The Simple Trick To Juice A Lemon While Keeping It Fresh
When life gives you lemons, the best thing to do is juice them. The bright, citrusy flavor of the vibrant fruit can lend itself to many things in the kitchen, whether you're concocting a full batch of lemonade or using it to bake a glazed lemon pound cake for dessert. You know the drill: Slice open the lemon, place it on a reamer, and squeeze it 'til the last drop.
Occasionally, however, you might just want a dash of lemon juice — just enough to add acidity and flavor, but not quite enough to justify using the entire fruit. Unless you really need a whole lemon's worth of juice for a recipe, there's really no need to slice it in half or into wedges to get it out. While you can always keep a pre-bottled version of lemon juice in your cupboard to splash at your leisure, there's also no beating the fresh stuff.
So, what should you do in those cases when you only need a small amount of it? Here's a trick: Simply puncture a small hole in the lemon with a knife or a fork, then squeeze out what you need before placing it back in your fridge.
Keeping the lemon whole prevents it from drying out
Given the rising costs of produce, especially of citrus fruits in particular, it's probably not worth cutting up an entire lemon just to spritz a bit of juice onto your salad or into a cocktail. Even if you attempt to store the rest to use at a later date, the fruit may not stay fresh long enough to salvage, resulting in an overall waste of food and money.
As soon as you expose the pulp to air, it will start to dry out. Making a small hole in the flesh, on the other hand, will not compromise the overall integrity of the fruit, and keeping it whole will ensure that it will stay nice and juicy inside for all your subsequent citrus needs.
And not only will this little juicing hack save you money, but it will also save you time and effort. After all, it takes about a second to poke a hole in a lemon and squeeze, as compared to the lengthier process of cutting and juicing. So the next time you need a little spritz of lemon, remember to juice smarter, not harder.