Lemon Confit - Preserved Lemons With Intense Flavor
Lemon confit is a method for preserving lemons or limes when they are in season. Bonus: it completely transforms the fruits into a delicacy!
Equipment
- A Glass Jar - I use either a Mason jar or flip top jar. This is where you’ll ferment your lemons.
- Fermentation weight – A glass fermentation weight keeps all ingredients beneath the brine surface.
- Fermentation Lid - Or 2-piece mason jar lid. I use a fermentation top or airlock for fermenting anything.
- Blender or Food processor – Optional for making preserved lemon paste. Use a blender or Vitamix for a smooth blend, or you can more coarsely chop the ingredients with a food processor
- Wide mouth funnel - A wide mouth funnel is optional, but helpful for making lemon paste.
Ingredients
- Lemons or Limes - Try to find organic lemons, since you'll be leaving the skin on. If you can't find organic lemons where you live, you can get them at Azure Standard.
- Salt - I recommend Redmond’s Real Salt or Himalayan pink salt. You can also use unrefined sea salt or Kosher sea salt. . Avoid table salt or any salt with anti-caking agents or other additives.
- Filtered water for brine fermenting - Avoid municipal chlorinated water.
- Optional Spices - I like to ferment my lemons just plain so they will match any dish that I am going to use it for, but if you're going for a specific flavor direction, you can add bay leaves, chili peppers, cinnamon sticks, cardamom, thyme, or peppercorns for example.
Instructions
Fermented Whole Lemons
- This is the easiest and quickest way to put up a bunch of extra lemons and limes. This is what I do when I'm busy, because it gets done and I don't find myself putting it off for a less busy day and then forgetting about it.
- Prep the FruitWash your lemons. Use organic fruit to avoid getting the toxic preservatives, fungicides and preservatives that are on the skins of regular commercial lemons. Their purpose is to kill the bacteria we need to encourage proper fermentation. This can result in failure, and it's bad for you too.
- Fill the jarPress the fruits into your jar as tight as possible to fit as many as possible. With limes, I can fit a lot of them into a regular quart jar, but for lemons I use at least a half gallon size and if the lemons are large, I can fit about 6.
- Prepare the brineI used a simple basic brine with 2 tbsp of salt per quart of water. You'll need at least that much for a half gallon jar if you used lemons. With limes there will be less space to fill and it will take less.
- Finish and FermentPour the brine over the lemons to within 1 inch of the top. Place a weight on it to keep the lemons submerged and close the jar with a fermentation lid. Set it in a space where the temperature is around 70℉. (Within 65℉ and 80℉ is usually fine). Keep it out of direct sunlight and place a plate under it in case the liquid oozes out during fermentation. Now continue with Maintenance and Storage below.
Lemon Confit
- This method uses no brine. Instead we use only salt to coax the juices from the lemons and that will make it's own, more concentrated brine.
- Prepare your lemonsWash your lemons and cut off any questionable spots. Cut each lemon into about 8 wedges.
- Add SaltPer each lemon, use about 1 tbsp of salt. Sprinkle a little into the bottom of your Pint or quart jar and layer one row of lemon slices on it. Sprinkle with salt and add another layer and so on. You'll be using about ¼ cup of salt for 4 large lemons in a quart jar. (If you're using limes I'd use about 2 tsp for each)That's quite a bit of salt and should be plenty to preserve your lemons, but most of all, it will give your lemons their signature flavor and consistency, so don't skimp on it. The salt will coax out the lemon juice to make the brine, it will help preserve the lemons and it will soften the skins.Another method that is actually far more common, is to cut off the stem end and then to cut the lemons crosswise from the tip to the stem end without cutting through. The salt is then sprinkled inside of the cut lemon and around the outside too. They are then placed into the jar. You might need to add brine if there isn't enough to cover the lemons by the next day.I prefer the sliced method. It is easier to take a slice out when I need it, and it juices up readily with it's own juice, no need to add brine.
- Pack your jarFill your jar to the top and then press down on the lemons firmly to compress them. I used my fermentation weight as a press. Finish with a layer of salt.
- Finish and FermentPlace a fermentation weight or other heavy object that fits, is food-safe and non-corrosive. Screw a fermentation lid on your jar or any other lid and put it away to ferment.
- Important:Check on it after 24 hours to make sure that there is enough brine to cover the lemons. If for some reason your lemons didn't produce enough, add a little bit of brine (1 tbsp salt per pint of filtered water, as outlined in the first method).
Maintenance and Storage for all methods:
- During the next month, keep a casual eye on it, check if you see some bubbles in a few days and if you do, that's great! If you didn't use a fermentation lid, just check if the lid bulges and burp it once every day or two. (Unscrew just enough to let the pressure escape and tighten it right back up again).You can start using your lemons anytime, but the full fermentation is not complete till at least 3-4 weeks of fermenting. At this point, replace your fermentation lid with a regular lid. Now you can refrigerate it, but it is not required. Just find a coolish spot out of direct sunlight, somewhere in your kitchen and keep it there till it's used up.For the best results, if you're making lemon confit and are going to use it in gourmet cooking, age it for about two more months. During that time it will develop it's best flavor and consistency. This is when it will develop that signature preserved lemon flavor that everyone is raving about.