How Jacques Pépin Cuts Lemons To Get The Most Juice

The thought of lemon juice might make your mouth pucker, but this acidic citrus can brighten and liven up the taste of a number of foods and drinks. From lemon drop martinis to tangy vinaigrettes, lemon juice is an essential ingredient. Per MasterClass, when it comes to juicing a fresh lemon, an average-sized fruit should yield anywhere from three to five tablespoons of juice. There are several different ways to juice a lemon. As the blog Alpha Foodie points out, using an electric juicer is probably the easiest, but it isn't the only way. The blogger shares that one of the most important things you need are room temperature lemons.

But if you are looking for a technique to help you squeeze the most juice from your lemon that doesn't require the convenience of an electric juicer, then you are going to want to check out Jacques Pépin's trick to do just that. Pépin is a French chef who was not only buddies with Julia Child, per Culinary Schools, but once worked for President Charles de Gaulle and certainly knows a thing or two about how to use this citrus.

Jacques Pépin explains in a video demonstration from his "Jacques Pépin: Essential Techniques Compilation" that there are several ways to get the most juice out of your lemons. Pépin says when you roll the lemon on a hard surface, it "softens" a little, and you get more juice. He also says you can drop it into boiling water for 10 seconds or put it in the microwave for 5 seconds, and both of these methods will result in more juice. But when it comes time for cutting your lemon, Pépin notes you do not want to cut it in the center. You want to bring your knife to the side of the lemon and make your incision there. Pépin says he learned this trick in Mexico, and when you squeeze the cut side, you get more juice from the fruit.

However, if you don't want to cut your lemon, MasterClass offers an alternative juicing method. The cooking site suggests using a skewer that you would use to make kebabs and puncturing the non-stem side of the lemon with this wooden spear. MasterClass explains you want to make a deep hole with the skewer and then pull it out. Then simply take a bowl or glass, and the juice will free flow from the opening.