night out.
     
  10. cajuncappy

    cajuncappy In Flower

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    We freeze out big lemon harvest in water bottles for house hold use trading and gifts. We also freeze in gallon water jugs for use for our selves at home(we use lots of it) or to thaw for making batches of jelly when we have the hankering to. If you have a lemon tree and a lime tree we recommend ya invest in a juicer. after the first year our beloved lemon monster produced a wheel barrow full of lemons I got tired doing it by hand and invested in a small juicer. I did some research and settled on an old style wooden press. We love the thing and it lives on our kitchen island always. Here is last years crop:[​IMG]
    This year due to a late freeze last year, our crop is small and just enough to have fresh in the freezer. We have our fingers crossed that it goes back to its typical huge crop.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 11, 2015
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  11. marlingardener

    marlingardener Happy

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    Holy cow, that is a lot of lemon juice! I can't imagine doing that by hand. Congratulations on your wooden press.
    When we extract our honey we do it by hand-cranking the extractor. There are ones with an electric motor, but they don't do much for your biceps! Sometimes simple is best, as with your press and our extractor.
     
  12. cajuncappy

    cajuncappy In Flower

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    We have one lemon tree and that is the average yield. Some years not so much like this year because of a late freeze. thats why we dont make it all into jelly or something right away. When we saw the freeze had taken out the baby fruit in the spring we did not make any jelly this year and thankfully still have 4 gallons and around 6 small jars to last till next falls crop.
     
  13. toni

    toni Mistress of Garden Junque Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    Goodness gracious sakes alive, that's a lot of lemon juice!!! Do you cook with it all?
    A 32 ounce bottle of lemon juice lasts me at least a year.
     
  14. cajuncappy

    cajuncappy In Flower

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    We cook with it, make lemon aide, lemon tea, and mixed drinks with it. we put it in salad dressing, make lemon jelly, and lemon pepper jelly. bake with it, etc etc. When life hands ya lemons by the wheel barrow full ya figure ways to take advantage of your good fortune. We also use it to trade neighbors for their stuff. I guess I better stop before I sound like the Buba Gump of lemons.
     

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