Waxed Lemons

[manwithbeard]

I'm baking a lemon drizzle loaf cake and need some lemon zest but don't know if the lemons I bought are waxed or not.

The link below says that the wax used to coat lemons is safe to eat but I don't fancy it.

http://www.wikihow.com/Dewax-Lemons

Anyone know how to identify if lemons are waxed or not?

[Ultuous]

Wait for them to go off (unwaxed keep nowhere near as long, so if they're no good after a couple of weeks then you did have the right ones)...

You can 'feel' the wax layer on top of a waxed lemon (which most are) - unwaxed feels a lot softer/ 'more natural'. If you're still stuck, just run the lemon under hotish water - it'll remove most of the wax (and any left over is harmless anyway!)

[don4l]

As above. The only way to know is to see how quickly they dry up. The ones that I get from Lidl dry up in a couple of weeks, so I guess that they are unwaxed.

Perhaps the hot water method is the way forward.

[21TonyK]

I'd always wash any fruit or veg I was using the peel or skin from as a matter of course. Hot water and washing up liquid gets wax off easily.

[manwithbeard]

Thanks for all the replies.

I left out the zest this time.

I am ordering an OXO vegetable brush and will use the hot water and brushing method when I need lemon or orange zest in future.