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Topic: Meyers lemons

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Mary (mepom) -
Subject: Meyers lemons
Date Posted: 2/16/2015 5:58 PM ET
Member Since: 1/23/2009
Posts: 1,192
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Meyers lemons have only been available in my area for a year. Wow. Any recipes? I have been growing trees from seed, but my climate does not allow me to plant outside. The ones in pots are blooming but the fruit does not "make it."

Thanks

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Date Posted: 3/1/2015 12:59 PM ET
Member Since: 2/25/2007
Posts: 13,991
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Meyers are very common where I live in Florida.

I use them like any lemon, except they are milder, not as acidic, and it may take a little more if you're after that lemon-y tang. But basically, a meyer is the same as any other lemon; I use whichever one we have..

They are great for zest, since they are so large, but because of their mildness, I use about half again as much as called for.

They also make pretty presentations in a bowl, or sliced; they are very round, large pretty fruit, with good color.



Last Edited on: 3/21/15 9:15 AM ET - Total times edited: 5
drkenrich avatar
Subject: Many years of Meyers Lemons experience
Date Posted: 3/19/2015 1:06 AM ET
Member Since: 6/20/2009
Posts: 202
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I've had Meyers Lemons (MLs) for many years. Personally, I disagree with Betty P. To me, MLs are the premier lemons to use for that best of Lemon Meringue Pie taste.

Regular lemons have a more acidic and slightly bitter taste. The thing I do is pick them all when they're ripe, about once a year in December for us here in Southern California. We usually end up with two to three apple boxes full of lemons off of one small tree. Then I use an automatic juice that runs when your push a lemon down on the top spindle. We get from 3 to 4 gallons of juice that we freeze in quart cottage cheese or yogurt containers. We strain out the seeds except for the tiny ones. They make whatever we're using the juice for more real. A great recipe for lemonade is 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups sugar + 1 cup juice mixed with one gallon of water. Better than most specialty kiosks at fairs offer. One thing you'll find is the juice will let the pulp settle to the bottom. The clearer liquid is great for lemonade, but the pulp is amazing and even better tasting in lemon bars, frostings, sauces, etc.

We scrape off about 2 cups of zest and freeze it for all kinds of things from special thick sauces to waffles to cookies. Try a little test. Take one ML and one regular lemon. juice them and add the same amount of sugar and water so they make a good size glass of lemonade. See if you can taste the difference. Most people I've done this can and do prefer the MLs.