Storage: 12 months +
Extract the juice from your homegrown (or locally sourced) lemons, to enjoy all year long! Also suitable for preserving if you check the pH before bottling.
Ingredients:
lemons
DAY ONE
Juice lemons.
Juice lemons, discarding peels, pulp and seeds. Strain juice through a sieve, jelly-cloth or cheesecloth. Refrigerate juice overnight.
DAY TWO
Prepare jars.
Prepare jars (we prefer using glass bottles) by covering in water and boiling for 10 minutes. Then turn the heat off, keep pot covered and leave jars hot until ready to fill.
Heat juice.
Strain juice into pots, leaving sediment and any pulp behind. Test pH using an electronic meter (or pH strips) if you will be using your lemon juice for preserving in the future (your homemade bottled lemon juice needs to be the same acidity as commercial bottled lemon juice). Bottled lemon juice has an acidity of 4.5% or more (pH needs to be 3.8-4 or less). Heat juice over medium heat for 5 minutes (do not boil).
Prepare lids.
Warm lids in a bowl of boiled water. Let the lids heat through for a few minutes while you fill the jars, removing the lids from the water when you are ready to place them onto the jars to seal.
Ladle hot juice into hot jars.
Immediately ladle hot juice into hot jars, leaving a 1/4 inch (0.5cm) headspace (distance between the juice level and the jar rim). Wipe jar rims with damp paper towel then seal with the warm lids.
Boiling water bath processing.
Process in boiling water canner for 10 minutes (or as stated in the chart below for your altitude). Start timing when the water returns to a full boil. Once the time is up, turn the heat off and rest jars in the water for 5 minutes before placing onto a towel-covered bench overnight to cool.
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Processing time for LEMON JUICE in a boiling water canner.
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Jar
Size
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Altitude ≤ 6,000 ft.
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Altitude > 6,000 ft.
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Hot
Pack
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≤
Quart
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10mins
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15mins
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Next day: check for seals.
Check jars have sealed before labelling and storing in a cool, dry and dark place for up to 12 months. Jar lids should not flex up nor down when pressed and should be tightly vacuum sealed.