Recycle citrus peels

Which citrus peels can be recycled?

Citrus tree varieties are numerous: from bergamot to orange, including lemon, mandarin, clementine, or yuzu. We love them, but once consumed, what to do with the peels? It is not advisable to compost them, especially in a worm composter, as their acidity can kill the compost worms. The solution available to you is to use them for other purposes. And if you consume them, it is better to opt for organic citrus peels to avoid any potential presence of pesticidal substances.

Orange, lemon, and Yuzu

How to recycle citrus tree peels?

Various uses are possible. In cooking, you can transform them to eat as zest, candied peel, or chocolate-covered orange slices. At home, they can be used to scent rooms. They can also be used to get rid of moths, insert them into homemade beauty or cleaning products.

How to use them in cooking?

In the kitchen, citrus tree peels can be transformed into zest to flavour cakes or dishes, but also candied as orange peels for example.

You can:

• Grate the zest of citrus trees and add it to a cake batter, such as yoghurt cake or a loaf cake
• Dry the bark and use it in meat or fish dishes or sauces
• Make candied citrus tree peels:
  Cut the peels into strips and boil them in water to blanch them. Then prepare a sugar syrup by dissolving sugar in water and adding other flavours like vanilla and lemon juice.
  Submerge the blanched peels in the syrup and cook on low heat without boiling for 1 hour and 30 minutes, covering with a lid. Then let them macerate overnight in the syrup.
  The next day, drain them and mix with granulated sugar.
  Your candied citrus tree peels are ready. You can enjoy them as they are or coat them with melted dark chocolate to make orange peels, to be served as a treat with tea or coffee.
  Add an orange peel to your herbal tea in the evening to soothe you and help you sleep more easily. You can also add citrus tree peels, particularly bergamot, to your tea for flavour.
• If your sugar has hardened and formed blocks, a tip is to add an orange peel to prevent it from crystallising further

Candied orange peels

How to use them at home?

At home, citrus peels can scent rooms, help repel moths, and be used to create beauty products or eco-friendly cleaning solutions.

You can:

• scent your home by boiling orange and lemon peels in water, or by drying the peels in the oven to make a fragrant potpourri
• repel moths from your clothing-filled cupboards by using fabric sachets filled with lemon or orange peels
• prepare a cleaning and descaling solution by adding them to white vinegar
• For your beauty, if you make your own products, one recipe involves creating a scrub for oily skin by mixing orange zest with rose water

Beauty scrub with citrus peels