Cook With Lemon Juice

Lemon juice serves many culinary purposes. Making marinades is one of the most significant uses for lemon juice in cooking, but the acids and tangy citrus taste of lemon juice can be used for far more than that alone. For instance, lemon juice can be used to flavor beverages and foods, and it can also be used to preserve fruits and vegetables.

Steps

Marinating Foods

  1. Use lemon juice to marinate meat, poultry, and fish. Every marinade is made of three key components: acid, oil, and flavorings. The oil moistens the meat while spices and herbs add flavor. The acid makes it all possible by breaking down the raw meat, thereby permitting the oil and spices to have an effect. Many marinades use vinegar for the acid, but lemon juice is just as effective and lends a citrus flavor.
    • Use anywhere from 1 tablespoon to 1/4 cup (15 to 60 milliliters) lemon juice for marinades, depending on how much meat you use, how tender you want it to be, and how strong you want the lemon flavor to be.
  2. Make sure to choose spices and herbs that complement the taste of lemon. If you are not sure which ones to try, consider trying black pepper, garlic, dill, or parsley.
  3. Marinate beef and pork for two hours to maximize the amount of flavor the meat picks up from the marinade. These meats are the densest, so the lemon juice has more the break down than it does in poultry or fish. Smaller chunks of beef and pork can pick up flavor from a marinade in 45 minutes or so, while roasts and large cuts can withstand marinating for up to two days.
  4. Allow poultry to marinate for 30 minutes to about four or five hours. Chicken is less dense than beef and pork, and it can usually pick up flavor within the first 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the cut. You can marinate chicken for several hours without negatively affecting the texture, but while it is technically safe to allow chicken to marinate for up to two days, allowing it to sit this long will turn the texture tough and chewy.
  5. Do not marinate fish any longer than 60 minutes. Fish and other types of seafood have a very light density, and the acidic lemon juice can actually "cook" the fish if it seeps in for more than an hour. For most dishes, marinating for 30 minutes is ideal.

Additional Preparation and Cooking Uses

  1. Freshen up your drink by squeezing in a small amount of lemon juice. This practice is especially common for flavoring plain water and tea. The juice from one or two wedges is usually enough for most individuals, but you may want to consider adding additional juice if you prefer a stronger, more refreshing flavor.
  2. Keep fresh cut fruit from browning by brushing the flesh with lemon juice. Fresh cut fruit discolors due to a process called oxidation. The vitamin C or ascorbic acid found in lemon juice chemically reacts with the oxygen in the air to prevent fruits from oxidizing. Brushing your cut fruits with a little lemon juice will maintain their color for much longer.
    • You can also dip the cut fruit into a mixture made with 1 cup (250 milliliters) of water and 1 tablespoon (15 milliliters) of lemon juice to accomplish the same task.
  3. Help vegetables stay fresher, longer by squirting them with lemon juice. Like fresh fruits, fresh vegetables are also prone to oxidation. As a result, their colors dull. Squeeze a little lemon juice over your fresh vegetables and toss to mix in order to keep the colors bright.
  4. Dress your salads with lemon juice. A simple dressing, known as vinaigrette, uses vinegar and olive oil. Instead of using vinegar, however, you can use lemon juice for an extra tangy taste. Try combining 1/4 cup olive oil with about 2 tablespoons (30 milliliters) of lemon juice to start. You can use more lemon juice for a stronger taste, or you can cut back on the sourness by mixing in 1 teaspoon (4.8 grams) of sugar or honey. You can also enhance the taste of the dressing by adding salt and pepper to taste, or other herbs and spices.
    • Aside from standard green salads, you can use a lemon juice dressing to coat cooked vegetables, cold cooked pasta, and more.
    • For tossed salads, you may want to consider drizzling the oil and lemon juice over the salad separately. You can also combine the two into a single dressing, but combining them can cause leafy salads to get damp quickly if the dressing is used in abundance.
  5. Serve fluffier rice by adding lemon juice to the water as it cooks. Boil the rice in water and squeeze in 1 teaspoon to 3 tablespoons (5 to 45 milliliters) of lemon juice. If you want the fluffiness lemon juice provides while minimizing the amount of lemon taste that comes through, stick with 1 teaspoon (5 milliliters) of juice. The more juice you use, the stronger the flavor will be.
  6. Cut down on the amount of salt you use in recipe by using lemon juice. Salt preserves and flavors food. A little is a good thing, but a lot can have harmful side effects to your health. Lemon juice also preserves and flavors, so as long as the juice complements the other flavors in your dish, lemon juice can be a healthier choice than salt.
  7. Create a sauce using lemon juice. Many sauces made with lemon juice involve butter. Hollandaise sauce, for instance, uses egg yolks, butter, and lemon juice. It is also flavored with a little salt and white or cayenne pepper, and the sauce is typically used with eggs Benedict and steamed vegetables.
    • A lemon juice sauce can also improve your digestive health. Lemon juice is an especially helpful aid in the digestion of fried foods.
  8. Add lemon juice in toward the end of the cooking process. If you only want the lemon juice for its acidic properties, this is not necessary, since the acids will continue to work throughout the entire process. If you want to enhance the lemon taste, however, adding your lemon juice in at the end of the cooking time will prevent a loss of flavor.

Tips

  • If a recipe or technique only requires a few drops of lemon juice, poke a toothpick through the skin and slowly squeeze out whatever amount is needed. Plug the hole back up by sticking the toothpick back in and store the lemon in a sealable plastic bag inside the refrigerator.
  • To avoid squirting yourself in the eye or otherwise making a mess when juicing a lemon, pierce the flesh of the lemon with a fork before you start to squeeze. Piercing the flesh helps guide the juice out, reducing the amount that squirts out in unpredictable directions.

Warnings

  • Marinate meats, poultry, and fish in a non-reactive dish. Glass and plastic work best, but stainless steel can also be used. Do not use aluminum, however, since aluminum will react with the acid and leave your food with a metallic taste.

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Sources and Citations

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