How to Dry Citrus Zest for Homemade Beauty Products

Adding lemon, lime, orange or even grapefruit zest to Homemade Beauty products is a refreshing and cheap way to add a touch of scent and exfoliate at the same time. I use zest to make exfoliating salt and sugar scrubs as well as a facial cleanser and toothpaste. Additionally, the great thing about drying citrus zest, is that if I have too much I can add the extra to my spice cupboard to make dressings, desserts or toss on pasta.

Remove all zest from the outside of the citrus peel. The zest will be the darker, brighter and harder part of the peel. You don’t want the inside pulpy part of the peel. You can remove the zest with a citrus zester or a sharp paring knife.

I find that it is easier to remove the zest before I remove the peel from the citrus fruit, but it can be done afterwards as well. You can zest as many or as few as you would like. Sometimes I only zest just what I need for a specific product or I zest several to dry for use in making beauty products as well as cooking or baking.

If you would like to get a larger amount to use for beauty products as well as to add to your pantry, you will need:

10-12 medium sized oranges will yield about ¼ cup of dried zest.
12-14 large lemons or limes will yield about ¼ cup of dried zest.
8-10 grapefruits will yield about ¼ cup of dried zest.

Once you have all your zest removed from the fruit, you will need to dry it. There are a few ways that I like to do this and all work equally well.

Place the zest on a clean screen and air dry near a sunny window or set outside in the sun. It will dry much faster in warmer weather out in the sun, but if you are doing this during the colder months, a sunny window or near a wood stove will work just as well. I have a few screens that I use just for drying herbs and zest and this is my favorite technique! Drying indoors, in front of a sunny window will take about 3-5 days. Drying the zest outside in the sun or inside near a wood stove will take anywhere from 1-3 days depending on the temperature and how much sun it gets.

If you have a food dehydrator, they work great and are a simple way to dry out the zest. Follow the directions for your specific dehydrator.

After your zest is dry, you will need to grind it. It will be about the consistency of ground coffee, or even a little bit smaller. The easiest way to grind up the citrus zest is to use a coffee grinder. If you don’t have a grinder you can use a small food processor or if you have one, a mortar and pestle. I have several sets of mortar and pestles that I love using. A coffee grinder is nice and works quickly, but there is something special about grinding up zest or herbs with a well used mortar and pestle that really makes me feel good.

Store the ground zest in a sealed container and label. I like to use small mason jars and shaker top spice jars. When you need a bit of zest for making your favorite homemade beauty product it is nice to have it on hand and ready to use. The dried zest will last in a sealed container for approximately 1-3 months for best results.

10-12 medium sized oranges will yield about ¼ cup of dried zest.
12-14 large lemons or limes will yield about ¼ cup of dried zest.
8-10 grapefruits will yield about ¼ cup of dried zest.