That is the question.
A question, I hope, that I have answered, since we are now actively eating them. No one has died. No one has even gotten a stomach ache. So, hopefully we’ve ruled out botulism.
I’m sure that inspires you not. But, who knows. You sit here reading this blog, don’t you? Who am I to make judgements about what you actually will, or will not, do?
Am I endorsing the making of preserved lemons? No. No, I’m not. Frankly, I don’t think they are all that. But then, maybe I made them wrong. Well, I mean, I know I made them wrong, as you will soon see. But you are still eating lemon rinds, for pete sake. How good can they actually be, even if you have made them right? (This is where my faithful readers should chime in and tell me how wonderful preserved lemons are.)
But hopefully, you all know me well enough to know that, dammitalltohellanyway, I will be making them again. The right way. Just to see if I am missing some gourmand gene that allows me to swoon over preserved lemons like my friends do.
For your ensured longevity, I will be giving you the correct technique for preserving lemons. For your reading pleasure, I will tell you how I preserved mine.
Correct Technique #1: Start small. Buy 8-10 lemons. Use a quart canning jar. Because, you will probably never eat them all anyway.
Incorrect Technique #1: Buy a 20 lb bag of lemons at Costco. Buy a 2-gallon canning jar at Sur La Table.
Correct Technique #2: Optional. Soak the lemons in water to soften the rind for three days, changing the water daily.
Correct Technique #3: Cut the lemons in half lengthwise almost through to the other side, leaving the stem end intact. Rotate 90 degrees and cut again lengthwise so it is quartered, again leaving the base intact. You should be able to open the lemon like a flower. Sprinkle the insides of the lemon generously with salt.
Correct Technique #4: Put 2 tablespoons of salt in the bottom of the sterilized jar and pack lemons tightly into the jar, squishing them mercilessly so that juice is extracted and rises above the packed lemons. If necessary, add more freshly squeezed lemon juice** to cover lemons. Top off with another 2 tablespoons of salt. Seal jar and put in a dark, cool place. Every few days, tip jar over to move the juices around. The lemons will be ready in about 30 days.
Incorrect Techniques #2, #3 & #4: After preparing the lemons, pack them into the far-too-large jar. Decide that looks are more important than preservation, and spend a lot of time making the lemons look good inside the jar. You’ll be putting these on your counter, right? Next, after realizing you will need another 20 lb bag of lemons from Costco in order to come up with enough fresh juice to cover them, determine that the bottled organic 100% lemon juice you have in the refrigerator from Costco is just as good a freshly squeezed. Add everything you’ve got. Note that your lemons still are not covered with juice. Since your lemons are not squeezed and packed tight into your jar, they are free to bob around inside and float to the top. Because you are now out of 100% fresh organic bottled juice, and suddenly understanding that you will need another 4-5 cups of juice, since the damn lemons float, add a little water. (This is a cognizant and flagrant departure from the the very vague recipe your dear friend verbally related to you at bookclub about four months ago. And it feels…wrong.) As you begin to add the water, you have a better idea. Isn’t olive oil a preserving ingredient? And maybe the lemons won’t float so much in the oil. Great idea! You are a good ad-libber! You add about an inch of olive oil to the top. Since you have yet to have your very handy MacBook Air in the kitchen with you to quickly and easily google a recipe, and since you are also very late on time, you do not bother your sometimes-pretty little head about this detail. You cook and can all the time. It will be fine. You shut the lid and put it in a dark, cool place.
(To ferment.)
The lemons will be ready in about 30 days.
Correct Technique #5: Enjoy your safely-perserved and no-doubt delicious lemons by removing a lemon with a clean untensil to prevent contaminating the container with bacteria. Cut the lemon (rind only or rind and flesh) in small pieces and add to what ever you want a bright citrus note. A little goes a long way. (Or so I’m told.)
Incorrect Techniques #5, #6 & #7: You are excited to try these delightful things.
Carefully open your overly large jar of bobbing lemons. (Learn from the master here and consider safety goggles.) Stand back as the flip top explodes off the jar backward on its hinge and bruises your hand.
Hmmm. Can that be right?
Since you now DO have your MacBook Air in the kitchen with you (safely ensconced with a user password so your Facebook stalking daughter can’t steal it), google, “What should preserved lemons look like.” Spend a lot of time that you do not have reading about all the things you did wrong. Stir the lemons around to release all the carbonation and re-cap. Store in a cool, dark place for another 30 days.
Maybe they will go away.
Since they don’t go away, and since your very well-intentioned husband continues to buy way more than you need during his pilgrimages to Costco, re-organize your cool, dark pantry. Push the lemons to the left. Dust the glass. Stare at the swirling liquid. Shut the pantry door.
