Here on our homestead, we try to reuse everything. The problem is, we love citrus and we can’t feed that to our chickens, our pigs won’t touch them, and they don’t compost well. While I do cook with citrus rind and occasionally have call to use it in teas I don’t have that many uses for it.
So it used to sit in large bags in our freezer until someone is coming for a visit. At which point, I would stuff some down the garbage disposal to make the house smell nice. That was all well and good except that folks don’t come out to the boonies for a visit that often. I started looking up other ways to use those darn peels.
Now I use it for all sorts of things.
- I put it in white vinegar to make orange or lemon scented cleaner. This is by far my favorite use for citrus peels.
- We like to make candied orange peels in the food dehydrator.
- I’ve used citrus peels to remove light rust from tools.
- When dried, citrus peel halves make great containers for firestarters.
- Dried citrus peel turned into a powder can be used as a seasoning, added to salt, pepper, or marinades.
- The powder or grated peel can also be added to the base of plants you need to protect from insects, it might even protect you from mosquitos.
- You might even discover that they make good shoe deodorizers.
What do you use citrus peels for in your home?