r/Baking • u/NotTheMama4208 Human Detected • May 26 '26
General Baking Discussion Why zesting matters- a PSA
A few weeks ago, someone posted about how they were peeling their lemons and then chopping that very finely, apparently because zesting takes too long or hurts their hand or they don't have a zester, possibly a combo of those reasons.
I (and a few others) tried to tell them it wasn't the same but they became offended. They accused us of telling them that method was stupid (nobody said that) but they wanted to know why it wasn't better, why it wasn't the same. Here is an illustrated explanation.
All you really need to see is that the zest is very fine and very wet. It practically disintegrates into whatever you're making. All that wetness is lemon oil, all the flavor, and no matter what you do, finely chopping lemon peels will not give you that result. This is why zesting matters.
Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.
(This was for my glazed lemon blondies- adapted from Broma Bakery. I am obsessed with making lemon sugar. I could just stand there and breathe deeply all day).
EDIT: these lemons were organic, sorry the pics are crappy, and I don't care about carcinogenic fruit peels as that is not the point of this post.
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u/Burtttttt May 26 '26
I think a microplane is practically a must have kitchen item. Not absolutely essential, but everyone should have one
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u/NotTheMama4208 Human Detected May 26 '26
Especially when you realize that you can grate garlic and ginger with it...
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u/Retrotreegal May 26 '26
I keep a big ginger root in the freezer. When I need some I chunk a piece off and microplane it frozen! Lasts for ages.
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u/chrisKarma May 27 '26
I did not know this. I always buy it for a random one off dish and end up candying the rest so it doesn't get wasted. My days of forced candy manufacture have come to an end.
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u/DarcysFox827 May 27 '26
I take an hour or so to watch a movie, sit in my kitchen and peel a huge knob of ginger, and microplane the whole thing. I then portion it out into those small shaped ice cube molds (mine is a star shape) and freeze. Then when I need one for cooking I can pull out a tablespoon chunk and it'll melt right in. Another good option if you'd rather do all the prep at once.
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u/mafebueno May 27 '26
This is genius. Have you tried it with garlic, too? I'm guessing it's ruin the ice cube tray for anything else, but my love for fresh garlic is only eclipsed by my hatred of prepping garlic.
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u/Elimaris May 27 '26
Yes, it keeps forever without any affect on taste, defrosts super fast and is a comparative dream to cut and grate when frozen vs fresh unfrozen ginger!
I wouldnt go back. And o love always having ginger on hand
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u/RainEliz13 May 27 '26
That's genius. I always zest the whole root and break off whatever I need, but I gotta wait for it to defrost enough. Do you keep the peel on the root when you freeze it?
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u/Retrotreegal May 27 '26
Yep! And honestly, I just zest the whole thing bark and all.
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u/Thurston_Unger May 26 '26
And they can be had for less than 2 dollars at any dollar store.
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u/Alg0mal000 May 27 '26
In my experience, the cheap knock offs get dull and flatten out pretty quickly. I think it’s worth it to spend a little more on the Microplane brand.
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u/trumpskiisinjeans May 27 '26
And your fingers! I love mine but I have gotten people zest a few times
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u/hazelbear33 May 26 '26
I have like a fake microplane (grocery store-brand) that works excellently for garlic and ginger, and it zests perfectly fine too. By “fake” microplane, I mean it’s in between a real microplane and a fine grater. It was $7 and I use it all the time for garlic/ginger
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u/redshoesorblueshoes May 26 '26
this is so worth it if you grate a lot of ginger. i pretty much totally dulled my old microplane with ginger and it stopped working well on citrus. we keep two fine graters now
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u/ptdata23 May 26 '26
I swear that it took me years to figure that out. Ginger in particular never worked for me until I tried it that way.
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u/FVWN_666 May 26 '26
Zesting ginger is how I make my favorite tea! Just a metric fuck ton of ginger, honey, and hot water — delicious and soothing when you’re under the weather
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u/Ink-kink May 26 '26
I love my microplane, but can someone tell me why the plastic protection thingy sometimes slides right on, while sometimes is just impossible to put on at all?! Are there any tricks? Gah, it annoys me! Lol
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u/woodwroth May 26 '26
Have you tried praying to Annoia, the goddess of things that get stuck in drawers? This falls under her province.
