how to zest a lemon

Well, this is not just about how to zest a lemon - you can zest any citrus fruit. What is zesting? It's removing the very outer layer of skin from a citrus fruit. Zest is a great way to add extra flavor to cooking and extra oomph to food and drink presentation. :D

You can candy it, preserve it, dry it, grind it with spices, add it to baked goods - almost anything!

In this instructable I'm going to show you how to zest a lemon or any other citrus fruit in three easy ways. Soon you will be the zest master!

Step 1: Weapons of choice

There are three good ways to zest any citrus fruit:

• a paring knife
• a zester
• a microplane or grater

I've also heard of people using vegetable peelers, but I'm guessing you need a very fancy and very sharp peeler. I have tried several times and been less than impressed. So I'm gonna say those people are fibbers.

Each will give you entirely different results. Using a paring knife is great for candied lemon or orange peels, using a grater or microplane is great for getting zest into baked goods, salad dressing or other cooking that requires tiny bits of zest, and using a zester is great for decorative zest.

Also, a note about which fruit to buy - your best bet when using zest it to get organic produce! Nearly all conventional produce is coated with wax. The wax can make the zest taste funny sometimes, and it's pretty hard to remove. Can't find organic produce? Scrub the fruit under hot water and that's a start.

I've used conventional lemons, limes and oranges for zest quite a few times and I'm not dead yet and everything still tasted good. :D

Comments

[tclemmo]

I love your photos, on all of your Instructables.

[westfw]

I've done this "backward." Peel the lemon (pith and all.) Then, starting from the backside, cut/scrape off the pith to leave nothing but the zest. This works well for making candied lemon peel, but I always feel like it's not finely enough grated for recipes that call for "zest."

[clevernonsense]

Oranges, grapefruits, and other orange-like citrus zest MUCH easier with a vegetable peeler. Lemons and limes are definitely better to stick with the micro planer :)

[dchall8]

Our microplane will not touch the pith. The pith seems to be too soft to catch on the plane's sharp edges.