Limoncello

[texassourdough]

Re: Limoncello

Hi Dino!

I had to pick about a hundred Myers lemons before a freeze and I did everything lemon I could including making 2 bottles of Lemoncello. The work is definitely in the peeling! Took me about 45 minutes also. I thought mine was better than the commercial lemoncello I have bought!

My recipe had me steep them in the vodka for 4 days, then add the sugar water. Good Luck!
Jay

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Limoncello

Well, it's winter in Southern California which means it's too cold to work on the pizza oven (it's 60 degrees outside, I could catch a cold) and my Eureka Lemon tree has hundreds of ripe lemons I can't even begin to use.

Here is my 1st foray into making Limoncello. We can't get Everclear in California and to be honest, I was impressed by how smooth Vodka Limoncello was that they made on board the ship on my last cruise versus the real-deal (which I luv too). I will use higher proof vodka next time, this is just left over Sterling and Absolute from a party and Elizabeth says the higher proof is better.

The bottle on the left is GRATED lemon peel and the one on the right is done with a potato peeler just to see what the difference will be besides the grated one turning yellow after just 1 day. The peeled lemons (17 of them!) took a long time (ok, 40 min.) since I scrapped any white pith from the back side. Maybe it will just take longer to color and leech out the oils? I plan to shake the jars everyday, so they're in the wine cellar and I can't miss them. Cheers, Dino

[gjbingham]

Re: Limoncello

In Italy, they sold sets of small digestivo glasses, similar size to shot glasses, but with a different shape - many different shapes available. We often used water glasses filled about a quarter of the way up on hot summer nights after a big meal. A couple of refills and you were toast!

[egalecki]

Re: Limoncello

Well, organic lemons were on sale, so I couldn't pass this recipe up. I'm now 40 days into it.

I'm a nerd when it comes to glass-ware, having fallen into the marketing scam of Reidel (different glass shape for every wine)

Does anyone know the proper glass to serve Limoncello in?

I've made it twice, myself. It's better with the higher proof vodka than the lower one. I know some people use everclear, but I think the vodka is fine. We keep it in the freezer in those funny little beer bottles with the rubber stoppers with the wire bails.

As for serving it, we use plain shot glasses. Not really spiffy, but then, most of my glasses don't match, although I do have different ones for red and white wine!

I personally love Limoncello, but my husband likes grappa. He fell in love with a smoked grappa last time we were in Italy. I think grappa tastes like lighter fluid, though. I much prefer lemon pledge. (what my mom calls limoncello)

[sarah h]

Re: Limoncello

We bought some limoncello recently and while my husband liked it, I thought it tasted disgusting. Yours looks very different from the store variety though ... does this mean it tastes different too - maybe better - worth another try, this time homemade?

[mfiore]

Re: Limoncello

Well, organic lemons were on sale, so I couldn't pass this recipe up. I'm now 40 days into it.

I'm a nerd when it comes to glass-ware, having fallen into the marketing scam of Reidel (different glass shape for every wine)

Does anyone know the proper glass to serve Limoncello in?

[gjbingham]

Re: Limoncello

That sounds better. Somewhere around 60 proof, 30% by volume makes a nice digestivo. Make sure its ice cold for those hot summer nights. Idescribeably delicious! Salute!

[KiwiPete]

Re: Limoncello

I should have been more precise in what I wrote: I steep the lemon peels in high strength alcohol to get the maximum colour/flavour extraction. Then later on I cut it down with the sugar syrup and/or more water to the final strength of about 30% (by volume). Sorry for the misunderstanding..

And yes, in the US buying Everclear is probably a better option..

[gjbingham]

Re: Limoncello

Illegal in the US mannextdoor. That doesn't mean you can't do it, it just isn't legal. There's got to be many plans available on the web for building a still. Probably easier to buy the Everclear or Stolies 120 proof vodka.

James,
Cool place Capri, huh? I've got to go back there. August must be insane there. The trip I took from Sorrento across to the island was on a hydrofoil on a very rough day. There were a 150 people barfing in sea sickness bags all the way across. Fun to see, in a perverse sort of way!

[mannextdoor]

Re: Limoncello

Hi Guys,

We've been making (and drinking) limoncello for a number of years now.
From the research I've done, it is better to have a high strength alcohol. The higher the better, since the stronger the alcohol is, the better it is at leeching out all the essential oils and colour from the lemons

From my experience, vodka of 50% (by volume or 100% proof) is about the minimum you should use. The vodka is mentioned in a lot of recipes because that is the strongest you can buy in a lot of countries.

I use a home distilled alcohol (yes, it is legal in NZ ) of 92% (by volume) and that works a treat.

hiccup...

Hi KiwiPete

May I ask what kind of a distiller that you use? If it is a commercial unit. Can it be purchased on the net?

Randy

[james]

Re: Limoncello

James, if you ever get out to Capri on one of your Italian work trips, they sell a lot of different varieties. All great!

George, exactly. For me this all started with a spring break trip to Sorrento a number of years ago. I've never seen so many people in one place at one time. I thought the island of Capri was going to sink. :-) Still, everyone was having a great time being up close and personal.

Those thick skinned lemons are very cool.
James

[gjbingham]

Re: Limoncello

Yikes! I never had any that strong. Thanks for another education.

James, if you ever get out to Capri on one of your Italian work trips, they sell a lot of different varieties. All great!

[KiwiPete]

Re: Limoncello

Hi Guys,

We've been making (and drinking) limoncello for a number of years now.
From the research I've done, it is better to have a high strength alcohol. The higher the better, since the stronger the alcohol is, the better it is at leeching out all the essential oils and colour from the lemons

From my experience, vodka of 50% (by volume or 100% proof) is about the minimum you should use. The vodka is mentioned in a lot of recipes because that is the strongest you can buy in a lot of countries.

I use a home distilled alcohol (yes, it is legal in NZ ) of 92% (by volume) and that works a treat.

hiccup...

[james]

Re: Limoncello

George,

I'm a big Limoncello fan. It's a great after dinner drink.

Here is a link to a good Limoncello recipe and a great resource. Kyle is the Italian food writer for About.com. He's my age (nearly 50), and has spent a lifetime in Florence -- first as a child with his father, who was an archeologist who work on the early Etruscan excavations, and he never went back. His son and my daughter are the same grade.

His recipes are the real thing, and he really knows his stuff. I've learned a lot just talking with him.

Limoncello

His view is that you can use either Vodka or Everclear, but you have to control the alcohol. The Wikipedia reference says that Everclear does a better job of extracting color and flavor from the lemons. Try both. :-)

James

[gjbingham]

Re: Limoncello

No, Everclear is too strong. All the recipes I've seen call for Vodka.

Ice.cold Limoncello is incredibly wonderful on a hot evening after a big meal. It's supposed to be served in small portions, but all my dentist friends and I would just have them leave the bottle on the table. Usually, there was nothing left a half-hour later.