Sous Vide Limoncello. Why wait weeks when you can have your limoncello today? Homemade limoncello can be ready in hours thanks to sous vide, which speeds up the infusion of lemon into the alcohol.
Would you like to save this recipe?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Jump to:
I learned I can make my own limoncello thanks to the America's Test Kitchen podcast, just before Christmas. What a great gift idea! But…it takes weeks (or months) of resting to make, and Christmas was too close.
Sous Vide to the rescue! I can speed the infusion time up from weeks to hours.
The next trick was finding 190 proof grain alcohol - the infamous Everclear 190. It wasn't available in Ohio without a prescription… so I drove to a nearby state where it was legal and bootlegged it home. (The law changed, and Everclear is now legal in Ohio - see the details below.)
I got to work scrubbing and zesting lemons. And…that's it. Lemon zest, Everclear, a quart mason jar, and three hours sous vide yield lemon-infused liquor; simmering water and sugar give me simple syrup, and the two combine into limoncello. I can't believe it is this easy.
Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Meyer lemons: I used boring old store-bought lemons for zesting, but Meyer lemons are a good substitute.
- Lemon juice: Lemon juice does not work well for this recipe - you need the flavor from the zest of the lemons.
- Other proof alcohol: See the notes after the recipe if you can't get 190 proof alcohol.
- Substitute Honey for the sugar: You can substitute honey for the sugar, but because honey is sweeter than sugar, go with ¾ the amount of sugar - use 3 ⅓ cup of honey (787ml) instead of the 4.5 cups of sugar.
How to make Sous Vide Limoncello in pictures
Scrubbing the lemons
Scrub the lemons to remove the wax coating (that preserves the lemons)
Zest the lemons
Zest the lemons (I use a microplane)
Zest and Everclear in Quart Jar, Sous Vide 135°F for 3 hours
Filter the everclear through a water filter (not shown), put the zest in a quart canning jar and pour in the everclear. Screw on the lid, and put the jar in a 135°F sous vide water bath that comes just up to the bottom of the lid. (I fill the water after I put the jar in the water tank.) Sous vide at 135°F for 3 hours.
Stir in simple syrup, strain into jars, store in freezer
Make a simple syrup by dissolving 4.5 cups of sugar into 4.5 cups of boiling water. (Not shown.) Pour the infused Everclear through a fine mesh strainer and then a coffee filter to strain out all the zest. Combine the simple syrup and infused Everclear, and store in the freezer so you can serve it ice cold.
Adapted from LimoncelloQuest.com and Sous Vide Supreme Easy Limoncello
Print
Sous Vide Limoncello Recipe
- Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 2325ml 1x
Description
Sous Vide Limoncello. Why wait weeks when you can have your limoncello today? Homemade limoncello can be ready in hours thanks to sous vide, which speeds up the infusion of lemon into the alcohol.
Ingredients
- 750ml bottle of 190 proof grain alcohol (Everclear 190)
- Zest from 10 lemons
- 4.5 cups water (1050ml)
- 4.5 cups sugar (1050ml)
Instructions
- Filter the alcohol (optional): For a smoother limoncello, filter the alcohol through an activated charcoal water filter (I use a small Brita water filter pitcher). If you want it even smoother than that, you can filter it four times before continuing with the recipe.
- Zest the lemons: Wash and scrub the lemons. Zest the lemons, avoiding the bitter white pith. (I recommend a microplane zester). Wrap the lemons in plastic wrap and refrigerate for later use - they will last for a few weeks.
- Everything in the jar: Put the zest in a quart canning jar, pour in the alcohol, and screw on the lid. (Make it finger tight - it doesn't have to be clamped down, we're not going to submerge the jar.)
- Sous Vide Infuse for 3 hours at 135°F: Put the canning jar in the sous vide water tank. Add water to just below the jar's lid. (If the jar is entirely submerged, it will float around.) Sous vide at 135°F/57°C for 3 hours. Strain the alcohol through a fine-mesh strainer, then through a paper coffee filter to remove all the lemon zest.
- Make the simple syrup: When the alcohol is almost done infusing, put the water in a large pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Stir in the sugar and keep stirring until it dissolves. Remove the pot from the heat and let it rest until the infused alcohol is ready.
