Orange Marmalade 08/05/2011
 This is a decent jar of orange marmalade. I am hoping it is good enough to take a blue. See how the little strips go clear to the bottom of the jar? That is a point the judges will be looking for. Sometimes jams, butters, and marmalades like to separate, and there will be a layer of just jelly-like material at the bottom. Most of the recipes ask you to very thinly slice the oranges. Preferably on a mandolin (a slicing device designed to make very thin slices). I tried this and found the membrane between the citrus sections was tough and I didn't like the 'mouth-feel'. So, I am about to show you how I process the fruit for a much nicer product, in my not so humble opinion.  This is a speed peeler that makes julienne strips. See the tiny little blades that are vertical under the cutting blade? It makes the strips more uniform in width. Be careful to only take the colored part off the citrus. The white part will be bitter and float to the top of the jar. Ugly. Once you have the strips, I line them up and make cuts to shorten them. Easier to spread on toast. Or whatever else your about to eat.  This is a bag of the little pieces. I used four oranges, four lemons, and a grapefruit. Wash the fruit very well first. I use something a little scratchy to make sure I get the dirt all off. I also cut off any blemishes. Remember...this is fair entries. EVERYTHING counts.  Once the rind is off, take a knife and peel of all the white part.  See how the white part is mostly all gone? That will make a much nicer marmalade. Also...here you can see the membrane between the sections. Get your knife as close to these membranes as you can without cutting them. Cut out the sections. This is called a supreme...I believe. Do that to every section on every piece of citrus. Then I squeeze the juice out of the membrane leftovers, and chop up the sections in smaller bite size pieces. Juicy, very ripe, sweet, fruit works the best. If it is not so juicy, you may have to take a potato masher to the pulp once you start the cooking process. First, take 2 1/2 cups of water, 1/8th teaspoon of baking soda, and all the rind, put it in your large pot. Bring to boil. Reduce to simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add pulp. Cook 10 minutes more. Measure out 4 cups of this combination. If it is short of four cups you can add water or a little orange juice (no sugar added). Add one box of pectin and 1/4 teaspoon of butter (to stop foaming which is ugly but won't hurt the taste). Stir well. Heat to boiling. Boil hard one minute. Add 5 1/2 cups of sugar. Heat to full boil again and boil for one minute. Remove from heat. Scrape off any foam. Process in water bath for 15 minutes (follow rules on pectin instruction sheet). Once you take them out of the water bath, put them upside down for about ten minutes, and then turn them right side up. This will help keep the strips evenly disbursed throughout the jar. You may have to do this several times to keep the pieces down there till the marmalade cools enough to trap them at the bottom. Let them cool completely.  This made 8 jars of orangey goodness! You also see that I have made my banana nut bread butter. It is really good in oatmeal. That is a recipe for another day. It is a fair entry, too. ****************************************************************************** 1 Comment |