It’s time to vacuum and mop. And yes, it’s time to do the pantry floor. Move the preserved lemons to the right. Mop underneath. Move them back. Shut the door.
Can they really be that bad? Maybe the carbonation is normal. Maybe the carbonation is gone. Open the jar by protecting your hands with several layers of towels. (Brilliant idea, by the way.)
No, the carbonation is still there, gurgling to the top long after the lid is opened.
On the positive side, there is no obvious mold and they smell delightful!
Spend more time reading about preserved lemons. Try not to focus on the fact that you highly suspect you don’t even really like preserved lemons and that this is nothing but a stubborn and giant waste of time.
You learn:
- the carbonation is from the bottled lemon juice. A well-known no-no with no explanation as to why.
- other cooks have also experienced bubbly preserved lemons, asking if this is ‘normal’ on cooking sites, forums and places like yahoo answers — which, from my experience is not a place for answers.
- in these forums, no one has screamed (in capital letters) DON’T EAT THEM! DANGER! DANGER! They only say things like, “no, that is not normal. did you use bottled lemon juice?”
- olive oil is mentioned no where.
- botulism is a scary, strange, odorless, deadly bacteria. I do not want botulism. However, it is unlikely to grow in so much salt and acid. (I did not learn that on yahoo answers.)
- you have made non-lethal, slightly fermented, preserved lemons. Something closer to limoncello, the Italian lemon liqueur. (This is not necessarily a bad thing.)
You decide:
- you will try these “preserved lemons” by first eating them yourself. You have lived a good life. Even if you die, you will have time to say goodbye to loved ones.
- they are OK. Nothing so great as to merit all this angst, however.
- you live, unscathed, and begin to serve them in everything, including the hot new Asparagus Quinoa Salad, where you think they actually might deserve a permanent spot.
And finally, next time, you will follow the recipe.
** Only fresh squeezed, out of the fresh, yellow fruit, juice. Not bottled. Not water. No olive oil.
Jane says
Hi Jennie
I think mine are a little ‘gassy’ as I have to release the pressure of the lids every day or so – they have had plenty of salt and fresh lemon juice so I am hoping I can use them whats your thoughts as I really don’t wat to throw them out after all that time and effort?! After tasting a ‘little’ of the liquid (Twice)I am still alive too!!
admin says
Welcome to the club! Mine are fine. Did you also add anything from the BANNED list of ingredients?
My friend was so disappointed in my attempt at making these that she gave me some of hers to try. Honestly, they taste much the same, though hers are a BEAUTIFUL shade of yellow, while mine are a ruddy gold color. I’d say hers are saltier and brighter tasting. She also stores hers in the fridge.
Cindy at enclos*ure says
I love preserved lemons (but I first tasted them in Morocco), but they make my teeth hurt if I eat too many raw. I would experiment with cooking them with meat.
Probably the best preparation technique is to buy them at Whole Foods, because you’re right that you really don’t need to keep that many around. And you can transfer them into your own pretty glass jar.
admin says
Cindy, you might be on to something! By the end of this dreadful summer with my horrible garden and being too busy, I will be READY to PURCHASE things like preserved lemons!
emily says
that is the funniest blog. i have just been madly googling for answers about fizzy preserved lemons as i nearly blew a hole through the roof when i opened the jar tonight for a peak and sniff at the lemons. i have 3 more weeks to go but will be releasing the gas every day or so to avoid an explosion. if the damned things don’t work my son will kill me (that is if the lemons don’t get me first). He already told me off for raiding the last 10+lemons off his lemon tree telling me it was a waste (possibly very wise 6yr old words).
Tanya says
Though I have arrived late to this blog, I found it very useful, ‘through’ & funny)))
I have made my first batch and was ready to sample, but I
suddenly became aware of “did I really preserve them right?!”
I didn’t have ‘bubble’, or really, anything…they just hung out
in the ball jar I preserved them in. So, I had some worry…
I went online for assurance and wisdom))
Thank you for the great blog)) I liked that you added not only what was ‘correct’ but also, what was ‘incorrect'[‘maybe I did that…’:-))]. This makes for a more, well-rounded approach to preserving lemons:-)
Monica says
The jar I received as a gift several months ago hasn’t been refrigerated but has been tightly sealed. The first two lemons had a gelatinous goop around them. Is that normal?
admin says
I don’t know if it is normal or not. I’d be leery if I was serving them to someone else. If it were just me? I’d taste it and see. I marvel at my own stupidity when I see it here in black and white…
Monica says
Ate ’em, served ’em, loved ’em. A bit of “jellification” seems to be okay!
Marcko says
Made ’em, love ’em. Preserved lemons go well in so many recipes, mainly savory, but I’m going to use them in my next home-made ice cream.
