Can You Juice A Lemon Without Peeling It?

Yes You Can Juice A Lemon Without Peeling It

Every now and again I get a question from someone asking if they can juice a lemon without peeling it. And the answer I always give them is the same: yes!

I juice lemons all the time without juicing them. In fact, I rarely ever peel a lemon to juice it. I’ve never done so to my knowledge.

There are only two reasons to juice a lemon:

1. You want to make lemon juice in a juicer
2. You want to squeeze lemon juice without the peel.

I tend to do number 1 when I am making a green drink. I tend to juice lemons the second way when I want to make food with just “fresh squeezed lemon juice”. You use two separate types of juicers to accomplish each type of juicing.

How Do You Peel A Lemon?

First off, you should understand that you do not need to peel a lemon in order to juice it. There are few reasons why you would ever need to peel a lemon, but if you must:

I suggest that you use a peeling knife or a pairing knife. It’s the simplest way to remove the peel. You might get a spin peeler but that’s really only useful if you are planning on peeling dozens of lemons.

Make Sure To Pick the Right Lemon To Juice

 

 

Before I begin discussing the different types of lemon juicers, I wanted to discuss the importance of picking a good lemon! If you start with the wrong lemon, the juice will be bad.

Always Chose Ripe

The first thing I would like to discuss is how ripe a lemon should be. You want the lemon to be soft and have some give. If you buy a lemon that is not ripe, if the lemon is too firm and hard, then you should wait to juice it until it is softer.

Also, you should be careful about choosing a lemon that is overripe. If the lemon is overripe, then you should avoid it as the juice won’t be tart and and flavorful. Overripe lemons have an unpleasant flavor.

So, pick a nice lemon with good skin color that has a firm exterior and a little give.

Go Organic-Especially If You Juice The Peel

The next thing you will want to do is focus on organic lemons. This is most important if you plan on juicing the lemon peel. If you are only going to slice the lemon in half and use a hand held lemon juicer, then it is not that important. Most of the heavy pesticides on the skin are not going to get into the juice.

But if you are going to juice the entire lemon without peeling it, then you really want to use an organic lemon. Anytime you are planning on juicing the peel you want to of course wash the lemon, but you also want to make sure that you’re choosing a good organic lemon to begin with.

Organic lemons are not that expensive when you compare them to regular lemons (some fruit and vegetables have a wide price difference when choosing organic). And, it’s not going to hurt your wallet that much. Also, it’s totally worth it to buy 1 organic lemon if you are planning on juicing the entire lemon–peel and all!

Do You Want To Juice Just The Lemon or The Peel Too?

The next question you should ask yourself is if you want to juice the whole lemon with the peel, or if you are juicing a lemon just to get the juice.

Anytime you are making a vinaigrette or some other type of sauce where you only want the lemon juice then you can use a lemon juicer such as this:

This is the lemon juicer I use when I only want fresh squeezed lemon juice for things like lemonade, or salad dressing, or any other recipe. It’s super tough, won’t break when you squeeze the lemon and will fit the whole lemon.

While there are some other brands that get more sales and more reviews, this is the strongest. I did my research and this is the one I ended up buying.

Which Juicer Is Best For Juicing Lemon Peel?

My personal suggestion would be to use a slow press masticating juicer. These juicers are the only ones capable of extracting the juice or “essential oil” in the case of lemon peel. If you’re not using a cold press juicer, then you risk the oil being destroyed or not even being extracted.

A hard cutting blade style juicer such as the cheap brands sold online will simply thrash the lemon skin.

If you are planning on juicing the entire lemon and the peel as well, then I suggest that you use one of these juicers.

They are my favorite juicer for leafy greens but are also the best juicer if you are planning on juicing a lemon and it’s peel. The essential oil in a lemon peel is impossible to extract without a good auger juicer. A hand press juicer won’t do anything, and older style juicers such as the style Breville makes, aren’t great because they leave so much rind squeezed.

 

Is Juicing The Lemon Peel Good For You?

Have you ever asked yourself if you want to juice the lemon skin? Is juicing lemon peel good for you? Because otherwise you might end up missing out on some amazing health benefits.

Juicing lemon peel will give you amazing health benefits that come from essential oil. For example, lemon essential oil is shown to prevent illness, sickness from bad meat (listeria,for instance). And it’s not just lemon peel, many citrus peels contain beneficial essential oils, so juicing the skin or limes, grapefruit, or oranges is a great way to absorb these healthy antioxidants.

My Favorite Way To Juice Lemon Peel

My favorite way to use lemon juice is to make a green drink with leafy greens like kale and then juice a whole lemon peel and all. The lemon oil in the peel makes the green drink taste much better than it would otherwise.

A typical recipe would include:

• Kale or Spinach
• Celery
• Cucumber
• Apple
• Lemon with Peel

I’ve got a ton of recipes and information about juicing leafy greens on my blog. And you will notice that many of them include references to lemons and how great they are to juice –including the peel!