What’s Lime? Lime is a citrus fruit that is loaded with nutrients especially vitamin C, antioxidants, and other nutrients. Various forms of lime are used in environmental, metallurgical, construction, and chemical/industrial applications, and more. Because limes are loaded with nutrients, you should add lime juice to your routine as they may help boost your immunity, reduce heart disease risk factors, prevent kidney stones, aid iron absorption, and promote healthy skin.
In this article we are going to give you some amazing facts about lime, How Much Juice in One Lime? different lime extractions methods and many more.
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How Much Juice in One Lime?
When you purchase lime, you need to decide how many limes to purchase. For that, you need to know how much juice in one lime. Not only for lime juice for other recipes also they are mentioning the amount of lime juice as 1/4,1/2 of a tablespoon.
The real matter you face is how many limes you need to get in order to get the needed amount of lime juice. Because the juice contained in lime differs with the size of the lime. Thus, deciding how much juice in one lime is not an easy task.
An average lime has 2 tablespoons of juice in it. To make a cup of fresh lime juice, you would need 8 limes. If you’re worried your dish will be overwhelmed by the citrus flavor, start with one tablespoon, or half, and add more if required. Remember, you can always add more.
Baked products also need more flavor than expected, so if the juice of one lime is needed by a citrusy dessert recipe, you may need the entire two tablespoons to add the taste. The rough measure of two tablespoons for one average lime helps you to decide how much juice in one lime.
Also, the amount of juice depends on whether you have a small, medium, or large lime. With the size of the lime, the amount of juice contained within it differs. A large unit contains approximately 3 tablespoons. Medium lime contains 2 to 2 ½ tablespoons while small lime contains 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons.
Thus, depending on your need, you can choose the size of the lime as well. So that how much juice in one lime depends on the size of the lime you choose.
What is the Difference Between a Lemon and Lime?
Both lime and lemon have similarities as they have the same shape and greenish-yellow color. Lemons are usually bright yellow, while limes are a bright shade of green. However, certain types of limes will turn yellow as they ripen, making the distinction a little more difficult. Limes are also smaller and rounder than lemons. They can vary in size but are usually 1–2 inches (3–6 centimeters) in diameter. Also, lime is generally more acidic than lemons.
How to Pick a Lime?
When you pick limes, you have to choose a lime that is packed with juice. Because depending on your chosen limes how much juice in one lime decides. Following are the steps you need to follow when choosing the right lime.
- Pick tight limes. Soft fruits have less liquid. The firmer and tighter limes are, the more juice is in it.
- The rind of fresh lime will be smooth. This is because the rind is stretched when there’s more liquid.
- The greener a lime is, the riper it is. For optimal flavor, go for the green ones over the yellow-green ones.
- Always go with the heavier one because that means it has more juice.
What are the Different Types of Lime?
Other than the facts about how much juice in one lime we have included several types of limes for your knowledge. Here we listed few types of limes that give you real lime juice.
Persian Limes
The most common lime in American supermarkets. Fairly large and quite juicy, it is the most adaptable in cooking. Persian limes are less tart than Key limes. They are also easier to grow and have thicker skin, making them more suitable for packing and transport.
Since they have the most juice of widely-available limes, they are also the best ones to use for recipes that call for fresh lime juice.
Key Limes
The Key lime is also called Mexican lime. They are also small, round lime with pale yellowish-green skin. Key limes are more acidic than Persian limes. Key lime juice is also typically used in key lime pie.
Kaffir Limes
The kaffir lime, also known as makrut lime. It’s unique among the citrus family for its skin, which is pebbly or warty in texture and rich in lime oil. The kaffir lime has very little juice. While the taste is a pleasant distinct and mild citrus flavor, the lack of juice means that typically, only the exterior is used.
Australian Desert Lime
The Australian desert lime, is one of the smallest limes, not much larger than a marble. These aren’t typically found in supermarkets, but may be found as ingredients in pre-packaged products.
Kalamansi or Calamondin
Kalamansi, calamondin, or musk lime, is a very tart lime that is widely used in Philippine cuisine. It is another very small lime, about an inch in diameter and orange in color. It has very thin skin and does not store or transport well. Because the fruit takes nearly a year to fully ripen, the tree is frequently grown as an ornamental, both at full-size and as a bonsai. Don’t expect to find these in the United States.
If you plan to make juice using a cold press juicer, you can use this variety of lime. Kalamansi nicely moves with the papaya, so you can take the best papaya taste from mixing these two fruits.
How to Cut Limes for Drinks?
Cut a lime in half along its longest side. Cut a slit on the inside of each half. It should be perpendicular to the direction you cut the lime in half and deep enough to release the lime juice without piercing through the skin from the inside. Place the half lime flat side down and cut 3 or 4 wedges perpendicular to the slit you made.
When you cut the lime, you can also have one rectangular core piece and four oval-ish pieces of lime for easiness of squeezing. Make a lengthwise cut through the lime just to the side of the stem.
Set the smaller piece aside. Lay the larger piece on its rind and make another lengthwise cut through the lime just to the side of the stem. Repeat on the opposite side, then flip the lime a quarter turn and make another lengthwise cut through the lime just to the side of the stem.
How to Zest a Lime?
Zest is the darker green outer part of the limes peel. It is used to concentrate the lime flavor in recipes. In all kinds of recipes, lime zest is added. Now you may wonder how to zest a lime. Using a Microplane is the best way to zest a lime because it is easy to use and it is sharp to keep your zest consistent.
