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Canning Lemonade Concentrate

Canning lemonade concentrate is a perfect way to preserve all those lemons in the winter months. Now you can enjoy a fresh glass of lemonade all year long with just 3 simple ingredients.
Prep Time24 minutes
Active Time10 minutes
Author: Stephanie

Equipment

  • Water Bath Canner
  • Pint Canning Jars
  • Canning Lids & Rings

Materials

  • 24 Lemons
  • 1 Cup Water per quart of lemon juice
  • 3.5 Cups Sugar

Instructions

  • Start with clean jars and lids by washing them in warm soapy water. Fill Canner with about 5"-7" of water. You will want your jars completely submerged in water, so you may need to add more water once your filled jars are in the canner.  Keep your washed jars in the canner to stay warm while you prep the concentrate.
  • Squeeze all your lemons and add the fresh lemon juice to a quart jars to measure how much you have. This helps you to know how much water to add. Once I have that, I dump through a fine mesh strainer right into a large stock pot. We don't like pulp so the strainer helps with that!
  • Stir in 3-3.5 cups of sugar and your water according to how much lemon juice you are using. Turn stove on medium-high heat and heat concentrate to just about a boil. Hold at that temp for 5 minutes or so. You want to make sure your sugar is completely dissolved and that your concentrate is hot all the way through. Skim foam, if any, before filling jars.
  • Remove hot jars from your canner and ladle hot concentrate into each jar leaving a 1/4 inch head space. I like to use a wide mouth funnel for this so I don't make a mess. 
  • Wipe down the rims of each jar with a clean dishtowel. Make sure there is nothing on the rims before adding the canning lid and ring. Screw down the rings finger tip tight.
  • Place jars in canner and make sure the water is covering each jar completely. There should be about 2" of water over the jars.
  • Place the canner lid on.Bring canner to a full rolling boil and process jars for 10 min (adjust for elevation).
  • Once your timer has gone off and the jars have been processed, turn stove off, remove lid and wait 1-2 minutes. Take jars out of the canner slowly and place on a clean towel.
  • Do not disturb the jars until they have completely cooled down, about 12 hours.
  • Once jars are completely cooled, remove the rings and wipe down all the jars. Don't forget to label the tops of jars with contents and year!
  • The safest way to store your jars, is without the rings in place and in a dark place out of direct sunlight. 
  • To make lemonade, add one pint of concentrate to a half gallon jar. Fill the rest of the way with cold water. Shake and enjoy!
  • This makes around 5-6 pints of lemonade concentrate.

Notes

  • This recipe makes roughly 5 pint jars. I love to double or even triple it so I do the work once and have lots of concentrate for months!