Homemade Lemon Juice Concentrate Food

HOMEMADE LEMONADE CONCENTRATE

Steps:

• Pick lemons from your tree if you have one. Use fresh lemons from the store or farmer's markets too. Wash the lemons and cut in half.
• Squeeze the juice from the lemons. You will need 1 and 1/4 cups of fresh juice. Add to a large mason jar or big pyrex measuring cup to hold.
• Boil water in a large measuring pyrex or tea kettle.
• In a medium-sized bowl or your pyrex measuring cup, stir together the boiling water with the 1 and 1/4 cup of sugar. Stir to dissolve.
• Once cool, add to the lemon juice. Stir.
• Store in mason jars or pour into a quart-sized Ziploc bag. The lemonade concentrate can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. It can be stored in the freezer for up to 5 months.

HOMEMADE LEMONADE CONCENTRATE

Steps:

• 1. Combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil on medium high, stirring frequently. As soon as sugar has dissolved (after boiling), remove from heat and allow to cool. Do not overcook as you will end up with candy instead of syrup!
• 2. Meanwhile, juice the lemons until you have 1 1/2 cups of juice. Strain out the seeds and as much pulp as you wish.
• 3. After the syrup has cooled somewhat, add the juice and stir until completely combined. Store frozen in airtight freezer-safe plastic container (metal will adversely affect the flavor of the juice, and glass can be brittle when cold). Keeps 9 - 12 months if kept frozen solid and away from air (air = freezer burn!).
• 4. VARIATIONS FOR CONCENTRATE: * Use other fresh juices such as orange or grapefruit in place of some or all of the lemons (adjust sugar as necessary--remember, lemons are usually more sour than many fruits and thus would require more sugar...unless you're adding grapefruit, in which case, leave it all in!). * Finely zest some lemon peel into syrup while bringing to the boil - maybe half a teaspoon or so. Depending on the size and quantity of the zest, you may want to strain this before serving to guests. *If you want to kick up the yellow coloring a tad, as well as add a little taste of something indefinable, put a small pinch of saffron into the pot while bringing the syrup to a boil. (I don't know about you, but I have a box of saffron threads going stale in my cupboard because I bought it for one recipe, long ago, and there just isn't that much call for it in other recipes!) Be sure to crush the threads thoroughly. If you've left the pulp or zest in your mix, you won't need to strain out the saffron; but if your lemonade is free of all flotsam then you may want to strain it out when you pour the prepared lemonade into your serving glass.
• 5. INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING LEMONADE FROM CONCENTRATE Defrost concentrate.* In a pitcher or glass, combine equal parts concentrate with water. Add ice if desired (see #7 below) and enjoy! * Do not re-freeze after thawing; store unused portions in refrigerator! If you plan to make one (8 oz.) glass at a time, I suggest freezing concentrate in half-cup portions. Zipper freezer bags work well for this. Be sure to remove as much air as possible without spilling syrup. Use a sturdy walled freezer-safe container to corral the bags until frozen solid, or place horizontally on cookie sheet and stack later when frozen--just be sure all the zippers are snapped tightly closed!
• 6. VARIATIONS FOR PREPARED LEMONADE *Use cranberry juice and fizzy water instead of plain water. *Use prepared tea instead of water. *Add a shot of your preferred alcoholic beverage to glass before serving: light rum, gin, tequila, vodka, etc. *Float a sprig of fresh mint or rosemary in glass before serving.
• 7. GOURMET ICE CUBES Freeze small fruit such as blueberries, raspberries, cherries or fraises des bois (tiny wild strawberries) in individual ice cubes: Fill reservoirs half full with water or fruit juice and add cleaned fruit (it will float). Freeze solid. If you wish, once solid you can top off each reservoir with a dab of additional water or juice to cover more of the fruit. Return to freezer until solid. At this point you can remove ice cubes from tray to make more ice cubes. Store cubes in airtight zipper bags; remove as much air as possible from bag before returning to freezer. Remember: water DOES evaporate while frozen! This is part of the "freezer burning" process that makes old frozen food taste bad even though it's not technically spoiled. To help your frozen food stay fresh longer while frozen, keep it away from air!

HOMEMADE LEMON JUICE CONCENTRATE

Steps:

• In saucepan, bring stevia and water to a boil.
• Cook just until stevia dissolves.
• Remove from heat and cool.
• Stir in lemon juice.
• Store in refrigerator in covered container until ready to use.
• To make lemonade by the pitcher: Combine full recipe with 5 cups of cold water.
• Add ice and stir.
• Garnish with lemon slices and fresh.

THE BEST LEMON ICED TEA

Steps:

• Place green tea bags and black tea bags in a 1-gallon glass jar. Pour boiling water over tea bags; steep for 30 minutes.
• Remove tea bags; stir in sugar and lemonade concentrate until dissolved. Fill jar to the top with cold water; stir in lemon juice. Chill in the refrigerator until cold. Serve over ice.

LEMONADE CONCENTRATE

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients.
• Stir till dissolved.
• To make lemonade use 1 - 2 ounces base per 6 ounces water.

OLD FASHIONED HOMEMADE LEMONADE CONCENTRATE

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients together well.
• Pour boiling water over mixture.
• Stir shortly.
• Let stand overnight.
• Strain mixture and then bottle.
• When you wish to drink it, add the concentrate to water to taste.

EASY LEMONADE

Steps:

• Tip the lemons, sugar and half the water into a food processor and blend until the lemon is finely chopped.
• Pour the mixture into a sieve over a bowl, then press through as much juice as you can. Top up with the remaining water and serve with plain ice or frozen with slices of lemon and lime.

LEMON-LIMEADE CONCENTRATE

Steps:

• Combine sugar and water.
• Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
• Boil 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Let cool.
• Stir in lemon and lime juices.
• Put in a jar with a tight fitting lid.
• Seal and refrigerate at least 6 hours before using.
• This can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.