The bottled stuff is nasty. Look for the frozen Minute Maid lemon juice. It's as good as fresh. But the bottled stuff tastes yucky.

I have easy access to lemons from neighbors' trees, but choose to use the frozen lemon juice or the squeezed-in-a-bottle. I use it on Papaya slices, banana slices, in lemon pie and occasionally I squeeze in on a lettuce salad. I also use it on stains on clothing and countertops.

I disagree with "nasty". I rarely keep fresh lemons around and find the bottled ReaLemon and sometimes ReaLime handy. I make my much in demand Deluxe Lemon Bars with it and they are fabulous.

If a recipe calls for a third of a cup of lemon juice, I use a third of a cup of the concentrate. I don't really know how much juice a fresh squeezed lemon yields.

When? sorry, but my answer is 'never'.

I don't care how pricey lemons and limes are (and I DON'T live anywhere near FLA or CAL.), I only buy fresh. And frankly, I use a lot of them--especially after my kidney stone episode last summer.

I'm curious--how can you not use a whole lemon? Most recipes call for (or can tolerate) the juice of an entire lemon--I often add extra. And if by some chance you do have juice left over, you can add it to your next glass of water. That's a good idea not just for flavor but because citric acid helps prevent the formation of kidney stones. You can also freeze the juice and the peels. I've got a bag of citrus peels in the freezer right now--they can be grated for zest in recipes, or simmered on the range as an inexpensive air freshener, or groud up in the disposal to freshen it. You get so much mileage from one lemon that I always consider them worth the price, even if it's a little high.

I rarely buy fresh lemons. I mostly use lemon juice in the bottle since it has a much longer life. I've never noticed a taste problem.

I've always used the Real Lemon in my MIL's Lemon Bars. They are awesome! I just bought 2 lemons yesterday,on sale 2/$1. They are actually beautiful looking lemons which is odd! LOL
I will juice them and freeze the juice for Lemon Blossoms.
Now you've got me wondering tho, why couldn't I just throw the whole lemon in the freezer and juice it when I need it? I've never used lemon zest but apparently you freeze that too.

I occasionally use RealLemon in baked goods, but I'm in the camp with the others who dislike the taste. I NEVER use it in anything that remains uncooked - really does taste nasty IMHO. On the rare occasion that I do not need the whole lemon, I use the remainder to squeeze into a couple of glasses of iced tea.

You can freeze lemon juice into ice cube trays, then put the cubes into a bag, to use as needed. About 2T per cube. Probably better than freezing whole lemons.

If you haven't tried the frozen Minute Maid, look for it. It's with the frozen juice concentrates.. And not all stores carry it, but I found it on Walmart's website. Try a taste comparison.

Here is a link that might be useful: Frozen lemon juice

I use both and truthfully, the only difference I can tell is when I zest some of the peel and add to the recipe. It really makes the lemon taste "pop". I mainly use lemons in desserts as I really don't care for it at all on seafood. If I only need a little I zest the peel and squeeze the rest of the juice into the zest and freeze it for later.

I use Realemon juice from concentrate when I make my own breaded fish. I season the fish, dip it in flour, then beaten egg/lemon juice, then in bread crumbs. Let it stand a while to dry then deep fry. Yum!

I do what Sushi does--juice up a batch of lemons and put in ice cube trays. When frozen, put in another container or ziplock. Haven't used the bottled stuff in years. I wonder if you could use lemonade concentrate. Would have some sugar in it.

Last year when Costco had a very large bag of Meyer lemons, I brought them home and Zested all of them and froze the zest on wax paper lined cookie sheet and juiced the lemons freezing the juice in those 1/4 cup canning jars. The zest I also put into jars..loosely, so I could remove only what I need. Works like a charm...they live in the door of the kitchen freezer and very handy. I also like the Minute Maid frozen juice, but once I thaw it out to use, I forget to use it or re-freeze it and end up tossing much of it. Works for me...especially since my kitchen use-time is extremely limited...legs just won't hold up too long. Nanny

Never. I'm a lemon freak, I love them and eat them as snacks and put lemon on everything...so I only ever buy fresh, and no matter what they cost I'll buy them. I can't stand the bottled lemon juice.

