Make Lemon Dust

Dehydrate thin slices until crispy dry. Then whir in your coffee grinder with a pinch of sugar and a smidge of salt.

Lemons do not grow where I live, so I rarely have fresh lemons lieing around. I use the lemon dust in lieu of lemon zest or fresh lemon juice in lots of recipes.

this link is from Linda Z's first edition of Joy of Pickling .... couple of recipes for pickled and preserved lemons on pp 165

http://books.google.com/books?id=xQkRMGf-l0YC&pg=PA165&lpg=PA165&dq=Joy+of+Pickling+preserved+lemons&source=bl&ots=tTzwD0LzQA&sig=V0uEMwLrpUONzBeSxpfTm-5qk5o&hl=en&ei=y7sKTZGcGYOBlAfF1q2nAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

yeah, really long one ... simpler to just google Linda Z pickled lemons.....

I can't find my copy of the 2nd edition ... but I don't think these changed.

Pickles sound fantastic, and here is an usual suggestion. Lemons preserved in salt--it is a common ingredient in North African food, which if you are unfamiliar with features lots of stews with dried fruit and is quite delicious.

I can use a lot of lemon juice. I juice them and freeze the juice in 1 or 2 Tablespoon amounts.

Freeze in ice trays and once they are firm, move to Ziplock freezer bags with the amount in each cube noted on the bag.

I am uncertain about storing salt cured lemons for any length of time. It looks to me like you make them and then use them, not keep them around unrefrigerated.

The lemon dust sounds useful. It could be used to make lemon pepper and that might make a nice gift. Or adding a bit to salt should cut down the amount of salt used substantially (if you worry about salt intake).

Dried lemon goes into the herbal salt substitutes like Mrs Dash.

Actually salt preserved lemons can be stored for months, in the fridge--there is a recipe in the Linda Ziedrich book that kayskats linked. Certainly not everyone's cup of tea though.

after you've preserved/pickled the meyer lemons ... try

"limes were pickled in saltwater and shipped to Boston, where they were a popular children�s snack. (Remember Amy in Little Women pining for some pickled limes?)"

If they are in danger of going bad while you decide, I bet you could freeze them in the meantime. I filled a gallon ziplock with Kumquats last year, stuck them in the freezer and forgot about them until last week. I was able to make some great tasting marmalade out of them for Christmas.

There are some great suggestions here. Thanks so much.

Think I will try the dehydrated lemon dust. Do you zest them first and then peel off the pith to discard or just slice them and dry them as they are?

Cindy

Here is a link for making Tangerine Dust. I bet it could be adapted for lemons.

http://penandfork.com/tips-tutorials/mandarin-orange-dust/

Yesterday, I dehydrated four lemons. Today I will grind them.

Would it be best to do this outside?

Cindy

I do it in my spice/coffee grinder and have no issues with dust or any other noxius fumes. It's no different than grinding any other spices.

I have a friend who freezes her lemons whole. She says it makes them juicier and easier to juice, too.
The lemons on the tree last so long that I don't worry about until April but this year I may freeze some.

How about sorbet?

I came across this recipe:
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/meyer_lemon_sorbet/

and here is a pickling one:
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_preserved_lemons/

So i made some lemon dust today and what a great idea it is, thank-you Pixie Lou ; )

The lemon dust is a little bit bitter which might be nice in some recipes but not so much in others. Anyone else notice the same thing? Any ideas on how to minimize it?

oops, one more question.

The dust looks like it will be prone to collecting moisture and clumping. I didn't add any salt or sugar (keeping my options open) but maybe the salt would help with that?

The bitterness might be from the white pith under the peel. Might be too much trouble to peel and juice all your citrus just to make dust out of them.

My neighbor makes Lemon Curd and cans it. It's like lemon pie filling - goes good on anything, graham crackers, toast... etc.

I made lemon dust too, it is great, thanks for the suggestion Pixie lou!

Mine has some bitterness too, so it works better in sweet things like cookies, or any recipe where you will add a little sugar, or something sweet. I was also thinking, anti-caking agent here, mine caked too. I added some salt and sugar (and peppercorns) to a batch I made into lemon pepper. Same clumpy tendency. I just crumble it as I use it if it cakes up.

After I grind my dust, I put it in a glass pie plate and let it "dry" for another 5 or 6 hours or so before I pack it up. I can't put it back in the Excalibur since the fan would blow it all away, but I do use my cheapo Ronco dehydrator without a fan.

Clumping is a problem with dehydrated hot pepper powders too & I've used silicon dioxide powder a few times even though it sounds rather gross.

The link below is where I bought it.

Here is a link that might be useful: silicon dioxide source

Mine has clumped, too. I'm keeping it in the freezer in a glass jar.

But I do love it!

Cindy

I will try the extra drying step on my next batch.

On minimizing the bitterness. I have to admit that my first batch was made from unripe (not completely green, some yellow and green) regular lemons, I think they are Eurekas. My Meyers lemons (some need to be picked now) have a much smaller layer of the white pith. I will make a batch of dust using real Meyers lemons this time, yes, what was originally suggested here. I am thinking that the bitterness would be less because the pith is much thinner.

I will post the results after I try this (still have to pick the lemons, slice them, dry them, pulverize them....). By the way, I use my el cheapo Ronco for everything, but I do have an extreme dry weather advantage.

My mother froze a bunch a whole lemons. She thawed and used one last night. She said it was juicier than fresh and just as good!

Just to clarify~i used Meyer Lemons also. Not the ones that are so ripe they are orange (too soft to slice easily) but i wouldn't call them unripe either.

Maybe meyer lemons have bitter pith or maybe just the meyer lemons i grow have bitter pith? I tried a lemon pie last year that was prepared by tossing all the ingredients, including a whole lemon, into a blender and then baking. It was really tasty and sounded so easy but when i tried the recipe at home, with my own meyer lemons, there was a pronounced bitter taste.

I'll post the recipe if anyone is interested but it only uses one lemon ; )

Thanks for the other suggestions.

I did not get to try Meyers lemon dust yet, since the next ripe batch got converted into marmalade. We had enough marmalade but there is a demand for it now.

Mauirose, it is possible that your lemons have an added bitterness. Is the juice also bitter? I often freeze ice cube trays of juice and separate into bags. They come in handy right around the time I am making jams and all the lemons are green.

One word:

Limoncello

When I get in the mood, I can go through a ton of lemonade, using stevia so that it's sugar free. I really like it with a bit of mint or even the plantation mint tea added.