Brace the thumb of your knife-wielding hand against the fruit and press the blade at a severe angle against the skin.Hold the lemon in your nondominant hand and the knife in the other.If you’re not used to using a paring knife, (please!) be careful not to let it slip across the lemon and into your unsuspecting fingers or palm. Paring knifeīest for: When you don’t have any of these other tools Vegetable peeler: Spring Chef Premium Swivel Vegetable Peeler ($9 at Amazon) 4. Your pieces of rind won’t be nearly as small or uniform, but it’s close enough and it’ll do the trick in a pinch when you don’t happen to have a microplane. You can stop right here and toss that rind into a soup for it to steep or you can place it onto a cutting board and mince it into tiny pieces to (sorta) replicate the effect you’d get from a microplane. You should be left with a thin strip of zest, sans pith. Lay the sharp part of the peeler against the lemon with your other hand and gently pull it toward you.Of all these tools, we’re willing to bet you’re most familiar with a vegetable peeler and bonus points: It’s a safer option than a paring knife as it gives you much more control. Tip: Instead of getting short pieces from the side of the lemon, turn the fruit as you zest it to get a long curlicue.Ĭitrus zester: OXO Good Grips Citrus Zester and Channel Knife ($9 at Amazon) 3. Press the blade down into the rind and drag it across the fruit toward your thumb.Hold the lemon in the palm of your nondominant hand and the zester by the handle in your other.Using a zester will give you long, thin pieces of zest-like the kind you want for that adult beverage. Zesters are easy and intuitive to use, so don’t worry if you’ve never worked with one before. If it has several, it might look like an itty-bitty (very sharp) rake. Citrus zesterĬitrus zesters are similar to vegetable peelers but with one slight difference: Instead of having one long vertical blade, a zester has one very short, slightly hooked blade or a few of them. Microplane: Microplane 46120 Premium Zester ($13 at Amazon) 2. Some of the rind will fall from underneath the microplane, so it makes sense to do this over a plate or bowl, but a lot of it will be stuck to the microplane’s underside, so check there if you’re like, Wait, where’s all my zest? And stay away from that pith while you’re at it! Rub it quickly up and down against the sharp edges, rotating the lemon and watching your fingers as you go until enough zest has been sheared off the fruit.Grab your lemon in one hand and the microplane in the other and press the lemon into the microplane.
But don’t let its size fool you-microplanes have rubbed the skin off knuckles around the world. A zested lemon is going to dry out and become pretty useless if you try to store it in the fridge as-is.Cover the sad, rind-less lemon in a piece of plastic wrap or place it in a plastic baggie first and then double back to it within the week to reap all its juicy benefits.īest for: Baking, dressings and marinadesĪ microplane looks just like a cheese grater but in super-cute miniature form. If you’re using the zest but not the lemon juice for your recipe, don’t toss the whole lemon just because it’s not ripe yet. How to Zest a Lemon First, pick a less ripe lemonĪ slightly harder, less ripe lemon will be easier to zest than a softer fruit that gives easily when you grip it, so instead of palming all the lemons at your grocery store until you find a juicy one, take the tough guy home this time. But how do you zest a lemon so you don’t get any of that bitter white pith? And how do you do it with the tools you already have in your kitchen right this second, whether that’s a microplane, vegetable peeler, citrus zester or good ole paring knife? Don’t worry, we’ll explain. You’re more than familiar with lemon juice-you squeeze a bit into your hot water, you spoon some into your salad dressing for a kick-but what about lemon zest? Citrus zest-the colorful outer rind of lemons, oranges, grapefruit, etc.-can add a bright, zippy flavor to everything from lemon loaf cake to spinach orzo and even a glass of frosé.