Fresh Squeezed Lemonade

as i look online at manual juicers the stainless steel heavy duty ones are rather pricey.  has anyone used the less expensive alloy ones.  it would be worth the extra $50-$80 for one that won't break easily, but that's a lot of money.  doing it by hand would be ok for the first hundred or so, but the machine would be better for a lot of lemonade.

we have both juicers and they both work the same. i like the stailess one but most of my help like the other one.

We are going to sell lemon shake-ups. We are using the neutral slush base (around $6 / gallon) instead of making our own sugar syrup. This may change because we made 6 gallons of simple syrup (Sugar, water & preservatives) for our shaved ice syrups.
For a 16oz / 20 oz serving  we sell for  $2.00
Fill ½ cup with ice
Two pumps of the neutral slush base (about 2 oz)
Juice from ½ squeezed lemon
Cut lemon in half in put in cup
Top off cup with ice and chilled water
Shake & Serve.
You have to have to tweak it depending on the syrup.
We purchased a Gold Medal #5317 lemon squeezer for the lemons.

RAINY DAY HOT DOG


Anybody doing fresh squeezed lemonade?  Do you use a lemonade mix with lemons floating on top or just lemonade, water and sugar.  Any recipes that work beter than others?

 
I have a lemonade joint and do it like this:
1/2 of a fresh squeezed lemon (I leave the lemon in the cup, people seem to like it).
16oz cup.
Choice of: Sugar, Splenda, ~real~ New England Maple Syrup or unsweetened.
Ice.
Filtered water.
 
I place everything in the cup, use a stainless steel shaker to mix it (and give a show), pop in a straw and away the customer goes.
 
Rich

kennyb


we have both juicers and they both work the same. i like the stailess one but most of my help like the other one.

thank you kennyb.  i got the cheaper one and it works great.  it's not very heavy, but sturdy and well-balanced.  let's see what happens.

this thread got me thinking about this.  i do want to figure out a good mixture for sugar-free.  d. coke is my biggest selling pop, by far.  ...and i am going to wash my lemons, thanks Lorna :)

Gene... Go get a bottle of sugar free simple syrup... all the wholesale places that have a large selection of coffee supplies will have it...I'm diabetic, so lemonade is aout for me... but stumbled on the syrup when shopping one day... works great.... I don't offer it, but keep on hand when I want one.

Chefbuba...i'm a diabetic too and I make these shake ups at home all the time.  My quick version is a 32 oz cup filled with chopped ice, I squeeze half a orange, half a lemon, and half a lime into the cup, add 3 spenda's, and fill the rest with water.  Shake it up and its a quick drink with no added sugar. Doc says its okay for me!

If I'm going to make a lot, I add 2 cups sugar to a gallon of water to make the simple syrup. I also make a sugar free simple syrup with granulated slenda.

I just need to find out from my Health Dept if I can make em on my cart.

Capt'n Mike


This is the lemonaid I make at home........Easy and the best I ever had....I add a 1/4 of an orange to this recipe....

 
Laylita has a very nice page.. Beautiful photos and I am eager to try this whole fruit lemonade. 

i'm still looking for the sugar-free syrup.  it's amazing how expensive Splenda is

Gene's Dogs


i'm still looking for the sugar-free syrup.  it's amazing how expensive Splenda is

Hey Gene, ask a small Espresso place where they get their flavored sryup......Or
Flavored Sugar Free Simple Syrup - Vitamins & Nutrition - Compare Prices, Reviews and Buy at NexTag - Price - Review

thanks BillyB.  i got it

I never before tried to make a shake up out of store bout lemon juice, but several posts got me curious so I   bought a bottle of "100%" lemon juice and one of those little plastic lemons, and experimented and drank shake ups for a week.

here's my opinion. neither come close to the real thing from fresh lemons.

also part of the price is the flash (the show when you make it). people like to see that nice fresh lemon sliced and the juice run into the glass.

I would guess the difference is how a big company juices their lemons, probably including some zest (Peal) also like making industrial orange juice, the lemons are probably not top quality, or ripe to the right quality.  just my opinion.  if its worth doing it is worth doing well.

I think you're right olddude.
Real anything is usually better.

I would think that zesting the lemon and letting this sit your water/suger would help build flavor.  You could just use a vegetable peeler and peel the zest into it to save time.
Good luck

We watched a thing on either the food channel or one of the educational channels once on making the lemon juice/lemonade drink you buy in the store.  It seems they crush the peel to extract the lemon oils.  that is why the store bought stuff always seems to taste slightly different than fresh squeezed.

