Fast Limoncello

Instructions

1. Step 1

   Gather the ingredients.

2. Step 2

   Use a vegetable peeler to cut away strips of the lemon zest , being careful to only take the outermost, yellow part of the rind. If the backside of the strips has much of the white pith, use a sharp knife to carefully shave it away, and discard it.

3. Step 3

   Combine the lemon peels with the sugar in a bowl, and gently crush them together with a wooden spoon or muddler, until all the rinds have been bruised and have good contact with the sugar. Cover, and let stand at least 1 hour. 

4. Step 4

   After an hour, the sugar should have extracted the oil from the rinds; they will look dewy and glistening, and the sugar will have a texture like wet sand. This is the oleo saccharum. Set sous vide circulator to 135 F/57 C. 

5. Step 5

   Combine the oleo saccharum (rinds and sugar together) in a quart-size vacuum-sealer bag or a quart sized Mason jar along with vodka. Squeeze out as much air as possible, and seal the bag.

6. Step 6

   Immerse the bag in the water bath with circulator for 2 hours.

7. Step 7

   Remove to an ice water bath to cool. 

8. Step 8

   Strain out the peels and decant into a bottle.

9. Step 9

   Stir in the water, and store in refrigerator.