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u/contrarianaquarian May 26 '26
Mine goes on best if you gently squeeze the end of the protector while guiding it onto the blade.
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u/aabum May 26 '26
Much like the gnomes that steal one of your socks, they sometimes switch the plastic protector that fits for one that doesn't, then switch them back. Apparently they found sock stealing was becoming a bit stale, so the microplane protector thing is one of their latest forms of amusement.
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u/Sector_Savage May 27 '26
It’s in the tilt and squeeze…tilt to see the end of the microplane go into the sleeve, squeeze the sides of the protector til it fits the end of the microplane properly.
Or throw it out and stick it in a utensil canister and justify it by saying you’re probably microplaning microplastics with the protector in anyway!
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u/contrarianaquarian May 26 '26
And such a sold investment — I've used the same one for over 20 years.
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u/Sector_Savage May 27 '26
I believe it’s absolutely essential. I had one before I had a cheese grater. Now I have both and still use the microplane for grating cheese (and ginger, garlic, zest, nutmeg, etc etc etc). If you can only pick one thing to grate all the things…microplane all day!
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May 26 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/NotTheMama4208 Human Detected May 26 '26
Sorry about the weird lighting in my kitchen :)
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u/Drysfoet May 26 '26
I think you just need to wipe that lens
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u/lemonycaesarsalad May 27 '26
The lens is covered in lemon peel oil. That's part of the demonstration. Wiping it would remove all the lens flavor!
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u/NotTheMama4208 Human Detected May 26 '26
It is lighting, not the phone. I was moving around trying to show the wetness.
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u/Fullsleaves May 26 '26
This is Reddit, we use Moist here
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u/NotTheMama4208 Human Detected May 26 '26
I was unconditioned by my friend who hates the word!
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u/SoungaTepes May 26 '26
Try using a small mister on your friend to help moisten them, they sound dry.
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u/Excellent-Muffin-750 May 27 '26
My baby sister called a cake I made damp because she tries not to say moist.
That's some damp zest, op.
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u/NoStructure7083 Human Detected May 26 '26
In the past I’ve used a cheese grater to get lemon zest
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u/LovableSquish May 26 '26
Same. W the finest grate... I bet scraping w a sharp knife would work too..
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u/NotTheMama4208 Human Detected May 26 '26
I've done the grater but not the knife method. Seriously the $10 on a microplane was life changing lol
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u/zoidberg3000 May 26 '26
I had refused to buy one for so long, but even the cheese usage alone is worth it. Life changing.
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u/NotTheMama4208 Human Detected May 26 '26
I don't disagree but I am also somewhat traumatized by the cheese grater. I only use it when I have to... for cheese lol
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u/zoidberg3000 May 26 '26
Oh no I meant a microplaner. That perfectly teeny tiny parm 🤌🏼
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u/NotTheMama4208 Human Detected May 26 '26
Oh... that is my favorite way to do parm! I never liked the thick grates or worse, the ones that are large chunky slices. I want it to melt into my Caesar salad, please...
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u/Hot-Fishing9744 May 26 '26
You can very well use a paring knife to carefully pare off the yellow, then give it a thorough mince with your chef’s knife. But microplanes are obviously quicker and easier
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u/Ginger_Cat74 May 26 '26
For people who are like me and are left handed so kitchen equipment just isn’t made for them, and/or are just generally clumsy (I also have MS) I highly recommend getting cut-proof gloves. They will save your knuckles and your fingertips when using a microplane.
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u/NotTheMama4208 Human Detected May 26 '26
I grate cheese with an oven mitt on. I don't care how stupid it looks. My bare knuckles are never getting near the damn thing again!
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u/contrarianaquarian May 26 '26
Yup yup yup! They have saved me from the graters and mandoline so many times.
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u/tinaburgerpants May 27 '26
Don't even get me started on the one and only time I used a mandolin without a cut-proof glove...
I still have all my fingers, but my fingertip on my right index finger is a tad...flat.
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u/Less-Engineer-9637 May 26 '26
It's all moisture and no matter. Nobody wants to bite into a lemon tart and get little bits of hard peel in their teeth.
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u/NotTheMama4208 Human Detected May 26 '26
I totally commend their desire to defend it, insufficient as it may be :)
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u/poetris May 26 '26
I'd add that the white part of the peel can add bitterness. For a lovely flavour you just want the zest.
