A Meyer lemon isn't a true lemon but a hybrid, long thought to be a lemon crossed with an orange or mandarin, found near Beijing in 1908. Next to the Eureka and Lisbon lemons sold as "regular" lemons, a Meyer is rounder, with a thin, smooth, yellow-orange rind, orange-tinged flesh and less sour juice, and it comes mostly in winter.
What counts as a regular lemon
In the United States, a regular lemon is almost always a Eureka or a Lisbon. They're the primary varieties, and California, where lemons are picked all year, is the major producer, according to Agriculture Handbook 66, the US Department of Agriculture's storage handbook for the produce trade. Both are firm-skinned, juicy and low in seeds. Most shoppers never learn which of the two they bought.
The Eureka is a Los Angeles native, grown from Italian seed reportedly sown there in 1858, by the account of the Citrus Variety Collection at UC Riverside. Its flesh is pale greenish-yellow and very acidic, and its peel is of middling thickness, pitted with sunken oil glands.
How a Meyer lemon differs
Almost everything visible is different. The Meyer is a medium-sized fruit with a smooth, thin rind that runs from yellowish-orange to orange, and light orange-yellow flesh that is tender and very juicy, as UC Riverside's Improved Meyer entry describes it. Cut one open beside a Eureka and the color alone gives it away.
The seeds are another tell. A Meyer carries 8 to 12 small seeds, by the botanist Julia Morton's count in the lemon chapter of Fruits of Warm Climates (hosted by Purdue); a Eureka or a Lisbon usually has few or none. The fruit is 2¼ to 3 inches (5.7–7.5 cm) wide.
The rind smells different too, closer to a spice or an herb than a regular lemon peel, with a note of bergamot, in the words of a guide at The Kitchn. That peel has a known limit, though. Morton records that Florida processors who made concentrate from Meyers had to add peel oil from true lemons, because the Meyer's own oil fell short on flavoring. If a recipe depends on the sharp, familiar smell of lemon zest, a Meyer won't supply it.
Which is sweeter, a Meyer or a regular lemon?
The Meyer tastes sweeter, mostly because it's less sour. Both are acid fruit, but Morton rates the Meyer only moderately acid against the Eureka's very acid, and UC Riverside agrees.
Some people eat raw Meyer segments in salads, which few would try with a Eureka.
Can you use Meyer lemons instead of regular lemons?
Yes, for most recipes, with an adjustment. The two can be juiced and zested for the same dishes, as long as you remember that regular lemons bring more acidity and Meyers more sweetness, The Kitchn advises. Going the other way, from a recipe written for Meyers to regular lemon juice, it suggests adding half the amount, tasting, then adding the rest.
Our view: the swap matters most where lemon has one job. A dressing or a glass of lemonade will show the Meyer's gentler acid at once, so taste before adding the full amount of sugar. A lemon tart built on a regular lemon's sharpness will come out softer with Meyers. In a braise or a roast chicken, where lemon is one flavor among many, either fruit is fine.
Why Meyers are harder to find
Meyers are seasonal, mainly winter. UC Riverside lists the crop as spread across the year but concentrated in the cold months, and Morton puts most of the fruit between December and April, while regular lemons fill the store year-round. The bigger reason is that they don't travel well. UC Riverside's Meyer page reproduces a passage from The Citrus Industry (1967), which judged the fruit so soft and juicy that commercial handling and storage wasted too much of it. By that account the Meyer had failed to become a commercial lemon of more than local importance anywhere.
Buy Meyers within a week or so of using them; regular lemons are sturdier, and Handbook 66 gives them up to six months in trade cold storage.
Where the Meyer lemon came from
The tree came to America in 1908 with Frank N. Meyer, who collected plants for the USDA and found this one in a pot near Beijing, according to Morton and UC Riverside. It caught on as a dooryard plant and a tub tree, and then it ran into trouble. The original Meyer trees were symptomless carriers of tristeza, a serious citrus virus, and The Citrus Industry noted that the tree was banned in some citrus areas as a result. The Meyer sold today is the Improved Meyer. UC Riverside says these trees are virus-free, and its collection holds budwood received in 1971.
Growing a Meyer or a regular lemon
The Meyer is the easier tree. UC Riverside's notes call it cold hardy and fairly small at maturity, more shrub than shade tree, and The Citrus Industry found it comparable with the sweet orange for both cold and heat resistance. Morton adds that a Meyer can be grown as a dooryard tree wherever oranges thrive.
Regular lemons are fussier. Lemon trees lose their leaves at 22–24°F (about -5°C), and nearly mature fruit is badly damaged below 28°F, Morton reports. Of the two regular lemons, UC Riverside finds the Eureka slightly less cold hardy than the Lisbon. Our five basics of backyard citrus care apply to either tree.
The two lemons in marmalade
We make a jar from each. Our Meyer lemons for the Meyer Lemon Marmalade are grown in Riverside, close to Victoria Avenue, by one small family operation, and the ingredients are pure cane sugar, fresh California-grown Meyer lemons and water. Expect floral lemon with a soft acidity and a trace of mandarin peel. The Eureka Lemon Marmalade shows the regular lemon's sharper side.
Photo by Cristina Anne Costello on Unsplash.
