How much juice actually comes out of one lemon by size?

[Thomas Martinez]

Saw some numbers out there on the yield from lemons so figured I’d share what I found. Someone did a test with three different size (small, medium and large) and came up with these yields in ml.
Small = 40ml (1.35 oz)
Medium = 50ml (1.69 oz)
Large = 65ml (2.2 oz)
Which makes sense as anything sized large is going to yield roughly 1.5x the amount of juice as a small lemon. 50ml for medium sizes is handy as that equates to roughly 1.7 oz.
Obviously depending on the thickness of the lemon skin, the ripeness of the lemon, whether you roll the lemon prior to juicing and whether you use a juicer versus squeezing the lemon by hand will change the yield slightly. But this can be of use to someone who is attempting to calculate how many lemons is needed to provide 200ml of lemon juice, roughly 4 mediums or 3 larges.
Does anyone have different experience with lemon yields based off variety (Meyers vs Eurekas)?

 

[Proud Peccary]

Meyers will give you closer to 80ml from a decent sized Meyer lemon due to the juiciness of the fruit and the thinner layer of skin on the fruit.

 

[Distinct Dugon]

Rolling the lemon first will give you roughly 20% more juice then if you didn’t roll the lemon first.

 

[Iro]

Is the rumor true that microwaving the lemon for 15 seconds will give you more juice out of the lemon than if you juice it without microwaving it first?

 

[Pixellated Han]

40ml from a small lemon seems high. I get closer to 25-30ml from the tiny lemons we have at the market here.

 

[Motionless Mantis]

Do any of you measure your lemons by weight before juicing? I’d imagine a medium sized lemon weigh somewhere around 100g, 120g?

 

[Proud Peccary]

Do any of you measure your lemons by weight before juicing? I’d imagine a medium sized lemon weigh somewhere around 100g, 120g?

Size categories for lemons are useless without also giving the gram amounts. I weigh them by size and anything under 90g is considered small, 90g, 130g is medium and anything 130g and above I consider large.

 

[The Grea]

who has time for this lmao just squeeze the lemons till you have enough juice

 

[Iro]

does the variety of lemon change the amount of pith that comes out of the lemon while juicing? I hate the bitter flavor that the pith can impart into the juice.

 

[Inc]

The ratio of 1.5x juice from small to large sizes is not surprising at all. The relationship between size and volume is related to the radius of the lemon to the third power so anything less than ~2x should be expected.

 

[Distinct Dugon]

The ratio of 1.5x juice from small to large sizes is not surprising at all. The relationship between size and volume is related to the radius of the lemon to the third power so anything less than ~2x should be expected.

yeah this

 

[Dist]

When I bartend I plan on 1oz of juice per lemon because size seem to not matter that much. You just have to provide enough lemons so that the average comes out to what you plan on providing. Its insane trying to sort lemons by size when its 7pm and you’ve got 20 people waiting in line.

 

[Funk]

Meyers and Eurekas are night and day in terms of juiciness. Meyers are considerably sweeter and juicier but have a totally different flavor. They are more reminiscent of orange than lemon. But juice wise, Meyers win every time. I have a tree in my backyard and the big lemons will yield close to 90ml each during the peak season. Its crazy. The downside to Meyers is they do not hold as long as the other varieties once picked. They last for approximately 4-5 days before they start to go soft.

 

[Iro]

Meyers and Eurekas are night and day in terms of juiciness. Meyers are considerably sweeter and juicier but have a totally different flavor. They are more reminiscent of orange than lemon. But juice wise, Meyers win every time. I have a tree in my backyard and the big lemons will…

do they freeze well? Im thinking of buying some bulk when theyre in season