Mike Rubeis says
I made preserved Meyer lemons and did not use bottled lemon juice. I used standard Mason jars with metal lids. After about 1-2 weeks I noticed the lids bulging a bit and, so, opened one. Gas came out of the jar and the liquid, much as carbon dioxide releases from the liquid when one opens a bottle of champagne. I quickly surmised that my lemons (despite scrubbing, boiling the jars and lids, and using copious amounts of salt) were fermenting. I have no idea how the yeast that yields such fermentation could survive such a high concentration of salt, but I dumped the contents of all the jars in a large pot and brought it up to a quick boil and re-sterilized all the jars. I then re-packed them in the jars. We’re about a month out now, the lids are not bulging, and the lemons look good. In time I’ll know if this exercise hurt the flavor/texture of the lemons but in the future I think I’m going to subject my whole lemons to a quick dip in boiling water before I cut, salt and pack them. Not sure if it matters but I’ll add that I also included bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, whole cardamom seeds and a little saffron to the mixture from the outset.
Helen says
This made me laugh so much!!! what a delight to find someone else who is willing to push the boundries in the name of cooking science!!! I am currently emptying out my upright freezer for a move interstate and want to use my “yet to be tried” preserved lemons. I mainly wanted to know if there was any possibility I would kill myself or others ๐ seems not. Great site!
admin says
Happy to help Helen! Believe it or not, I wrote that post a couple years ago and… I still have my yellow orbs of death. And yet I live. So there you go!
Sandy Berardi says
Made 5 containers of preserved lemons. One of the containers developed a blue-green mold. I removed it and am wondering if I should just throw out the jar. I can’t believe mold can grow in so much salt! Thanks–
jenmenke says
Don’t ask me Sandy! I’m seriously not the person you should trust on this. ๐
Emily says
So, what about bulging lids? Just noticed that today on my “too large” jars of preserved lemons. We’ve been eating them, storing them in the fridge, with not problems, but now there’s this issue of the lids……probably not enough lemon juice in the jars either….
Pds314 says
Preserving lemons? No way. If I get tired of drinking only lemonade, I’ll just get a cutting knife and eat them immediately.
Chris says
So funny! I made two jars, one is fizzy the other is not. Both used same technique! Its really odd, as I am trying to ferment some ginger(ginger bug) to make naturally carbonated beverages and no fizz! But my lemons are having a party!
Matt says
This is seriously SO hilarious! ๐ I’m pretty sure I followed like 7 of the incorrect steps last night when trying to make an oversized jar (2 qt) of preserved lemons. I really have no intention of ever eating these, ever..just really want to use for display after I saw some pictures of Upland in NYC (look it up, its gorgeous). But…it would be nice to know if I ever WANTED to eat them I could! After reading this though, while they look pretty..I think they’re probably pretty closer to yellow orbs of death! Ummmm, think I’ll just keep them around for display..and hope they dont explode on me ๐
admin says
Hey Matt. Iโve got the itch to try this again. Iโm here for supper and help. Talk me out of it.
Christina Henson-Hayes says
When I make them, here in Australia, I use organic (literally from the trees of friends) Meyer lemons which are magnificent and sweet. When they salt, they mean a LOT of salt. IE you pack your lemons in salt like capers. The salt should weigh them down. Put the spices you want, coriander, cinnamon, bay leaves (fresh) or whatever, but know that powdered spices will brown your lemons in the jar and make them appear rusty, although they will taste amazing. I find when you leave them for more than a few months, the lemons become more like a conserve as they mature. When I use them, I might scoop out just a cured teaspoon or so and not add salt to the final dish yet, before adjusting for the salt content of the lemons. The problem with whole lemons is getting the salt into the fruit, You would have fermentation that way possibly. When topping up, commercial lemon juice isn’t the culprit, I don’t think because there are preservatives in it. The culprit in my mind is not enough salt and adding water or olive oil. Those are no bueno for this jar of lemons. The Tunisians don’t add as much salt, add lemon juice and have a watery solution, but they eat them within two weeks to three weeks since they flavour so much of their cuisine. Try marinating lamb steaks with your preserved lemons. You can pull them out of brine, rinse some of the salt off of them, and then blitz them in the cuisinart. Add some spices and some garlic, mint, oregano, and black pepper or red, and taste for salt. You don’t want a rub too salty. If it is, thin it with olive oil.
jenmenke says
Well Christina, that is SUPER helpful. I especially like your use of “no bueno” as it pertains to bubbly preserved lemons. I think we could be friends. ๐
t j says
we are here in 2024 laughing at your bubbles and ours!! ๐๐๐ now we have emoji!