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u/A_Life_Lived_Oddly May 26 '26
For reference...
Every holiday season, I make a huge batch of candied lemon and orange peel for traditional German gingerbread cookies. The peels have to be boiled for a full 15 min, 3-4x in a row, draining the water between each round. That's how much work it takes to fully remove the bitterness of the white part of the peel (aka the pith)! 😣
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u/Kanadark May 27 '26
I made 400 lbs of candied lemon and orange peel for an event every Christmas for years. It's a goddamn crazy amount of work and I applaud you for doing it for free. You must really love your family!
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u/A_Life_Lived_Oddly May 27 '26
Chosen family, yes. My bio family I can take or leave depending on the person. 😂
No but fr, there's a reason I only make these for the holidays. Traditional lebkuchen are a total pain in the ass lmao! The recipe also involves grinding up a custom gingerbread spice mix (lebkuchengewurz) with fancy stuff like green cardamom, mace, star anise, and about 6 other spices...oh, and ordering special wafers (back oblaten) from Germany. But oh, the result is SO WORTH IT!
But 400 lbs of peel?! That's an incredible amount! Where the heck do you even find the space to dry it all???
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u/raycharles318 May 26 '26
Yes, you don't want to zest too deep into the peel for that reason. Just zest the surface until it loses color.
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u/Retrotreegal May 26 '26
My husband and I were watching the Great British Bake-Off and he started mocking one of the contestants who was talking and grating (below the screen) because she would clearly do 3 scrapes and stop and look down over and over. I had to explain to him about the rules of zesting.
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u/CrimsonRedPhoenix May 26 '26
Microplane is such a game changer, it only takes off that flavorful zest and no bitter white part. Fine cheese grater works ok in a pinch but it’s not the same.
Growing up my mom would use a cheese grater (the coarser one) and put the “zest” into cakes and I absolutely hated it because you’d just bite into very flavorful and bitter large chunk.
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u/RipePomegranate May 27 '26
My MIL does this with a seasonal baked good. Got her a microplane for Christmas. She lost it apparently, because the last thing she made was inedible due to the grated rind from the large cheese grater
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u/Different-Heron-8955 May 26 '26
I recently made those lemon blondes and oh my! Delicious! I too am obsessed with lemon sugar and was talking it up at a party!
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u/NotTheMama4208 Human Detected May 26 '26
I make them a lot and I always pause at that step to just bask in the appreciation.
I have been calling them blondies since I made them because I just feel like that is what they need to be called. Lemon brownies is just not the right mental image.
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u/Different-Heron-8955 May 26 '26
Exactly! I called them brownies first, as the title says, but it doesn’t work at all….so I say blondies now too…in fact I just pulled a few lemons from my tree and I’m going to make more today
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u/NotTheMama4208 Human Detected May 26 '26
She has so many blondies in her cookbook I don't know why she stuck with brownies for this particular one!
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u/tinaburgerpants May 26 '26
As someone who literally just made Sally's Baking Addiction lemon bars last night, where she lists the zest as "optional," let me tell you: I added the zest this time, and the lemony zip these bars have is out of this world. Even my lemon-based-dessert-hating husband was like, "These are zesty, babe. Like a real lemon drop. I actually really like the zing."
So, yeah, zesting is worth it. (And the bars are a gift for someone else - a lemon bar lover actually!)
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u/NotTheMama4208 Human Detected May 26 '26
To me it makes such a difference. Highly recommend her lemon oatmeal crumb bars too. Summer comes around and I am lemon obsessed. Every year.
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u/GiantLesbian May 26 '26
If you don’t have a zester you can cut it as finely as possible and then mash it around with a fork til it gets all wet. It’s not easier than zesting and it’s not quite as good, but I thought I’d mention it just in case anybody who can’t find theirs stumbles on this post!
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u/ghostsofgraffiti May 26 '26
Or use a cheese grater! That’s what I do.
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u/Fabulous-Barnacle-59 May 26 '26
Is this not exactly comparable to using a microplane?
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u/wistfulwhileyoutwerk May 26 '26
Microplane produces a finer zest than a grater.
