Lemon is a remarkably versatile fruit and has multiple uses besides giving us refreshing lemon juice. This is especially the case with lemon peel, which is packed with vitamins and gives great flavor to food and desserts.
Unsurprisingly, most people tend to throw away the peel when needing lemon just for its juice because they think it’ll go bad if not used right away. But did you know that there are ways you can save lemon peel for later use, and it won’t lose its quality?
Next time you are making a batch of lemonade, don’t throw away the lemon peel. Instead, use one of these two ways to preserve it for the future.
Freeze Lemon Peel
The easiest way to keep your lemon peel good for prolonged periods is to freeze it. Just put your peel inside a plastic bag and pop it into the freezer.
An even better solution is to cut the peel into small ribbons and then freeze it. This way, you can just take out as much as you need for a particular recipe while also saving space in the freezer.
Dry Lemon Peel
This method is the total opposite compared to the first one, but it does the same job. Dry lemon peel can be used for recipes but also works great as a vitamin-packed snack or addition to drinks and tea.
The first way to dry your lemon peel is to cut it in stripes and line them inside out on a pan covered with parchment paper. Pop the pan inside the oven and leave it at 200 F for around 25 minutes. Check the peel occasionally in case it gets dried more quickly.
The second way is to place the stripes on parchment paper and put them on a sunny window or balcony. The sun will dry them out to perfection in a couple of days.
