Homemade Citrus Extracts

Citrus Extracts -

Sorry I have no photos for this post as of yet. My fancy photo helper - a.k.a my cell phone - is being stubborn and will not send or upload photos right now.. How we rely on our cell phones and other electronics for such things and then they fail us and it just makes things so annoying. Cell phones = a love / hate relationship.. 

Citrus extracts. I love the smell of lemon.. And grapefruit. Orange.. Oh and lets not forget Lime.  Extracts can be easily made at home. I make them all the time. I use the extracts for cooking and cleaning and flavoring anything I would like to add a little flavor to. The hardest part about making extracts is time. It takes time to remove the peel from the citrus fruit and more time for the citrus to impart its flavor to the alcohol.  Most extracts you can buy contain alcohol. There are a few that do not, but most do. I have never made an extract without using alcohol but I hear it is just as easy. Maybe sometime I will try it. But for now, I will stay with the alcohol process as it's the one I know and the alcohol content does not bother me.

Things you will need

• A glass container with a lid. I have nice bottles with the flip off attached tops. Love these. Clear is just fine IMO but if you find the amber ones I hear they are better. But even a mason jar will work to get started as long as it has a tight fitting lid so that the alcohol does not evaporate.

• Vodka. The higher alcohol percentage the better. I use at least 70 proof alcohol but 80 proof is better. It does not need to be expensive. Just the highest proof you can find/afford. 

• Your citrus fruit. 

• A knife or peeler

• time

Wash off and dry your fruit. Now you want to remove just the outer peel. Try to avoid as much of the pith as possible. The pith is bitter and will impart that quality to your extract. Depending on the size of your bottle you may need to peel several of your fruit choice.  Also - depending on what you are going to be doing with the actual fruit will determine how many you will peel. Lemon - for example- unless you are going to be making lemonade or lemon bars you might not want to do more than a couple at a time. You can always ADD more peel and alcohol to the extract bottle at a later date. This way you are utilizing the peel on fruit you were going to use anyway.
After you have your peel, place it into your bottle. Now cover with the vodka. You don't need to fill the bottle full of vodka. Just enough to cover the peel. This is how you can slowly add peel over time and still get a good extract. Once you have covered the peel with the vodka, cap the bottle and place it someplace out of direct sunlight. Mine sit on the countertop away from a window. I have never needed to store in a refrigerated area and have never had my extract go bad.
Now you have a few choices. After a few weeks have passed (at least 3 weeks for a good flavor, but more time is better) you can either leave the peel in the bottle - I think it looks cool - or strain the peel out and put your extract into bottles you can store in your cupboard or give as gifts. Make sure you label them, as that is easiest way to tell them apart. But you could always just smell them to tell. After you have let the peel/alcohol mix sit a few weeks, the alcohol will smell like the fruit and not so much like alcohol. It will also gain some of the color from the peel. I do use these extracts for lots of purposes. Not just cooking. I have used them for cleaning, to shoo flies, for making an adult flavored drink. I will post my cleaning solution soon using the homemade extracts.