On Wed, 26 May 2010 05:35:35 +0000 (UTC),
(Steve Pope) wrote:

>What's the best way to produce a resonable amount of finely
>chopped lemon zest? I'd like somehow to lost as little
>essential oils as possible, but they tend to spray out
>when you chop them.
>
>If it makes any differce, this is going into a meatball
>recipe (free-range ground chuck, olive oil, milk, mexican
>oregano, paprika, arbol, black pepper, sea salt)
>
>One though I had is pre-soaking the lemon zest in the milk.
>Or maybe the olive oil. But how best to chop it without
>flavor loss?

Why not use something along the lines of this:

http://www.denovoverseas.com/images/...grater-big.jpg

It's what I use, seems to work well for me. Although if you're really
concerned about minimising oil loss, then it probably wouldn't be much
better than chopping the zest. Or have I missed your point?