Lemon is used daily in some form or the other in the kitchen. Sometimes you want to increase the sourness of vegetables or pulses, and sometimes you want to change the taste of salad, sherbet or tea, lemon comes in handy. But many times, after cutting a lemon and squeezing it, very little juice comes out. In such a situation, people press it again and again, due to which the hands become sticky and the seeds and pulp also get mixed in the juice.
If this happens to you too, then a very easy method can be tried before cutting the lemon. For this, no machine or special equipment is required.
Roll the lemon before cutting
Before squeezing the lemon, keep it on a flat surface. Now give light pressure with the palm and roll it back and forth for a few seconds.
Be careful not to apply too much pressure on the lemon. Rolling with light pressure applies pressure to the pulp inside. After this, it can be easy to extract the juice by cutting the lemon and squeezing it.
Especially if the lemon is slightly hard, this method may seem quite convenient.
The quality of the lemon also determines how much juice will come out.
One cannot expect to get equal amount of juice from every lemon. How fresh the lemon is, how ripe it is and what its shape is, all these things affect the amount of juice.
While buying lemon from the market, such fruits can be selected which feel a little soft when pressed lightly with the hand. A lemon that is too dry or has been stored for a long time may appear normal on the outside, but it may have less juice inside.
If you don't want seeds in juice then follow this method
When squeezing lemons by hand, it is common for seeds and pieces of pulp to fall into the juice. If you are adding lemon juice to something that does not require seeds, you can strain it through a small strainer.
Apart from this, manual citrus press can also be used. Cutting the lemon in two and pressing it helps in extracting the juice easily and also helps in keeping the seeds separated.
You can extract lemon juice even without cutting it
A method of extracting juice from the lemon without cutting the entire fruit can also be adopted. For this, a small hole is made at one end of the lemon with the help of a wooden skewer or a thick straw. Then by pressing the fruit lightly the juice can be taken out from the same hole.
In this method, the remaining lemon can be used later by extracting the juice as per requirement. However, this method can be difficult in very hard lemons and there is a possibility of the peel bursting if there is too much pressure.
How much juice does one lemon yield?
The amount of juice may vary depending on the size of the lemon and its freshness. Generally, about 2 to 3 tablespoons of juice can be obtained from one lemon, but this is not a fixed quantity.
So next time before cutting a lemon, try rolling it under your palm with light pressure for a few seconds. If even after this less juice comes out, it is possible that the lemon itself is less juicy or dry.
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