Orange and Lemon Extract

Extracts are easier than I could ever have imagined to make... why on earth have I been paying so much for those tiny little one ounce bottles of lemon or orange extract when I could have been making my own?

I didn't know!

I started reading and searching and found a few super simple recipes for extracts.

Here's how I did it...

First, wash half pint canning jars and sterilize them by either boiling them in water or if your dishwasher gets as hot as mine does, just wash them up in it and keep them hot. Simmer jar lids and rings in water for 10 minutes or so. You always want to start out with clean, sterilized jars and lids.

The ingredients for extracts are pretty simple...
For lemon, I used
2 lemons
1 cup vodka

For orange
1 orange
1 cup vodka

To prepare...
Use a vegetable peeler and peel the fruit (just the colored part, try not to get any of the bitter white part of the peel)

Peel two lemons

Peel one orange

Place the peelings in a half-pint canning jar (you won't fill the jar or pack tightly, just put them in the jar).

Then fill the jar with vodka up to about a half inch from the rim.

Tighten the lid on and give the jar a shake.

There's no need to heat or seal the jars, just keep the lid on so the liquid doesn't evaporate.




Store the jars in a cool, dark place, giving them a shake once a day. You will have lemon or orange extract in about six weeks. After six weeks or so, you can strain the fruit peel pieces from the liquid and discard... but you don't have to... it will continue to strengthen the longer it sits. The extract will last pretty much indefinitely, especially if it's stored in a cool, dark place.

Easy-Peasy!!!

Add vodka, filling to within about a half inch of the rim.

Orange and Lemon Extract

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