I love lemon anything. So I decided to take that love of it to the next level and make my own lemon extract. Because if it’s one thing I love more than lemon, it’s knowing exactly what is in my food. The extraction process takes a while (I let mine go for 3 months), but it is worth it.

Ingredients:

• About 8 – 10 fresh, ripened lemons
• A quality vodka like Titos or Absolut

Equipment:

• Vegetable peeler
• Quart Mason Jar
• Fermentation Weight

Instructions:

• Clean your lemons well.
• With a potato peeler, peel your lemons, trying not to get the pithy white part.
• Put the peels into a clean quart jar, filling it to the shoulder of the jar, but not mashing them down in there. It may take more or less of the lemons depending on their size.
• Pour the vodka into the mason jar to cover the peels.
• Place a fermentation weight into the liquid, over the peels, so they all stay submersed in the vodka.
• Cap off the jar with a lid and ring and place in a nice cool and dark place.
• Every few days you can tilt the jar to move the contents around.
• Now comes the hard part. The waiting. It is suggested to wait at least 6 weeks, but more if you want a more intense flavor. I do mine for 3 months.