I like to have plenty of fresh-squeezed lime juice on hand. I use it all the time: for margaritas, marinades, and to add zest to chili, tacos, and other dishes. Adding it to cranberry juice or putting a splash of lime juice in 7-Up makes a refreshing drink. And of course Key Lime Cheesecake.
But the idea of buying limes from the grocery store at 3/$1.00 and squeezing them every time I need a little juice doesn't fly. So what's the alternative? Rose's Lime Juice is a disgusting mixture of pasteurized lime juice and corn syrup. I don't touch the stuff. And plain, bottled lime juice is difficult to find; ocassionally I can find RealLime bottled juice, but I find that the pasteurization makes it taste very little like fresh-squeezed juice.
I have found a solution which works for me, although most people
think I am a few limes short of a margarita. I head down to the
wholesale produce market (in my case, Haymarket in downtown Boston,
open on Friday and Saturday mornings.) I can get about 100 limes
for $10. And if I'm lucky, I can find Mexican limes, which are much better for margaritas than California or Florida limes. (Mexican limes are more like key limes -- smaller and mostly yellow rather than green. See photo.) Then I spend a few quality evenings with my $10 electric
juicer. I pour the juice into mason jars or empty one-quart milk
containers, and freeze it. (I get about 6-8 quarts out of 100
or so limes.) I have defrosted this juice up to two years after
freezing it and find it is just as good as fresh-squeezed. Freezing works well for other juices as well, such
as unpasteurized apple cider.