- Mix, freeze, and serve: Mix the alcohol and simple syrup, then divide into jars or bottles. Limoncello can be stored at room temperature for a year or two (it will start losing flavor after a year). You can drink it right away, but it is better if you let it mellow for a week before drinking, especially if you didn't filter the alcohol. Limoncello is best ice cold, so I store it in the freezer to keep it chilled. (It doesn't freeze because of the alcohol.) Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours
Would you like to save this recipe?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1.5 ounces
- Calories: 113
- Sugar: 18 g
- Sodium: 1.2 mg
- Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 18.2 g
- Fiber: 0.1 g
- Protein: 0 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it safe to heat high-proof alcohol?
Yes, it is safe at 135°F. This is well below the boiling point of alcohol (ethanol), 173°F. So there will not be any extra fumes released.
That said, 190 proof alcohol has some pretty serious fumes to begin with - I made the mistake of taking a quick sniff over the bottle, and it made my eyes water.
Will the jar explode?
No. Canning jars are made with heat-safe glass, and can handle a boiling water bath (212°F) and a pressure canner (240°F under pressure.) The sous vide temperature (135°F) is well below the heat where the jar will be in any danger. Also, because the sous vide temperature is well below the boiling point of the alcohol, pressure will not build up in the jar. (See the previous question for details).
Can I use a peeler instead of a zester?
Yes, you can. Try to peel only the yellow part of the zest - we don't want the bitter white pith below it.
Can I skip the coffee filter, and just use a fine mesh strainer to remove the lemon zest?
Yes, if you are OK with a rustic limoncello - the limoncello will have the occasional bit of lemon zest in it.
Tips and Tricks
Speed up the infusion - 160°F for 1 hour
If you can't wait 3 hours, you can speed up the process by increasing the temperature to 160°F, and only infusing for 1 hour. (It's still below the boiling point of alcohol, 173°F, so it is still safe.) You will get your infusion quicker, but the resulting infused alcohol will be cloudier. (It still tastes great, though.)
Use a gallon zip-top freezer bag instead of the quart canning jar
If you want, you can sous vide the alcohol in a gallon-sized zip-top freezer bag. (Use on that seal completely - no plastic sliders, they leave an opening.)
Put the lemon zest and alcohol in the bag, zip it most of the way, then CAREFULLY squeeze out as much of the remaining air as you can before zipping it all the way. Place the bag in the sous vide tank and cook as directed.
Why a freezer bag? Because the plastic in freezer bags is heat-safe at sous vide temperatures - that's not necessarily true for storage bags. (And if you're worried about the plastic, go back to the canning jar.
No Sous Vide instructions
So, you want to do it the old-fashioned way? Easy. Everything is the same, except step 3 becomes "let the jar of alcohol and zest age for about a month, shaking once a day or so to redistribute the lemon zest. (A minimum of 3 weeks, max of about 45 days". Continue with filtering the zest from the alcohol, making the simple syrup, and mixing steps.
Why wash and scrub the lemons?
Most lemons (except for some, but not all, organic lemons) are given a thin coating of wax before shipping to the store, to help preserve them. I wash and scrub the lemons to remove the wax and any bacteria they may have picked up on their way to the store.
What if I can't buy 190 proof grain alcohol?
190 proof alcohol is illegal in some states. Until recently, that included my home state of Ohio. You needed a doctor's affidavit to buy Everclear 190. Now in Ohio, you just have to sign an affidavit on your own, saying what you're going to use the Everclear for - I put "making limoncello". Even if it is legal, they will probably have it out on the counter (or in the back room), so you'll have to ask for it. (In Ohio, here's a link to the Ohio Liquor Control website's page for Everclear 190, [OHLQ.com], which will show you where it is available near your zip code.
151 proof alcohol ratios (former legal max in Ohio)
Everclear sells a lower-proof version - Everclear 151 - for the states where 190-proof alcohol is illegal. That's what I used to get here in Ohio. To make it work, I had to recalculate the volume of water to get our 30% alcohol (60 proof) limoncello:
- 750ml bottle of 151 proof grain alcohol (Everclear 151)
- 3.25 cups water (750ml)
- 4.25 cups sugar (1000ml)
100 proof vodka
If you really can't get high proof alcohol in your area, try to at least find 100 proof vodka (which is a neutral alcohol):
- 750ml bottle of 100 proof vodka (or grain alcohol)
- 1.5 cups of water (350ml)
- 3 cups of sugar (700ml)
It is hard to make a simple syrup beyond a 2:1 ratio of sugar to water, so at this proof, I have to cut back on the sugar. (If possible, you should search out a higher proof alcohol.
