oranges & lemons

"Dee Randall" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Doug Kanter" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"jake" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

After washing fruits (and veggies) briefly, I spray with full-strength
> vinegar and let it sorta soak that waxey gloop off, then I scrub them a
> little more (gently).
>
> I used to use detergent, but I've read that it takes a lot of rinsing
> to get off a drop of detergent. A drop of detergent at my house goes a
> long way; for instance I wash a load of clothes with no more than 1
> tablespoon, sometimes less than a teaspoon dependent upon the water
> level of the washer. They say detergent can really be harmful to the
> gut.
>
> Dee Dee
>

I don't use anything soapy ont my citrus fruits when scrubbing them, so
I am glad to read that turns out to be a sensible approach. I had been
guessing, really, as to whether it was the right approach.

Pesticides are mixed with various oils to make them stick. You *should*
use some sort of soap to remove them. Contrary to what you've been told,
a drop of detergent on a scrub sponge will not leave residue on the
fruit. If it does, it's because you don't know how to rinse things
properly, which means you're already being dosed with detergent on any
utensils you wash by hand.

I don't think with me that it is because I don't know how to rinse things
properly. With just a drop of detergent with my water softness, it would
take a washer load full of water to rinse anything well enough. Perhaps
even more. Additionally, some people believe they know more about rinsing
than others - perhaps they learned it in Rinsing 101 -- I didn't take
that course (:- }

IMO, I think the proper thing to use if one is really concerned about
washing off pesticides and wax is the grape-seed or grape-fruit
concentrate; however, I find vinegar will take pesticides off as well as
soap and possibly the grape-seed extract.

My dishwasher may not rinse properly, but I do -- tee hee!
Dee Dee

Well....as long as you do SOMETHING. Pesticide companies go to great lengths
to make sure the stuff resists being washed off by rain.

Quoted message said:

Our home-grown lemons (miniature tree, indoors) have lots of juice and
lots of flavor but are a little low on the zest. I wish we had a
variety that was thicker-skinned.

I think the zest part of the peel is pretty much equal on all lemons.
It's the *white part* of the rind that is thinner on some (like
Meyer). http://tinyurl.com/7pcey
--

Practice safe eating. Always use condiments.

Dee Randall said:

I used to use detergent, but I've read that it takes a lot of rinsing to get
off a drop of detergent. A drop of detergent at my house goes a long way;
for instance I wash a load of clothes with no more than 1 tablespoon,
sometimes less than a teaspoon dependent upon the water level of the washer.
They say detergent can really be harmful to the gut.

Why bother adding it at all at that point?

"Goomba38" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Dee Randall said:

I used to use detergent, but I've read that it takes a lot of rinsing to
get off a drop of detergent. A drop of detergent at my house goes a long
way; for instance I wash a load of clothes with no more than 1
tablespoon, sometimes less than a teaspoon dependent upon the water level
of the washer. They say detergent can really be harmful to the gut.

Why bother adding it at all at that point?

I don't. "I used to use ....."
Dee Dee

Hayabusa said:

Oranges and lemons are usually sprayed with some chemicals to preserve
them. This stuff should not be eaten. But some recipes ask for lemon
or orange zest. I have trouble to find unsprayed oranges in the shop.
But someone told me that it suffices to simply wash the fruits with
warm water and a drop of detergent. Would anyone know if this is true,
or if there is more one should know about?

Chemicals... everything is chemicals. duh

Fruits and vegetables are coated with natural plant wax, perfectly
edible... in fact as safe to eat as the fruits and vegetables it
protects, in fact safer than the fruits and vegetables it protects....
in fact if you eat fruits and vegetables that haven't been coated you
still can't avoid plant wax, it's in there. The way you're carrying on
someone would think you're talking filthy wax from unbathed hairy eared
dagos. And anyway, most all the citrus you buy is dyed with food
coloring too.

Sheesh, yoose folks ascared of a little wax must have some boring sex
lives... your own well scrubbed hand and a Kleenex.