Before you zest wash the lime well. When you zest the lime using the Microplane hold it in a standing position with the flat bottom on the cutting board, hold your lime with your other hand sweeping it downward across the blades. And rotate the lime and sweeping it across the blades until you have the amount of zest that you want or until the green is gone on the lime.
Extraction Methods
How much juice in one lime is decided by the extraction method you use to extract juice as well. Some extraction methods may give as maximum juice as possible while some are not. Thus, we have highlighted the extraction method in detail in our how much juice in one lime article.
The easiest method of extracting lime is using a masticating power juicer. This is the best option if you’re processing a large number of limes at once as it is hard to manually extract large amounts of limes. Sometimes this will give you more juice so that you cannot possibly use all you produce. The only option is to store it under refrigeration in a glass container.
The second method of extract juice from lime is the manual press. This crushes the fruit using hydraulic lever-action. Better to choose one with a flat press plate and will process any shape of fruit or vegetable.
Another method is using a hand juicer. It is about manual grinding of the pulp to break the juice vesicles and release the liquid contents. This is suitable for your home kitchen and it’s more affordable. Using a fork also suitable for your home kitchen when extract juice. With a fork, you can cut the lime and then macerate the pulp from the fork.
Another easiest method is manual squeeze cut the lime in half, across the pulp, and squeeze into a bowl. Before you use manual squeezing you have to do some pre-extraction steps like rolling the lime between my hand on the benchtop which will cover in detail in the next part of this article.
Pre-Extraction Treatments
You need to follow some pre-extraction treatments before you get juice from lime which will able you to get more juice as possible.
Roll the lime on a hard surface
You have to roll the lime between your hand on the benchtop as the first step which will soften your limes. That will be breaking up the juice vesicles in the fruit is to roll it. But make sure that you do not apply so much pressure that you break the rind unless you are performing this action in a large collection container.
Worming Lime using Microwave
Warming your lime in a microwave for 20-30 seconds before cutting it is one way to improve juice extraction. You can use any method of extraction after warming after this. Microwaving will heat and rupture many of the juice vesicles in the fruit without splitting the rind. But allow it to be cool for some time before you cut the lime.
How to Juice a Lime?
You may take squeezing a lime as the hardest task in your home kitchen and a lot of you have the problem of getting a tiny amount of juice from a lime. But there are several things you can try to get the most juice from lime with only a little bit of effort. How much juice in one lime will also depend on the steps you follow as well when you juicing lime.
Make sure you store your limes in the fridge, then microwave them for 15 seconds and roll them on the counter before juicing them. For juicing you can use several extraction methods that we mentioned. You can use a juicer as the easiest way to juicing a lime.
First, cut the lime in half. Then, cut a small piece of the rind off, opposite the already-cut side, on both lime halves. This way, you will get juice from both sides of the lime, rather than having one side covered by the rind. If you are hand squeezing, make a lengthwise cut through the lime just to the side of the stem.
Set the smaller piece aside. Lay the larger piece on its rind and make another lengthwise cut through the lime just to the side of the stem. Repeat on the opposite side, then flip the lime a quarter turn and make another lengthwise cut through the lime just to the side of the stem. Then squeeze the oval pieces over a small bowl.
After squeezing the juice out of the cut pieces of lime, move on to the core. Hold the core lengthwise over the bowl by each green end. Twist the core until all the juice comes out.
One more thing, if you are truly enthusiast about fruit roll ups and vegan lover, I suggest you to read article on vegan ingredients of fruit roll ups.
Fresh Lime Juice vs Bottled Lime Juice
Always you may feel that fresh lime juice is much better than a bottled lime juice. But when you get a small pinch of juice from a lime you may end up reaching for a bottle of lime juice. You need to be careful when substituting bottled lime juice for fresh. Check the label to be sure it is pure juice.
Is Lime Juice Healthy?
When you drink a glass of lime juice, you not only quench your thirst, you also give your body a lot of health benefits because of the calories in lime juice. Following are some benefits.
- Lime juice and its natural oils are beneficial for the skin when you drink or applied externally. This helps to hydrate the skin. The vitamin C and flavonoids in lime juice help to keep your skin shining. And its antibiotic and disinfectant properties protect it from infections and reduce body odor.
- The natural acidity in lime helps in the breakdown of the macromolecules of the food.
- Limes are most used in helping relieve constipation. The acids present in lime help clear the excretory system by washing and cleaning off the tracts.
- The high levels of soluble fiber found in limes help regulate the body’s absorption of sugar into the bloodstream. This helps reduce the occurrence of blood sugar spikes which are a serious risk to people with unhealthy blood sugar levels.
- Lime juice also lowers blood pressure and eliminates the presence of LDL cholesterol.
- Vitamin C, found in high concentrations in citrus fruits like lime, naturally lowers body temperature. So that if you’re suffering from fever you can drink more juice to reduce the temperature.
- A glass of warm water with a full lime’s worth of juice in it is an excellent weight reducer as well as a brilliant refresher and antioxidant drink.
Wrapping up..
Lime is a little fruit enrich with a lot of advantages. Now you know all of its health advantages as well as how it enriches your meals by adding exotic taste from our how much juice in one lime article. You can follow the steps that we mentioned to get the maximum juice possible thereby you can use fresh juice as possible rather than using bottled lime.