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Do Lemons Go Bad? How Long Do They Stay Good?

Lemons are a great addition to many recipes and drinks. But how long can you keep them in your refrigerator? Do lemons go bad?

We all have been there before, stocking up on too many lemons. As with all foods and drinks, they do go bad, how long do they stay good?

In this article, we will take a closer look at the shelf life of lemons, how to store them, and talk about spoilage. and what you can do to make sure they last as long as possible. 

Enjoy the read!

How Long Can Lemons Last

As always, we will start with a quick table for your convenience:

LemonsPantryRefrigerator
Uncut (whole)Up to 2 weeks (14 days)Up to 1 month (4 weeks)
Cut /Up to 5 days
Indicative timetable for how long lemons will stay good. Always check for spoilage!

As you can see, we talk about uncut and thus whole lemons and cut lemons.

You can buy lemons at different places like stores, markets…

They can dry out very fast and thus will decrease in quality.

The best advice is always to try and use the lemons within the week after you’ve bought them since you don’t know how “old” they are and what journey they’ve made.

We will give some tips about buying the best lemons so you will have premium quality.

Uncut Whole Lemons

Uncut whole lemons have their natural shield and are better protected from external threats like air, heat sources, cuts, and bruises from falling down and so on…

An uncut whole lemon lasts for up to 2 weeks (14 days) in the pantry at room temperature and up to about 4 weeks when stored in the refrigerator.

You can store them in a separate container in your fridge, built-in most fridges.

Cut Lemons

Things will change drastically when you cut the lemons as their shelf life will be much shorter because they will be more vulnerable to external threats like air, heat, sunlight, odors, and so on…

Cutting lemons is much like opening other products in this regard. From the moment you cut them, you’ll have to store them in the fridge, sealed tight. You should consume them as fast as you can.

When it comes to consuming foods and drinks, and thus lemons, trust in your senses and develop them! Lemons should be used in the first week after you’ve bought them.

Cut lemons can last up to 5 days and are best consumed within the first 2 days.

How To Store Lemons

Storing your lemons isn’t or shouldn’t be that hard. Just like in our last chapter, we will talk about uncut whole lemons and cut lemons.

Storing Uncut Whole Lemons

Whole lemons can be stored in the pantry or in the fridge. Of course, you can also freeze them but we tackle this in a separate chapter.

Lemons are often bought in bulk and in bags. When we mean the pantry, we actually mean a dark and cool place, where it is protected from air, direct sunlight, heat sources, and so on.

Avoid placing them in your fruit basket on the kitchen counter if you won’t use them in the first week. The quality will decay fast as they will go bad faster this way.

You can also store them in the fridge, mostly in a built-in container for fruits and vegetables. The downside of storing them in the fridge is that the longer they’re stored in the fridge, the less juicy they will be. Think about this when squeezing “fresh” lemon juice.

Storing Cut Lemons

Cutting lemons is like leaving the door open for intruders and bad people. External threats like heat, odors, air, and sunlight will all have their chance of spoiling your lemons.

From the moment you’ve cut them, store them in your fridge in a plastic bag (or 2 bags, double-bagging them) or an airtight container. In either case, make sure it’s sealed tight. Make sure the air is squeezed out of the bag.

If you’ve too many lemons and you’ll know you won’t be able to use or consume them all, you can try to freeze them. Try to freeze single-serve portions and make sure everything is okay with them and label them with the period of freezing.

The best advice is to directly store your lemons in the fridge to extend their shelf life.

Can You Freeze Lemons

Yes, of course, you can freeze lemons, just like you can freeze any food or fruit. But should you?

We on GoodOrGoneBad always say to be thoughtful about what you place in your freezer and how much. Freezers have a limited capacity and at some moment in the future, you must get them out and let them thaw.

Freezing lemons will reduce the possibilities compared to what you could do with them before.

A great way of freezing lemons can be to squeeze them all in fresh lemon juice, freeze the lemon juice in ice cubes and put those in an airtight container. Making them into ice cubes can be a lot of work, but it can be very rewarding when used in your glass of water for that extra refreshing touch.

Freezing is all about planning and managing your inventory. If you don’t know what to do in the first place with it, why should you freeze it?

If you do freeze it, try to:

  • Divide into single-serve portions, like ice cubes
  • Place in a freezer bag or airtight container or both
  • Label the pack with the date and time of freezing

For more in-depth info about freezing your lemons, you can check the article here.

How Can You Tell If Lemons Have Gone Bad

First, before we’ll talk about spoilage signs for lemons, we would talk about how you can select the best lemons when buying them.

What Lemons Should I Buy At The Store

When buying lemons, you can make yourself easier and enjoy this great fruit, full of vitamin C, a bit longer by using the following tips:

  • buy whole lemons
  • should be yellow and no other colors on it
  • no softer spots
  • no holes or cuts or a lot of them

That’s about it. The color should be great, from the moment your lemons have some scars or darker spots, look for another bag. Of course, you could try to negotiate and buy them at a lower price and finish them the same day, but that’s another discussion we won’t do here.

How To Tell If Lemons Have Gone Bad

Detecting spoilage signs of your lemons starts by trusting your senses and developing your senses and intuition. Luckily, for lemons, it isn’t all that hard, as with most foods and fruits out there.

Use the following guidelines when it comes to lemons on checking whether they’ve gone bad or not:

  1. Do the lemons have colored (darker) dots? This is a sign it has suffered some things and could already be bad. However small colored spots can also be caused by falling down. Are there a lot of them? Simply discard them.
  2. Are there any black spots on the whole lemon? This can be a sign of mold.
  3. Look and touch the lemon. Does it feel soft? Is it dried out? Then the best is gone and the rest should be discarded.
  4. Do the lemons have a weird smell? If you smell something funny or unpleasant, discard it away. A nice smell is an indication of freshness and quality, as it should be.
  5. How is the taste? The last step is the taste, after peeling you’ll see the inner side of the lemon. Go and apply the previous steps. Just be honest with yourself, when the lemon doesn’t taste like lemon, I’d discard it.

It is always up to you to decide if you’ll eat or use a lemon that isn’t at its best anymore. The taste won’t be bad but that doesn’t mean you should’ve eaten it. We on GoodOrGoneBad always say to not take any risks. Lemons come pretty cheap and for that low price, you shouldn’t take risks that can affect your health and well-being.

Enjoy your lemons!