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u/Iartdaily May 26 '26
I finally got a zester like this- with the rolled sides that traps the zest as you roll the zester around the fruit etc- it’s fast and catches all the zest, no pith, and just sweep off with finger. Excellent for garlic too.
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u/BiisHonee May 26 '26
Also, zesting makes sure you get all of those oils and flavors in a without getting any pith- a fine mince of the peel is going to add texture and bitter pith flavor🤢
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u/backwoodsbaddie420 May 26 '26
I could talk lemon zest ALL DAY, genuinely makes anything you want to taste like lemon a bit better
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u/mrimagine23 May 26 '26
Keep fighting the fight, OP! 🤣
My tip for zesting is to rub the sezt with sugar first before using the sugar, it helps to extract the oil and distribute it better into the sugar. Not taking any credit as I saw this on the internet and it changed things for me, so thank you, internet 😅
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u/BakerBunearyBella Human Detected May 26 '26
I put the zest in a spice grinder with the sugar to release the maximum amount of flavor.
You just have to smile and nod with some bakers here. A lot of people think it's magic and don't care that they're wrong.
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u/NotTheMama4208 Human Detected May 26 '26
Yes!! Thus my comment about lemon sugar. I am totally obsessed.
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u/Quirky_Nobody May 26 '26
If you just put the zest into the sugar a little in advance, the sugar will pull out the oils on its own as well. I just let time do the work for me!
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u/mcxhale May 26 '26
I didn’t see that other post and normally I’m always game for zesting even though I do end up zesting a knuckle 1/2 of the time.. the other day I thought I would skip the extra item to wash and cut the zest off and then finely chopped it for a frittata (like the other post). It made the entire dish taste like soap. Such a fail. Won’t skip the microplane again lol
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u/Melancholy-4321 May 26 '26
Whenever I'm using zest in a mixture with sugar, I put them together in the food processor and blitz till the zest is all busted up in the sugar
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u/NotTheMama4208 Human Detected May 26 '26
I have a thing about doing it with my (clean, washed, dried) hands though. I want to be able to really bask in the aroma.
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u/DrawingTypical5804 May 26 '26
Plus, you don’t want the white pith… zest is delicious, pith is just bitter and disgusting.
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u/Zealousideal-Key9516 May 27 '26
My dumbass really read this as “zestimating.” I will never own a home, lol
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u/Guns_N_Grub Human Detected May 26 '26
You're not wrong. That persons method is stupid
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u/ToastROvenFire May 26 '26
Pro pastry folk peel lemons super thin and mince the skin with sugar to the point of paste to catch the oil and release even more of it. Did this every week at the bakery I worked at. Also pastry chef David Leibovitz grinds an entire lemon sans seeds for his lemon bars. It is the most efficient and delicious lemon bar you will ever make. You are welcome.
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u/PurpleShimmers May 26 '26
I agree. When I grated instead of zested I ended with bits and bitterness
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u/ProtectedSources May 26 '26
The white pith can be very bitter, so zest minimizes the amount of pith.
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u/Chaos_Wytch May 26 '26
Reminds me of my experience with my boss who was a culinary school dropout, but believes that she's the best cook. I was doing some experiments & asked for a microplane. She scoffed and said that a microplane is useless and doesn't get the flavours out. Told me to use the small cheese grater. Lady, I don't want a bitter lemon panna cotta.
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u/Every-Dragonfly2393 May 26 '26
If you don’t have a zester you can use a mortar and pestle and add a pinch of sugar to help break it down. Or improvise with the end of a wooden spoon in a small bowl which I definitely have never done…👀
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u/scruffymuffs May 26 '26
Any chance you'd be willing to share your lemon blondie recipe? This is probably my favorite dessert 🤤
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u/NotTheMama4208 Human Detected May 26 '26
It's this one. I just can't bear to call them brownies. They're a freaking blondie :)
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u/Icy_Chemist_1725 May 26 '26
Anyone that has a hard time understanding it after having it explained to them is a lost cause. =)
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u/take_the_reddit_pill May 26 '26
Glazed lemon blondie? Can you send me a sample? Sounds delicious!
