Lemons are an ideal way to perk up early spring cuisine; from salads to fish and desserts, they are an easy addition to keep on hand. However, I always end up planning a meal around my last lemon, only to find out it has become hard and yields as much juice as a potato. Then I read this simple tip from Cook's Illustrated!
Lemons look great just sitting in a bowl on the counter, so that's where they usually live in my kitchen. Well, it turns out, that's about the worst way to store them (go figure!). Cook's Illustrated tested several ways of storing the tart fruit and documented the fact that those lovely rinds don't protect the fruit from drying out as much as one would think.
They stored lemons in room temperature and standard refrigerator conditions. In the refrigerator, they also tested sealing the lemons in plastic bags, with and without water. The lemons stored in room temperature conditions only lasted a week before hardening. But the ones they sealed in plastic bags in the refrigerator? Those lasted FOUR times as long. A month versus a week on the counter top!
Now, the lemons stored loose in the refrigerator didn't fare quite as well, but were still an improvement over the room temperature examples. And the article makes a point that the lemons should be sealed in a plastic bag and not just shoved in a drawer in their flimsy, open supermarket produce bags. Adding water to the plastic bags didn't help with preservation, either.
Do you refrigerate your lemons sealed in plastic bags?
• Read more: Preserving Lemons at Cook's Illustrated
Related: Tip: Five Ways to Use Naked Lemons
(Image: Flickr user L. Marie licensed for use under Creative Commons)
How to Bake a Potato: Three Easy Methods
How To Cook Tender, Chewy Wheat Berries on the Stovetop
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Straw Mat from The ...
Must-See Small Cool Homes: Week Two
Beth's Romantic & Retro Residence
I've always kept mine out, because they're so pretty. I usually do use them within a week, but this is a great tip!
I always keep my lemons in the fridge. I usually cut them up and put them in a container for easy lemon water. During the hot months, I cut them up and freeze them. It's like a lemon ice cube! So refreshing and last forever. You can also do it with orange slices. Yummy!
Wonderful tip! Thanks.
I wonder if this is true with most citrus fruits?
Great tip! The fruit off of my meyer lemon tree is slowly starting to dwindle so this is good to know!
This is great info to know.
Though I have another solution which works from me when I'm not too lazy: when I have several lemons, I zest them all in one go and keep it in a plastic container the freezer. I also freeze the juice in ice cube trays. That way I always have lemon juice and zest on hand.
I tried this tip (I'm a Cook's subscriber) and found that moisture tended to accumulate in the sealed bag which seemed to lead to faster deterioration. I then tried placing a paper towel inside to absorb the moisture, but it didn't do enough. Eventually I just gave up and put the loose lemons into my crisper drawer! They may not last a whole month, but pretty darn close!
I don't have a comment on the lemons but the colander in the photo. That is my perfect colander, I have been searching for, with little ball feet. What brand and where can I acquire it?
Boy, I really needed to read this! By far, lemons have got to be the most disgusting smelling rotting food on the planet. A few times I've forgotten them in the fridge and you can smell them as soon as you enter the house. My husband would prefer I never buy them again because this keeps happening.
I refrigerate lemons in a bowl (no sealed bag) and I find they last even longer than a month. I just used up some limes I bought way too many of at thanksgiving; they weren't very pretty (you couldn't use the rind), but I was able to juice them just fine.
I keep all citrus in my crisper drawer (humidity set to low.)
who knew the sheer laziness of me tossing the plastic bag of them straight form the store in the fridge was actually doing some good! I've always kept lemons this way and mine last seemingly forever in the fridge.
I put lemons and/or limes in a small ceramic bowl in the fridge and according to when/how I use them that bowl is placed in the crisper or on the shelf and I've had amazing results - they keep well and sometimes I forget about them and I find them in good condition - but I think it all depends where you get your fruit? I don't buy pre-bagged anything and I prefer farmer's market or meat/product markets where items are much fresher and handled less
I usually refrigerate my lemons, but in the flimsy grocery store plastic bags. I guess I'll have to try this method to make them last a little longer!
I'm kind of scratching my head at the Cook's tip... here's what I do, I have a lemon tree in my garden and regularly harvest bushels, I keep them a few ways:
* a compote full of lemons at the ready on the counter
* lemons I want to keep whole, for an extended period, I dip into very hot water (120 to 125F) to kill any surface mold. I then put them in a bowl of fresh water, submerged completely by using a plate and any sort of weight to keep them submerged in the water, in the fridge. Changing the water daily, or every other day seems to be enough for me, I can keep fresh lemons in the fridge for up to two months (my sister repeats this method in her snowy climate and I send her boxes of fresh lemons each Winter to get her through until Spring). I take the 'old' water, from the bowl, and use it to water indoor houseplants so that water isn't wasted.
* I juice lemons and freeze the juice in ice cube trays. Since I use lemon juice & zest in some of my baking about half of the cubes are a combination of juice & zest.
I've actually just thrown whole lemons in the freezer when they are on the verge of going bad. I pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds or so when I am ready to use them.
I keep a bowl of lemons out both because we use them often and they look good. Occasionally we don't use them quickly enough and they start to turn. Our solution? Cocktails! Or, I juice them and keep it ready in the 'fridge. For cocktails...
I store them in the fridge in a cloth bag. Maybe they don't last forever, but they do last longer than on the counter. Like others, I will juice a lot of lemons and freeze the juice and zest for later.
http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_10104_011W010939090001P?prdNo=3&blockNo=3&blockType=G3
The colander looks a lot like this one at k-mart
I'd honestly rather deal with hard lemons than use plastic bags. At least if the lemons go bad you can compost them.
and i just bought 3 lemons too.
Just a reminder that stuff like lemons don't really need to go in their own plastic bag at the grocery store. The rind will protect the fruit from other stuff in your grocery cart/bags. Cutting down on those plastic produce bags is a really easy way to "go green".
Awesome! An issue I've just recently been dealing with - thanks for the answer!!
Daniele M: I had the same problem with moisture accumulating in the sealed bag but solved that with a tip I read on another site: chill the lemons first, just in a bowl in the fridge, then put them in a zip loc. Nowhere near the moisture you'd get putting them in the plastic bag at room temperature. Dunno why but it makes all the difference!
I have decovered by accident that, since I've put lemons into an apothocary type jar (not tight fitting lid) on the counter out of direct sunlight, the lemons have stayed for months.. I know it sounds nuts, but I've been just letting them go & then I'll try one occaionally, to find it's not dried out & prefectly juicey. I'm pretty amazed by this..