Putting it in ice cube trays is a great idea! I should do that myself!

Socks, the Minute Maid juice is NOT lemonade concentrate with sugar in it. Just plain juice.

I don't notice any terrible taste in the bottled lemon juice. When I make a lemon pie I use fresh lemons but like tonight, I made an orange gelatin salad with cool whip, cottage cheese orange jello, and pineapple. The recipe called for a tablespoon of lemon juice. Nasty tasting....I don't think so!

Forgot to add that in the summer I make a lot of lemonade and I use fresh lemons, but if I need a little more juice, I use some of the bottled and I haven't had any complaints...so far! :) I buy it in the small bottles.

There are new products called True Lemon, True Lime, and True Orange that I just learned about on the cooking forum. Mine just came in the mail, but I haven't tried them yet. They are reported to be very good and are a dyhydrated product in small packages with NO preservatives.

I keep it on hand and use it just like fresh but I really keep it for canning and jelly making. Here is one thing that I do. In the spring or in the right season. lemons, limes etc are really cheap..like a big bag for $2.00 or 5 for $1.00.....buy them, put them in a freezer bag and viola, fresh lemon, lime jusice when ever you need it. They don't really go bad and stay fresh for ever. Nuke a frozen one for a couple of seconds and you are ready to go. If you don't need the whole lemon, throw it back in the freezer.

I use it in BBQ sauce. And I even refill that plastic lemon we squeeze on hard boiled egg yolks. Fresh lemons are nice and I do buy them 5/1.00 at the public market in summer but I never consider the bottled a poor substitute.

It's great for dipping your margarita glass into before rimming the glass with salt :o)

CHEERS!

I seldom buy fresh lemons. Don't use a lot of lemon/lime juice but when I do it's usually bottled and I don't think I've ever used up a bottle either - it winds up getting tossed. The taste doesn't bother me in the least. It goes in stuff usually so it's far from being the predominant flavor with some exceptions.

Reminds me of when some people were talking about how you MUST buy this hotsie-totsie chili powder. It tastes SOOOOOOO much better. Not one took me up on the challenge to make a batch of chili, split it in half, put the hotsie-totsie in one and el-cheapo in one and have someone mix them up and see if you can *honestly* taste the difference. Now fresh lemon juice probably will be noticible if you're making lemonade or something. I put a lot of lemon in it. But in a sauce or something, I doubt quite highly that many, if any could tell which was the "nasty" and which was the "fresh". Especially considering there's probably a big difference in taste between lemons picked off a tree and those bought in a store and sitting on the shelf in the coolers for however long.

I only buy fresh lemons when I make lemon bars and need the zest. I always keep Minute Maid Lemon Juice in the fridge to use in tea. I can't tell any difference in taste.

Add my name to the "Never" list!

I always use it to make the "buttermilk" for those fluffy homemade southern biscuits which I certainly don't need! Those little bottles of lemon take up a lot less room in the fridge and last forever!

I use the bottled when I make salad dressing and need a cup of juice or when I'm sick and want hot lemonade. I've never noticed that it tastes less than perfectly fine and I've never had any complaints.

I was just using the rest of my lemons from Florida and needed just a little more juice and grabbed the bottle....Pie turned out delish!

I'm another one who squeezes & freezes. When they are on sale I buy a lot and then squeeze them all, freeze in ice cube trays, and store in zip lock bags. Before squeezing I usually zest and freeze that as well. Limes too. Out of the freezer, both the juice and the zest are as good as fresh IMO and the work is already done.

unless it's changed in the past few years, bought it once and never again...or those plastic lemons...

I only use the bottle, if any, for cleaning. I grow Meyer lemons. When in season, I squeeze the juice out and freeze them in freezer zip-lock bags. I have lemon juice year round.