Where's The Best Place To Store Lemons?

When it comes to keeping produce fresh, there's an overwhelming amount of factors to consider, and perhaps the biggest of these is how you should store your vegetables and fruits to keep them crisp. Every type of fruit, whether a kiwi, banana, or avocado, has its own strict set of storage requirements. This is especially true of fragile citrus fruits like lemons. You often see this produce kept at room temperature in the supermarket, but despite the way they're advertised at the store, many people opt to stick lemons in the fridge when they get home. So, which storage technique is best? Well, save some exceptions, the refrigerator is usually the best place to keep ripe or cut lemons in your kitchen.

It's true. The cold temperatures seal in freshness better than warm ones, and subsequently can keep your whole citrus fruits extra tart and vibrant for up to four or six weeks at a time. Without those cold temperatures, lemons will stay good for a much shorter time frame of up to one week at best.

To avoid any fruit storage mistakes, you should always take into account when exactly you plan to use your lemons as an ingredient. Ensure maximum freshness by sealing your citrus in an airtight bag or container in order to keep out any excess air. After that, place your sealed fruit in a crisper drawer to keep it fresh in low-humidity conditions. The reason? It's important to keep your fruit away from ethylene gas-emitting fruits in your drawer like apples or tomatoes, as those produce items will further speed up the ripening process of your lemons.

If you're storing lemon cuts or lemon slicesrather than whole one, the storing process is a little different — you should wrap the exposed flesh in plastic wrap first, then seal the fruit in a container before storing it in the crisper drawer. Cut lemons have a much shorter lifespan than whole lemons (usually for only a few days), so keep in mind that you'll have to use your lemon cuts a lot sooner than a whole one.

While the fridge is generally the best place to store your whole or cut lemons, there are some exceptions. Green, unripe lemons, for example, should be kept at room temperature until they turn yellow, as this can speed up the ripening process. Alternatively, if you've got a whole lemon that you plan to use within the week, you can keep these on the counter, too: after all, if you're planning on using it within that timeframe, you don't need to worry about long-term storage.

No matter how you store your fruit, remember to look out for any signs of spoilage, including mushy or shriveled skin, mold, or strong, fermented smells. You'll want to throw any lemons with these qualities into the bin, as this most likely means the citrus has gone bad. 

So, if you're eager to dig into your bright citrus treats as soon as possible, room-temperature storage will work just fine. Otherwise, keep them in the fridge to ensure your fruit will be ripe and ready when you really need them. (Oh, and don't forget to remove your lemons from the cold a few hours before you use them — lemon juice is harder to extract when this fruit is cold.)