Does Lemon Juice Spoil?

[VJA]

Our neighbor gave us a bushel of lemons from their orchard and I just juiced them all and after making lemonade, still have a GALLON of fresh squeezed lemon juice.

I'm wondering, can I store this in the fridge until it's gone (will probably take a few months) or should I freeze portions of it? Does lemon juice spoil?

There are only two of us, and a batch of lemonade only takes a cup and a half, so we're not going to go through it that quickly. I'll probably make lemon bars, but that's only another half cup. Any thoughts on how to use all this juice would also be welcome.

[Kajikit]

Freeze it in icecube trays and then it'll keep for a year (or until the cubes dehydrate).

[VJA]

Thank you all so much! This is extremely helpful.

[BusterRhino]

The acidic level of lemon juice does mean that rarely will anything ever grow in it - that is until it seperates. Take people's advice that have already post it and freeze it. I wish I lived in an area that lemon trees that I could do this with....I just get apples.

[Nyleve]

Absolutely freeze it. A gallon will take up a million ice cubes, so freeze it in 1 or 2 cup containers. One day you'll be happy you have it. Actually - do it as soon as possible. I find that lemon juice deteriorates rather quickly in the fridge.

[goodhealthgourmet]

it'll eventually deteriorate in quality, so if you're not going to use it soon, definitely freeze some. there have been some recent threads about what to do with a surplus of lemons - both standard & Meyer - and many of the responses offered ideas for the juice. take a look:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/590953
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/589166
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/433085
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/400779
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/395067
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/597603

we also had a pretty extensive discussion about bottled vs fresh juice last year:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/535513

when i hear "lemon juice" my first thoughts for use - beyond lemonade or limoncello - are: lemon bars, muffins, marinades, salad dressing, pound cake, lemon meringue pie, lemon chicken, and chicken piccata.

[Lenox637]

When I make Linmoncello, I squeeze the lemons after, taking the zest, and freeze them in ice cube trays. I then store them in a zip lock bag for further use. Fresh squeezed, even frozen, is better than that little plastic lemon bottle from the stores. Ice cubes are the perfect size and I find 4 cubes is about equal to the juice of 1 average lemon.