In cooking what is a zest??

Question

i mean i know its the peel.... but how do you grind it...or do whatever you do to it....i need orange zest

Answer 1

You grate it off, gently and being careful not to get down to the white, bitter part. A fine grater works perfectly.

Answer 2

zest is the outer, colored skin of the fruit. They grate it off. They usually use a microplane. You might be able to use a shredder, but you have to be careful not to go past the colored portion, and into the white pith -- it's bitter. Usually recipes only call for a little bit of zest, so just try to get the orange stuff off, without any of the white, and use whatever means necessary. I might try a shredder, a skinner, or a small knife.

Answer 3

You can buy a zester at almost every grocery store. Its a grater but smaller and finer. Or use the finest side of your grater. Make sure you only get the yellow part of the lemon or the orange part of the orange. If you grate to deep you get the white part and that is very bitter.
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Answer 4

the easiest way I've found is to take a potato peeler and slice off the orange part of the peel... afterwards you can take a knife and cut it down.

If you havea box grater, use the fine grate to take off the zest.
You can add piece of plastic wrap to the top of the grater so after you grate, you lift the plastic wrap and the zest is on the plastic.

Answer 5

Lightly grate the orange with your food grater's finest section. A micro plane works even better if you have one. Be careful you don't get any of the white part of the peel - its rather bitter.

Answer 6

i use either a micro plane or box grater with the finest grate side possible. You are after the outer most colored portion of the fruit...not the white part underneath.

a vegabtable peeler would also work, but you would then need to mince it by hand. I do this sometimes, depending on what the recipe needs are.

Answer 7

use a fine grater and grate only the orange portion of the peel. the white portion is very bitter.

Answer 8

You can use a potato peeler. Be careful to only pare off the orange part not the white pith. Once you have peeled off the amount you need you just mince it with your knife.

Answer 9

You grate it off, gently and being careful not to get down to the white, bitter part. A fine grater works perfectly.

Answer 10

You can actually get such a thing as a Microplane grater/zester. Great for your needs. One of those useful, and inexpensive, gadgets to have. Here's what it looks like.