Part I: Making Limoncello
Last week we talked a bit about Limoncello (sometimes spelled Lemoncello) as an Italian aperitif. This week we are going to delve into how to make your own.
The Tools
When making limoncello you only want the zest from the lemons, none of the bitter white pith. This is easiest to do if you have the proper tool - a zester. In the photo you’ll see a couple of different versions of zesters. The two shorter versions will make long, thin curls of zest. The two grater-type tools will make very small confetti-like pieces of zest. The more surface area we can expose, the better so my choice for this project was the long, narrow zester (the one that looks like a rasp) - it’s narrow shape makes it a great tool for round objects.
If you don’t own any of these tools you could also use a vegetable peeler or even a paring knife - just be super careful to remove only the yellow portion of the skin.
Once the zest has been removed, juice the lemons and use the juice for lemonade, fresh lemon sweet and sour or freeze it for use at a later date.
The Fruit
For this recipe you will need six good sized lemons. I actually used seven, just because I have a bad habit of trying to intensify flavors when I cook! But the recipe just calls for six. You’ll notice these lemons are rather dull and not that pretty. I purposely chose these lemons as they were unwaxed. If your lemons are shiny and gorgeous you’ll end up with a bunch of icky wax floating around in your limoncello. We don’t want that.
If you can’t find unwaxed lemons, prior to zesting blanch the fruit in boiling water for about 30 seconds. Working quickly, remove them from the water and immediately dry them with a rough towel, trying to remove as much wax as possible. Then drop them in ice water to cool them back down.
The Alcohol
You’ll need one 750ml bottle of alcohol. If possible you want 100 proof (50%). This is normally the cheaper vodka in your liquor store and is often found on the lower shelves, not right at eye-level.
The higher proof serves two purposes: it will leach the flavor and color from the zest faster than the more common 80 proof; and when we later mix in the simple syrup we will end up with a nicer level of alcohol in the final product.
If you can’t find 100 proof, go ahead and use 80 proof. You’ll need to let the mixture sit a bit longer - but you can manage that. When we get to adding the simple syrup, I’ll address a couple things you can try to balance out the alcohol levels. By the way, more is not necessarily better. At this point you might be thinking you should just use Everclear (at 95% alcohol) but your finished product will not be what you hope for. It will be out of balance the other way - more alcohol is not always a good thing!
The Container
The final item you’ll need is a jar that is large enough to hold the zest and the bottle of vodka. It should have a good airtight seal. Glass is preferable, stainless steel would also work. Plastic would be okay. Do not use aluminum.
Once you’ve combined that zest and alcohol and sealed off the bottle, place it in a cupboard or somewhere out of the way. We’ll come back and check on it in two weeks. You might want to make a little note on your calendar.
I made the limoncello using a slightly altered formula and wonder if you could give me some advice. With the skins of 15 lemons I used a half gallon of 100proof vodka and then got nervous when someone told me I should have used Everclear. So I bought a quart of 153 proof grain alcohol to the mix. I got nervous again that I was using the wrong proportions, so I then added the rinds of 15 more lemons. Now I have what amounts to three quarts of limoncello brewing in closet and wonder how much sugar to add, and how much water. Have I botched the whole thing?
Ed Perez