When a recipe calls for fresh squeezed lemon, orange or even juice from a blood orange, do you take the time to juice that citrus yourself? Do you think it's worth the extra steps and time?
I do.
As a person who works with food professionally, I'll admit I'm always trying to cut corners and save time. I so appreciate one-pot dishes, show–stopping bowls of soup made from five ingredients or less and dinners like lasagna that practically cook themselves. I love to save time, money, energy, but with fresh citrus, I think the squeezed juice from a real fruit is absolutely paramount in flavor and brightness.
I grew up in a house with a plastic–shaped lemon bottle which contained a lemon–like substance. I would merrily make lemonade with heavy–handed squirts of this weird stuff and heaping tablespoons of sugar (a wild, budding gourmand!). It sort of tasted like lemonade. Fast forward many years later and I was living in Istanbul. It was there that I got completely addicted to the freshness of squeezed orange juice, often mixed with pomegranate juice. And things were never the same. I loved the incredible balance of tart and sweet. In most recipes, fresh citrus adds an incredible punch that just isn't as strong when coming from a carton or bottle. It's not difficult to keep a hand juicer available for quick amounts of juice to add to salad dressings, cocktails, soups and grain–based salads.
I'm curious what your thoughts are on this? To squeeze or not to squeeze?
Related: Orange Juice: Morning Necessity or Empty Calories?
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Comments (25)
It makes a huge difference in flavour. I've heard people say that lemon juice from the bottle tastes chemically.
I'm not bothered enough by it (though I certainly wouldn't use it for lemonade! haha) to stop using it. I hate having random shriveled lemons and limes in the fridge waiting and waiting for the day they might be used...
I squeeze only when the zest is also called for in the recipe.
I think bottle juice has come a long way. For lemons I still tend to juice my own, however key lime juice I always purchase bottled. Not only are key limes expensive where I live but I would have to buy far to many to get the juice in the quantity I desire.
I use only fresh citrus and always have lemons and limes on hand. There is no substitute. To use them us so they don't languish in the frige, cut them in wedges and put in a container and then add to drinks...they won't be waiting to be used and shrivel. Put peels down garbage disposal to freshen.
Um, YES, of course. How is this even a question??
I didn't grow up with the store bought lemon/lime juice--learned to squeeze limes always since it's a common ingredient in my parents' cooking. I've tried the store bought kind before but it tastes so off.
I grew up with bottled juices, but in my cooking I always use fresh citrus. But I have to admit - for the copious amounts of lemon green tea I drink at work, I use the bottled stuff. The plastic knives provided in the office kitchen probably wouldn't even go through a lemon!
Buy in bulk, squeeze and freeze. Perfect for both lemons and limes. But I agree with Bobette, key lime juice is the only way to go for key limes.
I much prefer fresh-squeezed, but I also keep the bottled stuff on hand for "emergencies." I also sprinkle the bottled stuff on the fruit I slice for my son's lunch box so it doesn't brown.
Your lead-in made me a bit nervous! I was afraid you might go the other direction with this post.
The taste difference is not even arguable; fresh citrus far surpasses the bottled stuff. And I personally love the feeling of pressing the juice out of citrus using a citrus squeezer! I think it's one of those small kitchen pleasures. I usually just need to do one or half of one lemon or lime at a time, but even when making something that requires the juice of several fruit, I don't consider it to be time consuming (relative to other truly laborious but worth it prep tasks).
What I'd love to know is whether anyone has a guide for using fresh citrus juice rather than bottled for canning, since I'm planning to get into it this year. I know the bottled stuff is usually recommended for its consistent acidity, but canning has been around for much longer than bottled citrus, so surely there's a way to do it using fresh citrus?
Depends---so always yes for lemon and lime, for orange it depends if I am cooking it or not. For glazes always fresh but as part of a cake (usually like a cup of OJ) I'll just use bottled, same for poaching. The primary difference in fresh and store bought is that the stuff at the store has been heated so if you're going to cook it anyway why worry.
freeze it, people. if you have citrus you might not get to in time, zest and juice and freeze each (separately). I like freezing the juice in ice cube trays.
A resounding yes to fresh-squeezed. I don't drink juice anyway, so I'll just pick up a lemon or lime at the grocery store for a recipe. There just isn't a comparison.
I think the flavor is better when you squeeze it fresh but I've never had a problem with the stuff from a bottle. It's actually rare for me to use my citrus that way though. Usually we end up eating it so the juice never makes it into our recipes.
When I'm cooking I always use fresh squeezed. I don't mind orange juice, but it doesn't taste much like fresh-squeezed oranges to me.
Fresh. Really doesn't take a lot of time. There is one exception- I once made little lemon cakes for a baking sale where I had to use maybe 30 lemons, since I made a big amount and used a lot of lemon juice. Since I was doing a favour in doing that anyway I couldn't be bothered and bought the bottled stuff which also was a lot cheaper. But that really was an exception.
squeeze!!
Wow I wish I could stop seeing blood oranges all over the net cause I can't get them here! It's annoying!
Fresh squeezed for me. Juicing one lemon is not going to take up a lot of time.
Fresh-squeezed, always. We make fresh-squeezed orange juice every morning and it only take a couple of minutes for our family of 4. The biggest issue is managing all the oranges -- I finally succumbed to buying an Alessi citrus basket in order to contain all the oranges we go through.
Always. I never buy lemon juice because we have a lemon tree in the backyard. If it's not in fruit, then I just don't make any recipes that reaquire lemon juice.
fresh squeezed is really worth it for baking and I can't imagine a gin and tonic without a fresh wedge of lime. I have tried the store bought stuff (for baking, would never allow it to pollute my G&t)and I just don't like the taste at all.
I definitely prefer fresh squeezed, and have always hated the taste of bottled lemon and lime juice. However, i dont stray from the basics for a recipe, unless it's a cocktail recipe. Anything cooked that calls for blood orange juice is gonna get plain old regular orange juice. If i ever have blood oranges on hand, it's likely intended for some variation on a margarita, and margaritas get top billing in my repertoire...
Isn't freshly squeezed juice simply juice? Everything else is an attempt at convenience.
I can't seem to get enough of the blood oranges that are in season - been going through bags of them making sorbetto and cakes. Can I juice them and freeze the juice to use when they are no longer available? Is so, what is the best way to freeze? I hardly ever freeze anything unless I bought it already frozen.