Can You Use a Juicer to Make Lemonade

Lemonade is a delicious drink. And who doesn’t love to make it on a hot summer day. But can you make lemonade in your new juicer?

That’s what I’m going to cover here. Because I love lemonade and I also love to use my juicer.

 

Can You Juice Lemons?

The first thing to talk about is if you can juice lemons.

The answer is yes. You certainly can juice lemons. You can juice whole lemons, or only juice the insides.

I am a big fan of always juicing the entire lemon, skin and all. That is because the skin of the lemon has most of the health benefits.

When you are making a green juice, then it also helps that the lemon skin contains the essential oils that are going to really cover the flavor of the dark greens.

When people make lemonade, they typically only juice the insides of the lemon. Part of that is because most people just don’t own a juicer.

If you look at cookbooks from the old south, there is going to be a lemonade recipe.  And all of them will be recipes that call for manually juicing the lemons (using the old fashioned type lemon squeezers).

And there are even some lemonade recipes that only call for making lemonade with sliced lemons.

While you certainly can make lemonade that way, it’s not ideal. And it’s not my favoriate way.

I like to either use a classic lemon juicer such as the hand press. Or, if you are looking for a healthy lemonade that is going to be good for you then I would make it with the skin and juice the lemon with an auger juicer.

How Can You Use A Juicer to Make Lemonade?

If you’re planning on making an old fashioned lemonade, then you will want to use a citrus juicer.

These juicers come in two types:

Hand Squeeze and Auger Design

I like to use the hand squeeze. I think it’s just easier and you get more juice. That said, some people like the old fashioned auger design.

Here’s a visual of what the two options look like:

This is a Hand Press (and my pick for the best hand lemon juicer)

And this is a motorized auger design (with pulp control)

 

My personal preference is to use the hand squeeze lemon juicer. That’s because I will often use lemon juice (or lime juice) when I am cooking. And it’s just easier to squeeze lemon juice right into salads, pasta, or other dishes with a hand washer.

However, for some people the electric citrus juicer might be better. If you’re someone who is going to make a lot of fresh orange juice along with lemonade and limeade, then it’s worth the extra counterspace.

Also, the motorized citrus juicer has a feature that will make it easier to adjust the pulp levels that you would like.

 

Do You Juice The Whole Lemon To Make Lemonade

Most of the time, no, you do not juice the whole lemon to make lemonade. That’s because traditionally only the juice from the inside of the lemon counts.

Also, it is important to remember that the inside of the lemon has the more classic lemon juice flavor.

When you are juicing the lemon skin, the flavor is way more intense. It’s still a lemon flavor, but it can dominate the drink.

The reason that these flavors are more intense is that you are dealing with lemon skin, which contains lemon oil.

This lemon oil is way more intense a flavor.

I have made a lemon juice with a whole lemon, but it’s important to remember that this will not be the classic lemonade flavor that you are used to.

The upside to juicing a whole lemon when you are juicing is that it’s going to be healthier. By juicing the entire lemon to make lemonade, you can turn a sweet beverage into a super healthy drink!

I would consider swapping out sugar and adding something like organic honey or maple syrup. Raw organic cane sugar or raw coconut sugars is also ok. What I would avoid is something normal like a highly processed cane sugar that you see for sale in all of the supermarkets.

How to make Homemade Lemonade with a Juicer: 1-2-3

Here is my go to method for making a homemade lemonade with my juicer:

• Use organic lemons

That’s the first and most important aspect of the juicing process. Organic lemons are not much more expensive than regular lemons. Luckily it’s not like when you’re buying organic berries (where the price can be triple!).

I like to use organic lemons because I always juice the lemon skin. If I happen to only want to juice the inside of the lemon, then you can get away with regular lemons.

But anytime you plan on juicing the lemon skin when making a homemade lemonade, you should really buy organic.

The lemon skin is what comes into contact with pesticides and chemical sprays. If you do not use organic lemons, then you risk the of ingesting some of those unhealthy chemicals.

• Use A Good Lemon Juicer

I will more often than not use my standard masticating auger juicer. But that’s because I am making lemon juice with the lemon skin as well.

If I am only going to press the lemons, then I will use a hand squeezer.

Which ever method I choose, what I don’t like is too much pulp and certainly not any lemon seeds. But as long as you use a good hand press juicer (I linked to some good ones above) or a good auger press, you won’t run into too many issues.

• Use filtered water and good sugar

That’s the last step. I like to use organic cane sugar or organic coconut sugar. You can use maple syrup or honey if you like, I just find that they both overpower the flavor of a classic lemonade.

Also, it should go without saying if you’re a longtime reader of my blog, but you really want to use filtered water.

Not only is it healthier because you can remove lead and other things like bacteria, but it makes the water taste better.

A good reason to only use filtered water is that you can make sure that you’re not going to flavor the lemonade with anything that has too much of an odor. Some tap water has a strong odor which will ruin the lemonade.

 

 

Check out some of my other blog posts that feature lemons:

Can You Juice Lemon Peel?

Alternatives to Coffee 

Are Cold Press Juicers Worth It?

(This one’s a good read if you’re looking to buy a juicer to juice whole lemons, skin and all!)