Foods & cuts · Lemon
Halved lemons
Halved across, cut face down on a hot grate while something else cooks. Grilled to be squeezed, not eaten — which makes it the one fruit here that is a seasoning.
What it is
- Form
- Cut fruit
- Typical weight
- 30–60 g
- Typical thickness
- 25–35 mm
- Cut
- Not a cut of anything
Why it behaves as it does
Included because it is the single highest-value thing on this list per unit of effort, and because it belongs to the fish half of the catalogue as much as the fruit half. A lemon half put cut-side down on a hot grate for a few minutes comes off with a caramelised face, and squeezing it gives juice that is warmer, rounder and slightly less sharp than raw — which is what almost every whole grilled fish, prawn or piece of squid in this catalogue is asking for. It costs nothing: it goes in the space left over next to the food it will be served with. Nothing about it is a doneness question, so there is no endpoint to state and no duration worth publishing. The one practical note is that a cut face needs full contact, so the grate should be clean and the half pressed down once.
When is it done?
Food-safety endpoint
BBQHQ holds no food-safety rule for this food. We are not showing you another jurisdiction’s figure in its place — check your national food-safety authority.
When it goes wrong
- It stuck to the grate
- Food sticking to the grate — 2 distinguishable causes.
Afterwards
Cooling, keeping and reheating what is left is general guidance for barbecue leftovers. Neither UK authority publishes anything specific to halved lemons, and BBQHQ does not invent a distinction they do not make.
What we don't know about this
No institutional source has been found that publishes a grilling time for this one. The two extension services behind BBQHQ's other produce timings do not cover it.
What we know we’re missing records what was searched for each of these, and what would settle it.