Drying Lemon Peel

How you prepare lemon peel for drying depends on what you eventually plan to use it for. For culinary use, grab a zester and make sure you only remove the yellow part of the rind (as the white tastes overwhelmingly bitter). If you are looking to make potpourri that will be displayed, slice pretty curls using a vegetable peeler. If you want to make potpourri for sachets, peel the whole fruit, white part and all, in thick chunks. This helps add bulk to the finished sachet and minimizes waste.

If you are using peel from lemons you plan to juice, remove the peel first. Never try to dry squeezed peel halves. They’re almost guaranteed to mold.

Once you have the peel, you can either spread it out in a single layer on an absorbent surface or a screen, or you can use heat. You can spread the peel out on a baking sheet and put in a 200 degree oven, or you can carefully microwave in 20 second intervals, stirring between each time, and watching for signs that it is about to scorch (which can happen quickly).