It is hot, and seems like the heat wave of August will never end. When the weather forecast is seven days of over 100° F, my answer is fresh squeezed lemonade. While it may not change the temperature outside, this tart and refreshing drink never fails to make me feel cool and satisfied.
Don’t be intimidated by recipes for lemonade. The recipe is simple and easily adaptable. Figure on the juice of 1-1/2 – 2 lemons per serving. Use real lemons, not the stuff that comes from a bottle. The processing of the jarred stuff changes the flavor of the lemon juice and it is just not the same. Besides, the little bit of pulp that often comes from squeezing the lemons adds so much to the enjoyment of the lemonade.
How to Get Lemon Juice for Fresh Squeezed Lemonade
There are some wonderful contraptions for squeezing lemons. I have the old fashion wooden citrus reamer in my kitchen drawer since it is indestructible. But you can also just use a regular kitchen fork to help get the juice from a piece of citrus.
- Choose lemons that are firm and heavy for their size. Pick up several lemons and you can tell that they vary in weight. Heavier fruit equals more juice!
- Roll each lemon on the counter for 10 seconds before cutting in half. Cut the lemon through the equator. This helps you get the juice out of the lemon.
- Store your citrus on the counter. There is no need to refrigerate citrus, and room temperature lemons are easier to squeeze.
- Use a citrus tool, reamer, or fork to remove the juice from each half of fruit. If using a citrus press, remember to put the lemon half opposite to the direction the metal depression goes. You want the press to turn the half inside out (peel side in) in order to get out the juice. If using a reamer or fork. Simply place the tool in the center of the lemon half and gently twist the tool one direction while you squeeze the lemon half in the opposite direction. You make want to reposition the reamer or fork and repeat the process to get all the juice from each half.
- Don’t worry about getting seeds in the juice. Plan of removing all the seeds at the end after you have finished squeezing all the lemons needed.
The Ratio of Lemon Juice and Sugar Per Serving
Plan on getting about 3 tablespoons of lemon juice from each lemon. You will want to use 1 tablespoon sugar (or other sweetener) per lemon to make lemonade. Since glasses come in a large variety of sizes from 12 ounces to 20 ounces, there is no way to size you exact amounts for your size of glass. So think of how many glasses of lemonade you want to serve. Buy enough lemons for 1-1/2 – 2 lemons per glass (the range is dependent on how big your lemons are and how tart you like your lemonade). Then using the lower range of lemons squeeze the juice from the lemons, add 1 tablespoon of sugar for each lemon in a pitcher and stir in 1-1/4 cups of cold water for each serving. Taste and add more lemon if you want your fresh squeeze lemonade more tart or more sugar if you want to sweeten the lemonade. It drink mixture will be strong since you will want to add ice and as it melts it will dilute the lemonade.
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Fresh Squeezed Lemonade
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: drinks
- Method: fresh
Description
Enjoy the cool tang of fresh-squeezed lemonade. This refreshing drink is so easy to make for even just one glass.
Ingredients
- 6–8 lemons, squeezed (about 1–1/2 cups)
- 1-/3 – 1/2 cup sugar
- 6 cups cold water
- Ice
- Lemon slices to garnish
Instructions
- Squeeze juice from each lemon and strain the seeds.
- Pour the lemon juice into a pitcher and stir in 1/3 cup sugar until dissolved.
- Add the water and taste. Adjust by adding more lemon juice or sugar.
- Top off the pitcher with ice and add more water if needed.
- Serve in large glasses garnished with a slice of lemon.
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