As far as industrial oj. They cook the juice and peels. I grew up near a Treesweet plant.  When the oranges would freeze on the trees, the plant went into overdrive to try and process the oranges before they went bad.  You could smell the truckloads of oranges going bad as you drove past the plant.  I try not to buy orange concentrate.... But then I'm fond of the Valencia juice that Florida Gold uses.

I'm doing my first festival just selling lemonade canned soda and water . They are estimating 40,000 people and I have no idea how to estimate how much product I'm going to sell. I have no way of knowing who else will be selling lemonade. Any suggestions I would be greatful!!! Thank you!

Julia, who told you 40,000 are attending this event? The promoter? If so, probably 10k might show up. Better to get this info from a very reliable source. Who else will be selling lemonade? EVERYONE! Its very profitable, so almost everyone does it. The thing is, you`ve got to make a better lemonade than anyone else, word will get around. Don`t you dare sell Country Time lemonade. Its got to be fresh squeezed. The customers want to see you make it. Estimating how much product to take is hit and miss. If you over-purchase, do you have an event coming up real soon so as product will not spoil? Good luck!

Or you could just buy gallons of lemonade form your local grocery store., cut fresh lemons, pour into a dispenser with spigot, and sell for $3 per 16oz cup. 

domromer


Or you could just buy gallons of lemonade form your local grocery store., cut fresh lemons, pour into a dispenser with spigot, and sell for $3 per 16oz cup. 

thats not freeshed sqeezed.

if i were doing that event, i would go with 600-1000. is it a 1 or 2 day event? can you get supplies the next morning? we never go with less than enough material to make 600.  

domromer


Or you could just buy gallons of lemonade form your local grocery store., cut fresh lemons, pour into a dispenser with spigot, and sell for $3 per 16oz cup. 

If your going to do it, do it right the first time. I`ve seen lots of cups of lemonade thrown in the trash because some yahoo fills a clear, 5 gallon glass jug with Country Time, throws a dozen cut up lemons in it for display, and pushes it out the window bragging its fresh squeezed. Get real. People aren`t stupid. You give a customer the best dang lemonade on the block, you`ve got yourself a walking sales person advertising for you. When I started out, did the same thing. Been there, done that!
War story: trailer next to me was using County Time. Young lady walked by complaining about the taste. Ask her over to my place, took her cup she just purchased, threw it in trash. Made her a REAL lemonade, fresh squeezed. No charge. What did she do? Told her friends how good my ade was.  Walking bill board. Put it in a clear cup so everyone can see it. Put a cherry on top. Use strawberry puree. Brightly colored straw. Be different. Good luck.

I just bought all the stuff I need to start selling lemonade this week at my cart. I have been wanting to do lemonade ever since I started the HD business. I am going with a clear 32oz cup and offer a few versions.
Regular
Sugar free
Strawberry
Cherry
Blue Rasberry
 
I use one whole lemon and three heaping table spoons of sugar to make 32 oz.
I am going to charge  between $3.00 and $5.00 depending on location and if they want a flavor added. All flavors add $1.00 extra. The flavors are simply cane sugar snow cone syrup I put in a bottle with a bar type pour spout. Their are many, many snow cone flavors to choose from but I went a few basics and may add ad a few more later.
If anyone has any questions feel free to ask.

Don't know if you can hack it, but I have seen the following have great success: fresh lemons, limes and oranges, making three kinds of ades, either to order or almost to order (well, they were trying to make it ahead, but it sold as fast as they could make them, at a premium price, too).
 
Some Greek diners have a lemonade recipe (which I personally call "Greek lemonade" for want of a better name). They take whole cut up lemons and put them in the blender with water, and pour it over ice. The customer sweetens to taste. I'd recommend putting the sugar in the blender.
 
The point is, if the customer sees the lemonade being made, they will pay a premium price for it. Assuming that you can make it fast enough to turn a profit.
 
Bart

My Bride likes to get fresh squeezed Lemonade at events. I always get mad at paying $3.00 + for a cup of mostly water but buy it for her anyway just to keep her happy.
Why can't she have a $6.00 Beer like the rest of us!!
I guess that's why we've been hitched 52 years!(14 of them happily!)

I'm glad Big ChefBubba helped me find this thread. Now I'm going to check out the others. Maybe I can make more money selling lemonade than I'm making selling Hot Dogs which isn't much in this neck of the woods. LOL.