Giada De Laurentiis Has A Pro Tip For Zesting A Lemon

When it comes to the most versatile foods in your kitchen, lemon is one of the that reigns supreme. Not only does this vibrant citrus look pretty darn aesthetic in a fruit bowl, but it also tastes good in both sweet and savory dishes alike. Whether you are whipping up a batch of tangy muffins or a bright pasta or simply want to add some flavor to your water, there are so many things you can do with lemons. Plus, each part of the lemon serves a different purpose, from the juice to the zest to the meat of the fruit itself. According to Our Everyday Life, lemon juice adds a full-bodied and acidic flavor to your recipe, whereas lemon zest is more potent, but not as acidic.

If you frequently add lemon zest to your recipe, then you are no stranger to procuring the peel of this sunny fruit. Some of the most common zesting tools include a citrus zester, a Microplane or rasp, a box grater, and a vegetable peeler. If your tool of choice is a box grater, we have news for you. There's a chance that you've been grating your lemons incorrectly your whole life, just like Giada De Laurentiis. In a short Instagram tutorial, "The Everyday Italian" host walked viewers through a revolutionary lemon zesting hack.

While Giada De Laurentiis might be a queen in the kitchen, the TV personality isn't immune to making mistakes every once and a while. Up until recently, the 51-year-old chef wasn't grating her lemons correctly.

The celebrity chef demonstrated the right way to grate a lemon in an Instagram video sharing that instead of having the lemon above the grater as you zest, you want to have your grater on top and your lemon underneath as you zest. De Laurentiis also recommends having a tight grip on that grater. "And you rotate it, so you can see how much you are actually grating," she explained. The Food Network star is proof that it's never late for even the most experienced chefs to learn new things!

Many users in the comment section were grateful for De Laurentiis's little token of cooking wisdom. One exclaimed, "OMG! Thank you, G! I've been doing it wrong for 500 years," while another wrote "I have too! Thanks for sharing." Others seemed less convinced by this alternate zesting style. "Looks much slower and more awkward. I'll keep doing it the wrong way," one user remarked.

Another lemon hack that you need to know? Make sure that you don't get too close to the meat of the lemon when grating the outer shell.