Wax

Vegetable wax. Many plants have a natural wax coating that protects
them from heat and moisture. Carnauba wax, the hardest and most widely
used vegetable wax, coats the leaves of the carnauba palm tree. It
remains solid in hot weather and is an important ingredient in
automobile wax and other polishes. Other vegetable waxes include
bayberry wax, candelilla wax, Japan wax, and sugar cane wax.

World Book Online Reference Center. 2006. World Book, Inc. 28 Jan. 2006

---

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I don't use anything soapy ont my citrus fruits when scrubbing them, so I
am glad to read that turns out to be a sensible approach. I had been
guessing, really, as to whether it was the right approach.

Pesticides are mixed with various oils to make them stick. You *should* use
some sort of soap to remove them. Contrary to what you've been told, a drop
of detergent on a scrub sponge will not leave residue on the fruit. If it
does, it's because you don't know how to rinse things properly, which means
you're already being dosed with detergent on any utensils you wash by hand.

Ok, I'll believe both of you and do some testing of my own 🙂

Sheldon said:

...

Thanks, Sheldon.

For proving once again you're an obstreperous [censored].

--Blair

Blair P. Houghton said:

Sheldon said:

...

Thanks, Sheldon.

For proving once again you're an obstreperous [censored].

--Blair

Actually, he was injecting some common sense into the argument.

"jake" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I don't use anything soapy ont my citrus fruits when scrubbing them, so I
am glad to read that turns out to be a sensible approach. I had been
guessing, really, as to whether it was the right approach.

Pesticides are mixed with various oils to make them stick. You *should*
use some sort of soap to remove them. Contrary to what you've been told,
a drop of detergent on a scrub sponge will not leave residue on the
fruit. If it does, it's because you don't know how to rinse things
properly, which means you're already being dosed with detergent on any
utensils you wash by hand.

Ok, I'll believe both of you and do some testing of my own 🙂

Test all you want. But, all you really need to do is think. If pesticides
were completely water-based, they'd wash off with the first rainfall.
Farmers would need to use much more of them to maintain effectiveness, and
as a result, we'd all be dead by now.

"Blair P. Houghton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Sheldon said:

...

Thanks, Sheldon.

For proving once again you're an obstreperous [censored].

--Blair

Not only that, but he's also a stupid little [censored]. A multifaceted putz.

"Goomba38" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Blair P. Houghton said:

Sheldon said:

...

Thanks, Sheldon.

For proving once again you're an obstreperous [censored].

--Blair

Actually, he was injecting some common sense into the argument.

Ummm....no. Sheldon's trying to claim that pesticides are no more harmful
than the waxes applied to produce to prevent dehydration. Only a complete
idiot believes that.

Blair P. Houghton said:

Sheldon said:

...

Thanks, Sheldon.

For proving once again you're an obstreperous [censored].

You can't refute anything he sez, Blair...mayhaps you have a prob with his
"presentation" ;-)

--
Best
Greg

"Gregory Morrow"
<[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Blair P. Houghton said:

Sheldon said:

...

Thanks, Sheldon.

For proving once again you're an obstreperous [censored].

You can't refute anything he sez, Blair...mayhaps you have a prob with his
"presentation" ;-)

--
Best
Greg

Sheldon is equating "wax" with other chemicals, which is simply ridiculous.

betsy said:

Quoted message said:

Hello Fkoe:

When I need lemon zest, I wash the lemon with a few drops of
dishwashing detergent and water, using a soft brush:

Quoted message said:

When I get a big batch of lemons from
someone's tree, I zest, then juice, and freeze it all for later use.
Here in California, lots of people have lemon trees and they don't use
many lemons, and I have a big freezer.
Cheers,
betsy

Hi,

it's a looooong time ago I lived in California, I remember a
grapefruit tree in the neighbors garden, and orange trees standing in
the park on campus of UCD. For a European, this is the definition of
paradise.

I live in Germany now, and the next free-growing orange tree is down
in Spain.

Tx for your help,
Falk