Limoncello (Lemoncello) the Italian way


 
Hi all
So what’s the consensus on how many key limes to use per 750 ml grain?
Also does anyone know what time of year is best for lemons?

As a side note I had great results using lemons from whole foods. They were huge and juicy. I wish I knew what kind of lemons they were.

Thanks
-Joe
 
I use 20-30 depending on size. I grow them though so all are ripe. If using store bought (which are often picked underripe) I'd suggest using the higher number if some or many are underripe (green) rather than ripe (yellow).
 
The rave reviews in this thread sold me. On the way home from work today, I picked up a 1.75L bottle of Everclear.
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I may go by Trader Joe's tonight and get the lemons.

Dumb question.. what kind of container are y'all using to make this in? Empty milk jug? 2 liter bottle? Something glass?

Thanks.
 
Glass. Alcohol can pull flavors out of nearly anything so glass is my choice; large jars for macerating, then I strain, mix with the syrup then decant to bottles.

Let us know how it goes. I'll be straining and syrup-ing my calamondin maceration on Wednesday.
 
Originally posted by Dan Wicker:

what kind of container are y'all using to make this in?
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As Kevin said def use glass. I use Luminarc wire top bail jars. I have a bunch of them and they are wide mouth and easy to clean.

On another note I got to tell you that the Vodka worked pretty fast on extracting the lemon peels. After one week they are pale white, From the posts in this thread, I was expecting it to take much longer than a week. I added the peel from one blood orange on Saturday. Well 24 hrs later it had turned from dark red/dark orange to a very pale orange. Today at 48 hrs it looks like a lemon peel. I added another peel from a blood orange today, no reason, just because I felt like it.
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Well 24 hrs later it had turned from dark red/dark orange to a very pale orange. Today at 48 hrs it looks like a lemon peel.
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Very interesting. Porosity perhaps? I have not used vodka for some time for limoncello (and, then, it was with juice and only some zest). I do use it for making vanilla extract though and it takes a while.

I grow bloods but just one tree. It's young yet. I have to check it when I get home to see if the few fruit that are there are worth bothering with.
 
Originally posted by K Kruger:

Very interesting. Porosity perhaps?
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I would guess so Kevin. When I used the veg peeler on the lemons I didn't have to worry about getting too deep and picking up any white pith, my skins were pretty thick with no pith. With the Moro bloods I have, they have a very thin skin and I had to go very easy when I peeled them. They are quite thin so I would say that's why the quick extraction. Lemons didn't do bad either at a week to turn a pale white. I still want to get the grain to make sure I'm extracting everything out of the peels. The bloods have turned the cello a beautiful gold color.
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Thanks for tips. I decided to run to Wal-Mart tonight to see what they had in the form of mason jars. Nothing. They had some sun tea pitchers, but I have had those things leak really badly before. So I decided to see what foods came in really big glass jars.

$2.58 later, I have about 20 whole dill pickles in my refrigerator and one really clean 80 oz glass jar.
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Unfortunately, I was unable to get all the pickle smell off the inside of the jar lid. But no matter, I decided to seal it with a layer of plastic wrap.
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BTW, I actually bought my lemons there too. They had a really nice looking bag of 11 unwaxed organics for only $4.88 (compared to 78 cents each for non-organics). Peeled them all with minimal pith and now I'm well on my way to homemade lemoncello.
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Originally posted by Dan Wicker:

$2.58 later, I have about 20 whole dill pickles in my refrigerator and one really clean 80 oz glass jar.
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Unfortunately, I was unable to get all the pickle smell off the inside of the jar lid. But no matter, I decided to seal it with a layer of plastic wrap.
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Use a rubber band around the wrap also if you didn't already. As far as the smell in the lid soak it in a quart of warm water and a Tablespoon of bleach overnight 8-12 hrs. Rinse well with hot water and let dry/air out for a few hours. That should work for the lid. I always use a weak bleach solution for canning jars & lid smells and home brewing kegs and such.
 
I bet. Yummy.

Just got a bottle of 190 in Atlanta (only 156 in Fla).

Blood juice makes a great vinaigrette (with Morea!) for a steak drizzle...
 
Originally posted by Bryan S:
Use a rubber band around the wrap also if you didn't already. As far as the smell in the lid soak it in a quart of warm water and a Tablespoon of bleach overnight 8-12 hrs. Rinse well with hot water and let dry/air out for a few hours. That should work for the lid. I always use a weak bleach solution for canning jars & lid smells and home brewing kegs and such.
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Nice! I'll remember that. I actually put a layer of plastic wrap down and then screwed the lid on to hold the wrap in place. But I will do the bleach-cleaning when I get a chance.
 
BTW, am I correct in understanding that Mike's original syrup recipe calls for 6 cups of warm water and 5 cups of granulated sugar?

Man, I'm not sure if I have enough space in my jar for that.. only 80 ounces...
 
Yes, but there is no need to mix the syrup in with the maceration. Strain out the zest, mix the syrup in with the flavored alcohol (after the syrup has cooled) and bottle it.
 
Originally posted by Dan Wicker:
BTW, am I correct in understanding that Mike's original syrup recipe calls for 6 cups of warm water and 5 cups of granulated sugar?

Man, I'm not sure if I have enough space in my jar for that.. only 80 ounces...
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I think the recipe is 3 pints of water and 5 cups of sugar but that’s for 1 liter of 190 proof spirits ” Grain alcohol “

If you by the 750 ml bottles of spirits it will change the recipe.

I believe it comes out to be 36oz water and roughly 4 cups sugar for each the 750 ml bottle

Also I measured out 5 pounds of Domino granulated sugar and it came out to 10.5 cups exactly. So its 5.25 cups for 2.5 pounds of sugar


If you’re using different sugar the measurement per pound may be different
 
I actually had an empty 1 liter bottle of Ketel One on hand, so I measured out exactly that amount into the pickle jar.

But thanks for the 5.25 cup measurement.
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That's waaaay more than I use. It's one of those personal preference things.

For a 1 liter bottle of grain I use 6 c water and 2.5 c sugar. (I adjust water or alcohol, if necessary, after this is mixed.)

Try a few different mixes and see what you prefer.
 
I'd prefer it to not be sickly sweet. For instance, I can't handle full-strength Hawaiian Punch anymore, like when I was a kid. I have to water it down (same with many other fruit juices).
 
Well, many even 100% juices are made from concentrates whereby the manufacturer does not return the full amount of water when the juice is reconstituted thus making it sweeter. HP contains mostly water and high fructose corn syrup with scant amounts of fruit concentrates followed by artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, etc. I don't consume HFCS and artificial colors or flavors, and minimize consumption of preservatives--it's probably been over thirty years since I've had HP--but I still recall the flavor!
 
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