To use a citrus rind peeler or specific citrus grater to zest your lemon, begin by holding the tool by the handle. The other end should rest down on a cutting board or hard work surface. Hold the citrus with a firm grip keeping your fingers away from the grater. Move the citrus from the top of the grater to the bottom. Rotate the lemon and repeat this process until the entire rind of the lemon is removed.
How to zest a lemon with a microplane:
Hold the microplane grater side down and lightly drag it across the fruit. Each shave should remove a bit of the rind. Rotate the lemon and continue until the rind is removed.
If you’re not already familiar, here is a microplane definition. A lemon zester microplane is a long, thin metal tool that has a serrated edge used for grating a variety of food items and works great as a lemon zester.
How to zest a lemon with a vegetable peeler:
Keep in mind that there is a difference between peeling and zesting a lemon. And it’s possible to zest a lemon using a vegetable peeler. This method might prove to be a little more challenging but will get you through if you’re in a pinch.
Zesting a lemon with a vegetable peeler will result in larger pieces of zest, rather than fine little pieces that you’d achieve with a microplane. But that’s okay. Simply use your knife to chop them up into fine little pieces.
How to zest a lemon with a knife:
Zesting a lemon with a knife is another way that will achieve larger pieces of lemon zest. But if you don’t want them to be so chunky, just mince them into fine little pieces with your knife after you’ve removed them from the lemon.
When thinking about how to get lemon rind when zesting your lemon with a knife, be sure to only remove the outer most yellow peeling, rather than cutting down into the white portion of the peeling.
How to zest a lemon with a box grater:
Can you use a cheese grater as a zester? Sure. A box grater or a cheese grater both work well to zest a lemon. In fact they’re one of our favorite tools. We like a box grater because they have nice sturdy handle and it doesn’t require us to store yet another tool in the kitchen cupboards. Use the finest panel on a box grater or cheese grater to zest your lemon.
Notes
choose your favorite tool or zesting method above to zest a lemon.
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