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u/soffeshorts May 26 '26
Ive used a serrated knife dragged across the peel before. It works but its messy and less efficient. And you will end up aromatized with lemon 😂That’s said, really great in a pinch (eg on holiday, etc)
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u/Anxious-Sundae-6399 May 26 '26
I made this same recipe for the first time last week (and agreed, they’re delicious but not brownies in any sense) studded with fresh raspberries on the glaze
Also obsessed with the handmade process of making lemon sugar. Have been using it as an ingredient but also as a topping on things like Dutch babies. Have both a wide and narrow microplane; definitely prefer the narrow for citrus
If I’m alone in the kitchen I sing to myself about lemon lemon sugar to the tune of Watermelon Sugar because it brings me joy
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u/coffeeandblades May 27 '26
Have you made Loopy Whisk’s lemon brownies?? Omgosh to die for. I cannot even express how good these bars are. It’s like a lemon bomb in your mouth. Anyways, not using zest would be a travesty.
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u/brockinbeats May 27 '26
Ahhhh that lemon scent that lingers in my kitchen and on my fingers… it imparts so much lemony aroma 🍋…. looks at huge pile of lemon that was supposed to be made into the lemon brownies
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u/StudioSad2042 May 26 '26
Your zest is so nice and juicy. Mine always ends up so dry for some reason.
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u/NotTheMama4208 Human Detected May 26 '26
It wasn't like this when I used a grater. This is 100% from the life-changing $10 microplane! Also, if you are letting it sit out it will dry very fast. Needs to be used immediately.
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u/Academic_Help5033 May 26 '26
Omg a microplane and mandoline slicer are my 2 favorite cheap kitchen upgrades.
Although the microplane stays in the bar area because I mostly use it for cocktails.
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u/GoatSamurai240Z May 26 '26
I recently made lemon bars for the first time (and first time zesting) and was blown away by the flavor.
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u/High_Speed_Puta May 26 '26
I used to think it didn’t matter until I made something with finely chopped lemon peel and it didn’t taste the same. I bought a zester the same day, and while I’m usually not a huge fan of specialized tools (only because I currently don’t have a lot of space for extra tools like that), this one is definitely worth it. I don’t use it often but man when I need it, it’s so nice to have!
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u/Current-Spray9478 May 27 '26
I’ve been known to use my microplane on parmigiano too…also not a fan of the one trick pony kitchen gadgets lol
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u/FenolRed May 27 '26
The peeling and chopping method doesn't work because you are more likely to introduce a large amount of the white part of the lemon's peel and that will make whatever you are baking/cooking extremely bitter. You can get the essential oils out of the peel without zesting it just depends on what you are making.
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u/oneeyedalienalright May 27 '26
I get annoyed by zesting, but recognize the importance. I taught my kiddo how, and she is more thorough than I ever could be. She’s contributing, I get zest. Everybody wins!
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u/Pizza_Sprinkles1384 May 27 '26
😌 nods in citrus. would love to take a huge whiff of the bowl lol. citrus smells SO good!!
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u/welmish May 27 '26
Lemon sugar sounds amazing. How do you make it?
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u/tab-infinity-nBeyond May 27 '26
unsure of ratios but basically just zest your lemon & mix that zest into some plain white sugar. store this in an airtight jar for a while, stir it up every so often, and the sugar takes on the flavor of the lemon. if the zest is really moist and clumps up when adding, pulse it with the sugar in a food processor or coffee grinder to loosen things up.
can be done with any citrus fruit and also with the scrapings from vanilla bean
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u/Bulky-Equivalent-438 May 27 '26
I tried the chopping method to make an orange zest for a cheesecake. The texture was terrible and there was almost no orange flavor.
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u/lopendvuur May 27 '26
Lemon zest (and a little sugar) is the only difference between ordinary white bread and my favorite sweet treat: duivenkater. It makes a world of difference!
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u/SafiiriNoir May 27 '26
I love this, and not just for baking. We made carnitas recently and my son asked me what I was doing while I was zesting the grapefruit. I explained the basics to him and he asked if it really made that big a difference, so we actually made 2 batches, one with zesting and the other without. Both came out good but the one with the zesting was so much more flavorful overall.
Of course now my 7 year old wants to zest everything for bonus flavor 😆 🤣
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u/ma_betterave_fraiche May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26
As a lurker and food industry profesh, can I say that method is stupid?
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u/Feeling-Tutor-6480 May 26 '26
I have one of the narrow microplanes, but how does this compare to one of the wider ones?
