Freshly squeezed lemon juice is a perfect and refreshing addition to many food and drink recipes, but getting as much juice as possible from a lemon can be a difficult skill to master. In general, using a hot lemon and applying pressure are the two key components to maximizing juice production. Both actions contribute significantly to weakening the membranes that trap the juice in the lemon pulp.
Steps
Step 1. Let the lemon stay at room temperature
Lemons that are left out of the fridge at room temperature are easier to process than cold ones, so you should be able to get more juice out of them. Low temperatures cause the membranes inside the lemon to shrink and solidify, making the fruit more rigid. A lemon at room temperature, on the other hand, has a consistency that makes it easier to squeeze.
Step 2. Heat the lemon in a basin of water
Hot lemons are even softer and produce more juice than those at room temperature. Fill a small or medium-sized basin with hot water; the water should be hot enough to perceive the heat coming from the edges of the bowl, but it should neither boil nor emit steam. Place the lemon in the water and leave it to soak for 30 seconds up to a few minutes. When the lemon peel is warm to the touch and before the water cools, you should take out the lemon.
Step 3. Roll the lemon before cutting it
Take a whole lemon and roll it onto a stable work surface. Use enough force to squeeze the lemon, deforming it slightly, but don't squeeze it hard enough to break it. Rolling the lemon in this way breaks the membranes of the pulp, letting the juice escape more easily.
Step 4. Heat the lemon in the microwave
This method can produce up to 30-40% more juice. You can either leave the fruit whole or cut it in half to leave more pulp exposed, but leaving it whole prevents moisture from being absorbed by the microwave. Microwave the lemon for 10-20 seconds, and take it out when the peel is warm to the touch - however the lemon shouldn't be hard to hold. The water molecules that are excited weaken the pulp and make it softer, which makes the lemon easier to squeeze and the membranes that hold the juice easier to break.
Step 5. Freeze the lemon before putting it in the microwave
The extremely cold temperatures cause the water to expand, turning it into ice. This expansion can weaken and even break the membranes containing lemon juice; however, since hard lemons are impossible to squeeze, they must then be reheated. Microwave the frozen lemon for 30-60 seconds, until soft enough to cut. The molecules, excited after being heated, can escape from the membranes almost naturally.
Step 6. Slice the lemon lengthwise instead of sideways
Cutting the lemon from top to bottom or from one end to the other can produce a triple quantity of juice. When slicing a medium-sized lemon sideways or side-to-side, you can usually manually squeeze 2 to 3 tablespoons (30 to 45 milliliters) of juice. Slicing the lemon lengthwise can produce up to 1/3 cup (85 milliliters) of lemon juice. The larger surface allows you to expose more pulp. Juice can get trapped in a thick layer of pulp, but with more pulp exposed, juice is less likely to get trapped.
Step 7. Extract the juice from the lemon with the help of a fork
After cutting the lemon in half, insert the teeth of the fork into the pulp of one of the halves and squeeze it as you usually do. When the flow of juice begins to slow down, turn the fork to a new position and continue squeezing. Turn it over and squeeze until the juice no longer comes out, then repeat the process with the other half. The process uses the same principles applied by a juicer; the pressure and sharp teeth of the fork help to penetrate the membranes, allowing the liquid to flow out freely.
Step 8. Use a juicer
You don't need anything too fancy; a simple manual juicer should be enough to get the job done easily. Cut the fruit in half and place one of the halves on the juicer with the cut side facing down. Use the handle to exert pressure on half of the lemon with all your strength. The pressure should be enough to break most of the membranes and squeeze out more juice than you can expect to get by hand squeezing the lemon.