The (Math) proof behind the (Alcohol) proof
We want 60 proof limoncello - 30% alcohol. We can calculate the amount of water in the grain alcohol from its proof: 190 proof is 95% alcohol, 151 proof is 75.5% alcohol, and 100 proof is 50% alcohol.
The other calculation is the volume of simple syrup, which…isn't quite simple. 1 cup of sugar dissolved in 1 cup of water yields…1.5 cups of simple syrup. So, simple syrup is ⅓ sugar and ⅔ water by volume.
The final complication is that we want to keep the same amount of sugar, so the limoncello has the same level of sweetness. But water can only absorb so much sugar before it starts to crystallize - a 2 cup sugar to 1 cup water "strong simple syrup" is the max recommended amount. So the max amount of sugar I can use is 2x the amount of water.
Here is the amount of syrup you want to add to a 750ml bottle of alcohol, depending on the proof. (I went over the math on this multiple times and double-checked against an online "proof" calculator, so I think it's right.)
- 190 proof grain alcohol => 1625ml syrup => 1083ml (4.5 cups) water and 1083ml (4.5 cups) sugar
- 151 proof grain alcohol => 1135.5ml syrup => 757ml (3.25 cups) water and 1083ml (4.5 cups) sugar
- 100 proof vodka => 500ml syrup => 333ml (about 1.5 cups) water and 666ml (about 3 cups) sugar - (2x sugar limit)
- 80 proof vodka => 250ml syrup => 167ml (¾ cup) water and (1 cup + 2 tablespoons) of sugar - (2x sugar limit)
This is the other reason to go for higher alcohol content: the amount of sugar you can add. As you can see, we can add a lot more simple syrup to 190 proof grain alcohol than we can to 40 proof vodka - the 190 proof batch is much sweeter.
What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts
Sous Vide Jalapeno Infused Tequila
Fiery Mexican Martini
Grilled Lemon Whiskey Sour
Frozen Margaritas
Canning Jar Margaritas
Instant Pot Boba Tea
Caffè Tonic
Enjoyed this post? Want to help out DadCooksDinner? Subscribe to DadCooksDinner via email and share this post with your friends. Want to contribute directly? Donate to my Tip Jar, or buy something from Amazon.com through the links on this site. Thank you.
Mike Vrobel says
Try it, it's great!
Caryn Hart says
As much as I am intrigued about making DIY limoncello, I am not sure what the benefit is. Unless this makes it much better than the ready made (I would hope so.), where I live the required 190 proof alcohol costs about the same as the bottled limoncello. Have you made a comparison? If the DIY is much better, then it would be worth this effort. What do you think?
Mike Vrobel says
I really can't say if it's "much better" - I've never done a direct taste test between homemade limoncello and store-bought. I do know that I enjoy homemade limoncello enough that I've never bothered to buy store-bought. (I've only had store-bought at wineries and restaurants while traveling).
NicoNelko says
I added 0.8% citric acid (3g powder for each 375 bottle) which I think made it more "lemony". (also used mix of meyer, organic lemons and valencias instead of just lemons)
Jeff says
Just came across this, as a note you CAN buy the real 190 proof Everclear in Ohio. Print out a nicely typed note that you will be using the Everclear to clean your wine making equipment with a food grade alcohol. Sign it and date it. I found that Giant Eagle here in Columbus of all places had the 190 proof and sold it to me with that note without a hitch. It was under $20 too.
Shawnna Short says
I'm guessing using the sous vide won't evaporate the alcohol, correct?
Mike Vrobel says
Correct. It's trapped in the sealed jar.
Lauren says
Hmmm. Can you do this sous vide method in the instant pot? Just wondering! thanks. I am new to EPC but a total convert, as you can tell, given that I'm willing to try it in the IP. I use it for oatmeal in the morning to soup at lunch to whatever at dinner and of course cheesecake for dessert, so why not give it a go? thanks.
Laurne
Mike V says
No, i don't think the IP can hold temps this low.
AJD says
I made a half batch of this yesterday and it came out great. Only 151 proof is available in CA, but it still has a similar warning label. Heat isn't required to make the simple syrup because even room temperature water can dissolve a lot of sugar. I just put the water and sugar in a jar about an hour ahead of time and shook it a few times.
Rick Paula says
Very cool.
Going to try this to make a fig infused vodka.
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
You’re welcome - it was fascinating to learn about, as you can probably tell.
Pema says
wow!,how fun! I
have made limoncello but didn't know all the proof info.Thank you
Anonymous says
I just have to ask--we're you wearing sunglasses?
Mike Vrobel says
👍