CITRUS
Getting the Oil Out of a Peel
- Time needed
- 2 minutes, once you have done it twice
Why it matters
Most of what people describe as the taste of a citrus drink is actually smell, and most of that smell is oil from the outer skin rather than anything in the juice. The oil sits in small sacs in the colored layer only. Directly underneath it is the white pith, which contains no aroma and a great deal of bitterness. Learning to take one without the other is about ninety seconds of practice and it changes every citrus drink you make afterward.
The steps
Wash and dry the fruit first
You are about to use the outside of the skin as an ingredient, so it needs the same treatment as any other produce you eat unpeeled. Dry it properly too — a wet peel sprays water along with the oil.
Use a Y-peeler, not a knife
A peeler rides at a fixed depth, which is exactly the problem you are trying to solve. A knife depends on your angle staying constant across the whole stroke, and it usually does not.
Take a wide strip, not a thin one
Width gives you something to hold and more oil sacs per squeeze. Aim for something around the size of your thumb; thin ribbons look neater and release noticeably less.
Check the back of the strip
Hold it up. If you can see a white layer, trim it away with a knife laid flat against the board. This one look is the difference between fresh and bitter, and it takes two seconds.
Express skin-side down, well above the glass
Hold it three or four inches over the surface, colored side facing the drink, and pinch it sharply in half. You want the fine mist to spread across the whole surface rather than land in one spot.
Wipe the rim with the outside of the peel
Run it around the edge of the glass. The rim is where the nose is closest to the drink, so oil placed there does disproportionate work.
Drop it in, or discard it deliberately
A peel left in the glass keeps releasing slowly and looks intentional. If the drink is one someone will nurse for a long time, take it out after a few minutes — the bitterness from the cut edges does eventually arrive.
Common mistakes
- Twisting the peel instead of pinching it. A twist releases some oil down the outside of the strip and into your fingers; a sharp pinch sprays it forward, which is where the glass is.
- Expressing at the surface of the drink. Held an inch above the liquid, most of the oil lands as droplets in one place instead of spreading as a film across the top.
- Using zest where a peel is called for. Fine zest gives up its oil immediately and then sits in the drink as wet fiber; a wide strip releases on demand and can be removed.
- Saving peels for the next day. Cut edges dry within a few hours and the yield falls off sharply — the strip still looks fine and gives almost nothing when you squeeze it.
Tools
- Zesters & Citrus Tools
Decides getting oil off a peel without pith.