I have seen the same problem at several stores over the past few years with the price by the piece as opposed to pound. 2 and 3 years ago fairway had them at $7.99 each.
Get the largest, that have the deepest yellow color, unblemished if possible. You can let them sit as a center piece for a few weeks and they will scent your home.
I had it in my cart while I shopped, it was very pleasant. I’m allergic to anything with scent, so this is a treat, half the house smells nice. There was only one that had an almost orange color, very different from the others. You can actually see it in the picture.
This is one of the only citrus that ripens/improves with aging for a few weeks to months. buy ones that are deep yellow or orange, very aromatic, and firm. Sometimes ones with a bit of green will ripen and improve. Don’t buy ones that are not firm and crisp.
You can use it in a lot of dishes and beverages. Zest into anything. Makes great salad vinaigrette. Fantastic zested into a lemon sorbet or lemonade. Paper thin slices in salads. You can candy 1/4"-1/2" slices. Add to a marmalade recipe.to make an amazing citrus cocktail bitters.
Paper thin strip expressed and then garnished into a cocktail like a Manhattan, Martini, Old fashioned, or any citrus based cocktail. For cocktails or flavored seltzer you can use it combined with lemon and/or orange peels to make an oleo-saccharum. I used it with various other peels to make citrus cocktail bitters.
You can grind some mixed with sugar in a food processor to make a wonderful citron sugar to use with teas or espresso.
Mmmm
CORRECTION: I made a mistake above. I looked at my recipe which was perfected over the past 20 years. I put 600 ml of vodka into a 1 liter mason jar, then put in as much paper thin slices of Biddha’s Hand to fill to overflowing. Then seal.
I just found a jar that has been infusing and aging since 11/2007. So that’s ten years. Fantastic. The floral/perfumed aroma is very pronounced, the astringency is gone, and when shaken on ice, with nothing else, and fine strained into a cocktail glass, it is amazing.
$8.99 each
I went to several Shoprites in lower Westchester a few days ago and finally got four very nice ones. One in New Rochelle, and three in Scarsdale. All weighed around 1.2-1.5 lbs. Made five liters of Buddhas Hand vodka for use in 2019/2020.
I did find five liters of BH vodka and two liters of BH gin made in 12/2015. It will be perfect for holiday cocktails in a few weeks, and even better for next summer 2018. (I’m always finding large amounts of long term products tucked away in my food/beverage lab, wine cellar, pantry, and my distillery equipment storage unit. I also found a total of apx. five gallons of a variety of homemade wine (5 types), cider, fruit, and malt vinegars made in 2002/2003. They mellowed out very nicely. Nothing better than long aged vinegar.)
Nice!!!
