In article >,
"The Joneses" > wrote:

> "Isabella Woodhouse" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > I found these two recipes, for preserving lemons, in Gourmet.
> >
> > <http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/1990s/1999/12/preservedmeyerlemons>
> > <http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2008/05/preservedlemons>
> >
> >
> > They are different than other recipes I have seen... like the one in the
> > Ball Complete book for instance. These call for some oil to be added
> > after the jars have stood for 5 days. Has anyone done lemons like this?
> > Is it safe? I don't understand the process.
> >
> > Isabella
> > --
> > "I will show you fear in a handful of dust"
>
> Joy of Pickling has a similar Moroccan recipe that I successfully made with
> both lemons and limes. It did not use oil. One did not have to refrigerate
> it. I just kept them on the counter. They did fine. The tremendous amount of
> salt makes them a salty condiment, but prevents anything growing, or should.
> The limes (the big thickskinned Persian type), faded a bit in coloring,
> but oh, the perfume! The lemons were nothing but bEutiful. And tasty. I used
> mason jars & the plastic storage caps one can buy. Only they do not fit
> perfectly with all that salt about, so when you turn them over ever few
> days, it pays to have the jars sitting in a pretty bowl to catch the drip. I
> believe salt is corrosive to metal lids, eh? They lasted a long, long time.
> I used them up before the year was over. If you use pint mason jars, use
> regular tops so you can wedge a wedge of fruit to keep them submerged.
> We used to have a correspondent from (Hawaii?) the tropics who made this
> by setting the jar on his roof in the sun.
> I've made certain pickles with just a spoonful or two of oil, but with
> veggies in plenty enuf vinegar (or brine) to kill germs. I've still got that
> "if it's in oil, it's air tight and botulism can grow" deal going on, so I
> would refrigerate if a lot of oil is used (more oil than salty juice?) But
> I'm not a food scientist, just seems reasonable.
> When I used this, I pulled out the middle parts (have squoze them for the
> juice) and sliced the peel thinly.

Oh how interesting. You zeroed right in on what bothered me the
most.... the oil... what with all the warnings about botulism. I
finally found my JOP, but mine does call for oil, though only a couple
of tablespoons. Perhaps I have a different edition. What I really wish
is that they would tell you what the heck the oil is for. I also found
my _Creative Pickling at Home_ (same hiding place as the JOP) and it has
a recipe without the oil, so I think that is the one I will use. Thanks
so much Edrena. You are always so helpful. I just love having these
extra-special-tasty items around to help liven up our meals. BTW, I was
thinking of using wide-mouth jars with those wide-mouth plastic lids.
These lemons would look so pretty in those Weck jars but, alas, you
couldn't turn them over!

Isabella
--
"I will show you fear in a handful of dust"
-T.S. Eliot