Limoncello - Somebody please explain this to me. (more)

M

melissa-dallas

Well-known member
I made limoncello last year for Christmas. I waited a little late to start it this year, so I had this (I thought) brilliant idea to hurry it up. I have a set of the lovely lemon, lime and orange oils. I thought, why not add some to a large bottle of vodka instead of waiting on the zest to steep. O.K., put in some lemon with just a drop or two of orange and lime. Smell's great. The problem is that after a few weeks the oil is floating on top of the liquor instead of dispersing, no matter how much I shake it. Do you think if I add the top splash of the vodka with the oil into my sugar before I add the water for the syrup that the oil will then dissolve and disperse through the finished product? Will boiling the syrup boil away all the lovely aroma?

 
Melissa...I did the exact same thing my "second" attempt at limoncello. It won't

ever absorb in. I don't know the actual chemistry of it, but I think between the sugar/water/alcohol saturation versus the oil's density, viscosity, and emulsification times the amount of Excedrin I'll have to take to get rid of the headache this sentence is giving me, trust me, it just won't absorb doing it that way.

Last year, I reduced the amount of sugar and up'd the lemon peel. It's getting better but I still don't get that "opaque lemony" hue....mine is heavy, clear and a deep golden color. Nice and tasty, but still not the lemony-look I'm after. And the flavor still doesn't give me that hit of "cold, zippy slightly sweet tangy lemon" that I'm going for. Maybe I'm asking for too many adjectives.

I've picked up powdered ascorbic acid and powdered acetic acid and am hoping that one or both will pump up the lemony taste. Since I haven't a clue what either of them do, hopefully they don't interact and blow me up.

PS: I'll bet I have the same little batch of "citrus oils". Is this it? (see link)

http://www.boyajianinc.com/citrus.html

 
how many lemons are you peeling per fifth of vodka? try two and add the peel from half an

orange. add sugar syrup after it has steeped for a couple of weeks and add about 1/4 cup at a time and taste before adding more.

keep the excedrin bottle close by cause after enough "tastes" you may need it "-)))

 
I guess I'll just add the syrup and see what happens. As it is now whoever got a drink off the top

of the bottle would get their heads blown off by the dose of lemon oil. Live and learn.

Does your recipe use any lemon juice? Perhaps if you substituted lemon juice for part of the water in the sugar syrup it would be more what you envisioned. I know my recipe just called for the zest.

Thanks.

 
I don't have the recipe in front of me, but it's only lemon peels, alcohol and sugar/water. That's

a good idea to add some of the juice. I could try it tonight with some that's in the freezer. Yes...I'll do that! Whatever it takes to shoulder on science.

I guess I didn't know if the bottled stuff would get bad with juice. I've got some 2 years old and it's still fine.

Does lemon juice go bad?

 
Haven't a clue, missy. Would have to dig out the recipe. It was a lot....

10 lemons I think, to a fifth of vodka, then the same amount of cold 1:1 sugar/water simple syrup.

Or I could be wrong. Many brain cells have died between then and now.

 
that's a lot of lemons for such a small amount of vodka. I don't think I've ever used more than 3

tops. try it with less. the vodka can be a very different creature when overwhelmed with peel.

 
Ummm - my brother tried adding lemon juice once....

Didn't work too well. Made it cloudy and in the end it didn't taste right. And to top it off - we normally keep a bottle of limoncello in the freezer - his froze - well actually the lemon juice froze into shards because of the "water" content. Normal limoncello doesn't have that much (if at all) water content so it only gets syrupy in the freezer.

I make limoncello every year as gifts - I use labor day weekend as my start day so that it's ready by the holidays. My recipe calls for 15 lemons and vodka and 45 days steeping, add simple syrup and more vodka, then 45 more days steeping. Comes out a lovely yellow.

I do believe that some things you just can't rush.

Tess

 
Licor de Lemon--uses the juice. I copied this but haven't tried it. next year. maybe.

Licor de Lemon
%^) (don't know who this is, someone from here, I think)

2 Large fresh lemons
Distilled water
2 C Sugar
2 C 100 Proof Vodka

Wash lemons with a mild detergent to remove the cosmetic wax and pat dry ... peel thin strips of zest from the lemons being careful to not include any of the white pith but leaving no yellow skin on the exterior of the lemons ... put zest into a medium saucepan ... squeeze the lemons and pour the juice through a strainer to remove any seeds and bigger pieces of flesh ... measure the juice and add enough distilled water to make 1 cup ... pour the lemon juice mixture into the saucepan with the zest, add the sugar, and stir ... bring the mixture to a boil, stirring frequently, reduce heat and simmer covered for 10 minutes ... remove from heat and cool completely ... pour lemon mixture into a glass container, add the vodka, and stir ... cap tightly and place in a cool dark place for 4 weeks ... at the end of 4 weeks, pour the mixture through a strainer into a bowl to remove the lemon zest (if desired, the zest may be saved for other food preparations) ... pour the mixture into a new/cleaned glass container, cap, and store in a cool dark place for another 4 weeks ... at the end of the second 4 week period, strain the mixture through cheesecloth over a large bowl ... you may strain as many times as necessary to be satisfied with the clearness of the mixture ... pour the mixture into a new/cleaned glass container, cap, and store in a dark cool place for 12 weeks (a cloudy layer may form at the top of the mixture which can either be poured off or the mixture can be shaken prior to serving - the cloudiness doesn't affect the taste of the liqueur, just the appearance) ... to serve, chill to as cold a temperature as possible ...

Makes approximately 12 to 15 two ounce servings

 
Mine is always clear, not opaque, but delicious. When I was in Southern Italy several years ago, we

ate at a farmhouse where they made their own Limoncello. It was opaque. When I asked the lady owner about this, she told me that it's because we use Vodka and they use grain alcohol. Don't know why or even if it's true but there it is.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top