I need zest. How do I remove the protective wax on grocery store produce? I don't want that shit in my zest.
>>7498854
You don't. Any chemical capable of dissolving the wax will fuck the fruit up far worse.
>I don't want that shit in my zest
why not? It's odorless, tasteless, harmless, and it's present in such a small quantity (if it's present at all) that it's negligible.
>>7498858
Maybe I'm overreacting. One of the local grocery stores recently put up a sign pointing out that all apples, citrus, and a few other types of produce on the shelves were treated with food grade paraffin or another food grade petroleum based wax. My initial reaction was that it seems like something undesirable for applications like zesting.
>>7498858
Herr durr harmless. Yeah in MINISCULE amounts....
Think about all the coatings and pesticides you consume over a lifetime...
Fucking buckets.
>>7498873
Petroleum based.
Refined oil.
Baby oils and Vaseline and petroleum jelly and waxes. Are refined oil.
Maybe you can put it in hot water to melt off and wash away the wax with a little scrubbing with a paper towel
>>7498876
>>Yeah in MINISCULE amounts....
Which is what we're dealing with here. The layer of wax on fruit is so thin that you can't even tell it's there by trying to scrape it with your fingernail (or similar), so yeah, that's exactly what we are dealing with.
What does pesticide have to do with a discussion about wax? Wax isn't water soluble. As far as the human body is concerned it's inert. If you ingest it then you poop it right back out.
>>Think about all the coatings and pesticides you consume over a lifetime...
I have. And that "lifetime" means that my liver has had an awful long time to deal with those issues as well.
>>7498879
I'm aware, so is paraffin wax. I'm not say being a petroleum product automatically makes it dangerous, just that my knee jerk reaction was that I didn't want to eat something that isn't digestible.
In any case my google search on the subject is a problem because most of the results are from sites dedicated to the type of people I'd rather not take advice from (you know, hurr durr unnatural bad types)
>>7498854
>How do I remove the protective wax on grocery store produce?
You don't. You buy unwaxed lemons.
>>7498898
Or drop it into boiling water for a couple seconds and then dry with a towel...
Alton brown does this with apples to candy and caramel them.
>>7498912
Well, sure, but why add an extra process when you could just buy unwaxed lemons?
>>7498894
>just that my knee jerk reaction was that I didn't want to eat something that isn't digestible.
You eat indigestible ingredients in every meal. In fact, one of them is considered important to your health: fiber.
>>7498921
I guess it's easier than adding an extra trip to wherever they sell unwaxed lemons.
Also what's this waxed lemons shit? Never heard of it. Is it an American thing?
>>7498927
>Is it an American thing?
It used to be a thing here in Bong I.e. you could buy them, but the supermarkets realised it was pointless and most seem to sell the majority of their lemons unwaxed now.
I have no idea why you'd wax a lemon at all.
>>7498854
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>>7498891
>Wax isn't water soluble. As far as the human body is concerned it's inert. If you ingest it then you poop it right back out.
Your digestive system has enzymes developed specifically to deal with ingested hydrophobic items.
There's a reason why fat and oil has nutritional value to us, and isn't just shit out like you claim wax would.
when I zest oranges to make liqueur, I vigorously rinse and scrape the peel with water and a dish-cleaning brush before zesting the oranges. I imagine that cleans the outside pretty well.
It doesn't take long, but I'm not sure it's even necessary.
>>7498936
>I have no idea why you'd wax a lemon at all.
to keep it looking nice in the produce case at the supermarket.
>>7499008
It's not a beauty contest, and I've never seen a "bad" looking unwaxed lemon at the supermarket?
>>7498944
Fats, sure. But not wax.
I know this very well: my kid decided to eat a candle a couple years ago and then proceeded to poop wax chunks.
>>7499011
your kid's gonna grow up to become a frog poster its seems 2bh
>>7499010
>It's not a beauty contest
To an educated consumer, I agree. But the fact is that most people don't know a damn thing about produce. We see it on this board all the time: my apple has this different-colored streak on it, is it OK to eat? This tomato I bought is kinda lumpy and not a perfect sphere, is that safe? And so on.
The average person expects picture-perfect produce like out of a cartoon. As a result modern produce is bred and treated to survive shipping without blemishes and to look as good as possible in the display case.
>>7499010
>It's not a beauty contest
Do you find it unlikely that customers would prefer a visually more attractive product, all things equal?
>>7498898
>unwaxed lemon
>>7499035
I find it unlikely that anyone would care enough about the visual difference between a waxed & unwaxed lemon, yes.
Hot water.
Watched a video the other day of some chick dipping her apple in hot water and it just came falling right off. The water looked like how it would if you dumped a whole bunch of candle wax in it; nasty stuff. Just boil some water until it's rolling then dip it in for no more than 5 seconds and rinse it off in cold water quickly after so it doesn't ruin the consistency of the food item you're treating.
>>7499089
I have a friend who made a new car purchase decision based on the cupholder.
>>7499098
Enjoy your flavorless zest.
>>7499106
Enjoy your lemon flavored wax.
Bet you're the kind of guy who buys pre-shredded cheese and thinks all the wood shavings are fine.
>>7499114
I will, thank you very much.
>>pre-shredded cheese
It's the opposite, actually. I am something of a cheese snob. I think nothing of spending $30/lb on cheese....but what does any of that have to with the fact that wax is flavorless and inert while pre-shredded cheese generally sucks in flavor?
I just learned there's wax on foods
>>7499419
Same
>>7498854
Share the hot cross bun recipe you're using this zest for, OP.
>>7499114
>Enjoy your lemon flavored wax.
You are aware that lemon zest is mainly oils and terpenes anyway right?
>Limonene [the major flavour in lemons] is a colorless liquid hydrocarbon classified as a cyclic terpene.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limonene#Uses
Any treatment that is capable of removing heavy wax will strip light oils such as limonene far more quickly...
>>7498898
>You buy unwaxed lemons.
Not really that easy to find, at least around here, guess I'll try the ethnic supermarkets because I'm not paying hippy dippy hipster mark up assuming I can find them unwaxed at one of the upmarket stores.
>>7499536
Don't you have access to a farmer's market?
Probably not this weekend because of Easter, granted, but you could have gone last weekend if you had planned ahead.
>>7499060
Underrated Post
>>7498876
You think that shit stays in your system for life, dum dum?
>>7499541
>Don't you have access to a farmer's market?
Seasonally in the summer and fall.
>>7498854
Wash your fruit with warm (not hot) water and a vegetable brush.
Otherwise, buy organic lemons.
>>7499060
I laughed at this.
Thanks, anon.
>>7499543
>>7500107
Yes! Validation!