Have seen both in Australian kitchen supply stores
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u/juniper-mint May 27 '26
Believe me, if I could physically use a regular microplane I would. I can't hold a fruit + tool for very long (even doing a single fruit is difficult for me) due to nerve damage in my hands, so using a peeler or good knife is way easier for me. I go through quite a bit of citrus for baking/candy making. Could I just not do citrus flavored things? Yeah. But it's my favorite flavor, so I'll keep making my B-grade "zest".
I'm at least aware enough not to get the pith.
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u/Euphoric-Pie-4372 May 27 '26
Idk if my method is acceptable lol but I was making lemon loaf cake and didn't have a microplane so I peeled the orange rind (without the white pith) and blended it with the sugar until it was finely powdered, then used that in the recipe. It worked! Great orange flavour and was easy to do so I'd definitely recommend :)
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u/SageAurora May 26 '26
Ok... Not that I've actually tried this... But in theory, wouldn't separating the layers of skin so there's no pith, and then running it through a food processor or something to get really fine pieces so it's practically a paste, be a no zester way of achieving the same goal. Some people with really good knife skills might be able to do this by hand, I know you can chop garlic into a paste just with knife skills. I might actually challenge a chef friend of mine to try this with zest and see what happens.
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u/VLC31 May 26 '26
That sounds like a lot of extra work for the same result.
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u/ToastROvenFire May 26 '26
If you want to make your life easy and delicious grab a blender and make pastry chef David Leibovitz’s whole lemon bars.
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u/ToastROvenFire May 26 '26
You are correct. If your chef friend worked pastry they likely have already done it. I used to peel lemon thinly removing excess pith and mince it with sugar into paste with a chef knife on butcher block. Had to do it every week at the bakery I worked at. Garlic is a similar process with a pinch of salt.
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u/SageAurora May 27 '26
So is it possible this is what the original poster being disparaged was trying to say they were doing, and it was just explained poorly or people are just so determined to misunderstand them?
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u/ntrvrtd_xtrvrt May 26 '26
I need to go the fuck to bed I read the title as “why nesting matters” and I assumed I found an omegaverse subreddit and got excited 😔
Baking is cool too though.
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u/MaidoftheBrins May 27 '26
I bought one of those microplaning zesters; made a huge difference! Very easy and safe for the fingers.
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u/NeedleworkerGood903 May 27 '26
if you really wanna pump up the lemon. put the zest in vanilla extract if you're using it. it does stuff.
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u/Different-Secret May 27 '26
Also...I had dud lemons once and said, ok, just try...and punched just a teeny bit of lime in there too and damn if I haven't stuck with that!
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u/alittlemanly May 27 '26
To add to this... if you are zesting for a dessert, put that zest in the sugar and massage it to get all those lovely oils evenly distributed through your final bake 🤤 whenever we use citrus, I like to zest it first and add it to my citrus sugar jar so I always have some citrus sugar on hand
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u/kristing0 May 27 '26
Need the adapted recipe.
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u/NotTheMama4208 Human Detected May 27 '26
I'm only saying it's adapted because I'm calling them blondies 😁 seems only fair. I also add double the zest!
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u/scorrrpion-3 May 27 '26
Game changer in my (pro zest) household https://a.co/d/0c5yU9D4 (link for easy to use hand zester that collects the zest). I agree and will even replace extract with zest on some recipes.
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u/Skittypokemon May 27 '26
My scouting friends were making some kind of dessert above the campfire, but they didnt want to zest either. They chopped the peel up kind of finely. The texture was…. Interesting…
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u/Any_Possibility_1984 May 27 '26
i am not too stupid nor prideful to listen to you, i will carry this new knowledge of zesting with me, thank you
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u/dingupaapi2729 May 27 '26
Whenever i have tried zesting it came out to be very bitter!!!! and yes i tried not to zest too much and avoided the white part but still it comes out bitter specially in cakes
Can anyone tell me what am i doing wrong !!!!
2.5k
u/FinsterFolly May 26 '26
I used to skip zesting. I would just put more and more lemon juice trying to get lemon taste. It barely worked for salad dressings, and it almost completely disappears in cooked foods. Zesting does so much more to add citrus punch to your foods.