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Step 2Prepare the lemon zest
First, wash the lemons thoroughly. A produce brush helps a lot with this. Some folks use a special-purpose fruit and vegetable wash solution to get them super-clean, but I've never been one for such luxuries.
Next, zest the lemons. For those of you who aren't familiar with the process, lemon peel consists of two layers: zest and pith. The pith is the inner, white part, and the zest is the outer, yellow part. You only want the zest, because the pith is bitter and will impart that bitterness to your limoncello. Therefore, be careful that you don't get any bits of white in your zest.
There are a lot of ways to zest lemons. Going from low-tech to high, they're as follows:
A knife. You can zest lemons with a knife, but it needs to be small and very sharp, and you need to be careful with it. Blood in your limoncello is not cool, no matter how much of a goth you are.
A potato peeler. Some people like these, but they probably have sharper potato peelers than I do. The first time I made this stuff, I tried this but then switched to a (just-sharpened) knife. Then I bought . . .
A lemon zester. Mine's a knock-off of a nice ergonomic model from Zyliss and also includes a channel knife so you can make twists too.
A Microplane or similar fine grater. This might be the ultimate zesting tool--I've heard people say they make it much easier, and they certainly look like they would, but I don't have enough use for one to justify dropping $15 or $20 on it. (Edit: On the recommendation of nattles, below, I have purchased a Microplane grating rasp, and it is everything a grater should be. Strongly recommended.)
Keep in mind that smaller bits of zest will give you more surface area, and therefore more chance for the lemon oils to dissolve into the alcohol. Knives and potato peelers will each give you little chips of zest, whereas the zester will give you thin strips, and the Microplane very tiny shreds. I'd go for the lemon zester if you didn't have anything more specialized; it should only cost five bucks or thereabouts. Or if you want to splash out a bit more, get a Microplane rasp.
Next, zest the lemons. For those of you who aren't familiar with the process, lemon peel consists of two layers: zest and pith. The pith is the inner, white part, and the zest is the outer, yellow part. You only want the zest, because the pith is bitter and will impart that bitterness to your limoncello. Therefore, be careful that you don't get any bits of white in your zest.
There are a lot of ways to zest lemons. Going from low-tech to high, they're as follows:
A knife. You can zest lemons with a knife, but it needs to be small and very sharp, and you need to be careful with it. Blood in your limoncello is not cool, no matter how much of a goth you are.
A potato peeler. Some people like these, but they probably have sharper potato peelers than I do. The first time I made this stuff, I tried this but then switched to a (just-sharpened) knife. Then I bought . . .
A lemon zester. Mine's a knock-off of a nice ergonomic model from Zyliss and also includes a channel knife so you can make twists too.
A Microplane or similar fine grater. This might be the ultimate zesting tool--I've heard people say they make it much easier, and they certainly look like they would, but I don't have enough use for one to justify dropping $15 or $20 on it. (Edit: On the recommendation of nattles, below, I have purchased a Microplane grating rasp, and it is everything a grater should be. Strongly recommended.)
Keep in mind that smaller bits of zest will give you more surface area, and therefore more chance for the lemon oils to dissolve into the alcohol. Knives and potato peelers will each give you little chips of zest, whereas the zester will give you thin strips, and the Microplane very tiny shreds. I'd go for the lemon zester if you didn't have anything more specialized; it should only cost five bucks or thereabouts. Or if you want to splash out a bit more, get a Microplane rasp.
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it's identical to the one I use at work, which leads me to believe that a good restaurant supply store should have it. I like Economy Restaurant Supply on 7th street in soma. As annoying as it is, sometimes yelp can be helpful (like for addresses), see here:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/economy-restaurant-fixtures-san-francisco
but be careful, this store is addictive. happy hunting!
I just started a batch of Limoncello using 21 Meyer lemons, and used the lemon juice to make lemon bars, lemonade, and lemon juice + simple syrup concentrate for mixing with drinks while I wait for the Limoncello.
What other uses are there for the left over lemons?
Any thoughts?