Jif Lemon:

Who hasn't heard of Jif Lemon? From the iconic green bottle or the even more iconic plastic lemon bottle to the adverts advising us to "not forget the pancakes on Jif Lemon Day" it's a brand I am sure most of us are aware of!

I always used to go for the 55ml plastic lemon bottles as I found them kitsch and a bit fun but I noticed that sometimes the lids (quite flimsy flip lids) didn't provide an airtight seal and as a result the contents didn't last so well even to the point of mould! I now go for the green and yellow 250ml bottles and whilst they're not as cute as the lemons they do seal properly and last months.

Currently the price for Jif lemon seems a bit strange with the 55ml plastic lemons on sale for 79p at Tesco or 20p at Asda; neither of their websites has prices for the 250ml bottles currently, I believe they are sub £1.00 though which makes the bottles much better value for money too.

In my opinion nothing beats fresh juice but the quality of Jif is the next best thing as it's not always possible to have fresh lemons lying about. The juice is very pale and runny and has a bitter lemony flavour as you would expect. Fresh lemon juice varies not only in quantity but also in taste and quality whereas with Jif you are getting a consistent product which can be beneficial in baking. To achieve this consistency and the shelf life Jif lemon is made from concentrate and contains preservatives.

Jif lemon is not something you are likely to have on it's own but instead something you will use as an ingredient. There are a great many uses for Jif lemon from cleaning grease and cleansing bites and nettle stings to lemon cakes and curries and the obvious stuff like pancakes and honey and lemon. It's something I would always want to have in my cupboard.