Marmalade

[JenM]

Marmalade was definitely being made today when I cycled past the Wilkins Jam Factory in Tiptree. It smelled wonderful.

[drossall]

What a great thread. Marmalade is wonderful stuff. Happily, I can buy home made from a stall held each month by a local chapel

But I've run out and they weren't there this month

I'll have to survive on Sainsbury's for now

[jsabine]

In other news, our guests at the weekend came equipped with a bottle of Bombay Sapphire, a jar of marmalade, a lemon and a cocktail shaker.  We provided ice and glasses.  Wow! That's a speedy way to get through marmalade (and gin).

Just finished the odd half-jar of my first ever batch of marmalade, and there was a bit left in the bottom. Added a finger of Tanqueray, put the lid back on, and shook vigorously. Mmmmm.

(Then I rinsed the jar with tonic water. Mmmmm again. We may have to acquire a cocktail shaker.)

This marmalade habit's got potential to become a little alarming.

[Ham]

I noticed yesterday that the Seville oranges have appeared in Waitrose. The pretentious buggers have packaged them in an attractive (!?) cubic cardboard box, rather than leaving them loose like they do for most of their oranges. It seems to me that Seville oranges always look a lot scruffier than other varieties. £2.49 a kilo. Far too much. When the price comes down I shall buy some.

Fatters! I shall send you a text when I see them at a lower price.

Those cardboard boxes were for the orgasmic ones, and I succumbed, making with 2kg of oranges. They are indeed excellent, much better than the average scrappy ones. I decided against using the preserving sugar (ok, I did use 1Kg, but for the rest upended all manner of dem, soft brown etc. Turned out the very best evah. Used a separate bag for the pips and the pulp.

ETA: Separation of pips to get maximum pectin without getting lost in the pith, tried taking the pith out once, but the flavour was so anodyne, it needs the bitter flavour. This incarnation has set like a good'un.

[Wowbagger]

The forecast for Sunday is pretty manky so I think I will try to track down some cheap oranges tomorrow.

[Wowbagger]

No cheap oranges but I used a batch from the freezer and made 11 pots whilst multi-tasking with the Tax Man.

[Canardly]

Have you/will you make a batch this year WB? If so can I request a jar?

[Wowbagger]

I will certainly do so at some stage. We've got a lot of oranges in the freezer, but for one reason or another we don't seem to have ben getting through the marmalade. It must be my diet...

I generally wait for a really miserable wet cold day: you need the gas on for hours and it keeps the house warm. I find it really does take the best part of 12 hours to do the entire job. It's the sort of thing I start about 10 am and I'm probably tightening up the lids on the jars late in the evening. I found myself cutting up oranges last year on a filthy wet Saturday when there were back-to-back rugby internationals on the telly.

[Wowbagger]

I made a batch yesterday.

Some of the oranges have been in the freezer for quite some time and seemed to have shrunk. That doesn't appear to have mattered. I produced 12 pots of lovely dark stuff. As usual, I used Bonne Maman jars and in each one the vacuum button was sucked in with a satisfying "toink" as the jars cooled.

[Wowbagger]

Lousy weather today, so another batch is currently on the boil. I'm now completely out of Seville oranges for the first time for many years. Never mind - I'll buy a load more in January!

[Wowbagger]

18 more pots, a couple of which weren't completely full, so consectuve Sundays have seen me making a quarter of a hundredweight of Good Stuff.

[fred the great]

Please remind us how you ensure a good set?

Thanks.

[hellymedic]

Please remind us how you ensure a good set?

Thanks.

Is that a problem? I am only familiar with jam and have never had a problem using jam sugar and boiling till jammy.
I would have thought there's enough pectin in peel to ensure setting.

Setting is assisted by
1) Acidic preserve - add lemon juice if needed
2) low water content & early caramelisation - 'boil till jammy'
2) pectin - peel has plenty but otherwise add pectin from jam sugar, Certo pectin or some Bramley apple flesh.

[fred the great]

Blimey, I had forgotten the lemon juice bit and also I should have realized insufficient boiling.

Thanks

[hellymedic]

You could use a jam thermometer (if you don't mind cleaning it afterwards).

As the water boils off and the sugar starts to caramelise, the boiling point increases.

Boiling jam is hotter than water and its syrupy nature reduces evaporative cooling.

HOT JAM CAN CAUSE BAD BURNS!

[matthew]

Please remind us how you ensure a good set?

Thanks.

Is that a problem? I am only familiar with jam and have never had a problem using jam sugar and boiling till jammy.
I would have thought there's enough pectin in peel to ensure setting.

Setting is assisted by
1) Acidic preserve - add lemon juice if needed
2) low water content & early caramelisation - 'boil till jammy'
2) pectin - peel has plenty but otherwise add pectin from jam sugar, Certo pectin or some Bramley apple flesh.

4) Calcium, for some reason I didn't have time to fully investigate Calcium is known to have the effect of enhancing the set of pectin. Therefore most cheaper commercial jams and marmalades use an acidity regulator like calcium phosphate.

[Wowbagger]

I boil it for a long time until it sets. This was about 5 hours with the last lot.

[hellymedic]

Boy am I glad I do my jam in the microwave!

[fred the great]

And I now understand why I have been struggling with setting times. The recipe I was following talked of one hour boiling. I was using Thai oranges which clearly require a longer time. Next time my microwave oven will do the work.
Slightly off topic, I do make Indian style mango chutney quite regularly which needs simmering for at least one hour. I eat it with curries mainly - rather nice with lots of spices in it and easy to make.

[hellymedic]

Lovely thing about microwave preserves is adding no water and boiling for notverylong.

[fred the great]

Agreed. My previous micro oven was very small and yet I managed to cook many things with it, still do but with a much larger Samsung now I can try Marmalade again. I have reviewed the recipes and there is no mention of setting times from which I can only conclude that they do not expect it to reach setting point. Will try again using the same recipes but with different cooking times

[hellymedic]

It's a question of boiling off enough water/caramelising to the correct degree. There are too many variables to be prescriptive about timing.
You might be best with a jam thermometer.
The marmalade will set after sufficient boiling, whatever that is.

[fred the great]

Understood. I have now found another simple recipe which suggests suitable boiling times. It includes using lemon also, so I have decided to give that recipe a try. At least I now have a bench mark from which to start.

[fred the great]

Update. I have done more Internet searching and was horrified at the tales of disaster which I read.  I was baffled  by the many and variable boiling times that were being quoted  and I decided to start with a lower number as I have boiled food in the microwave many times.

So, armed with my new recipe, about 4 small oranges, 1 lime in lieu of lemon plus sugar but no water i got the microwave dish ready and started boiling for 6 minutes on 850 watts, tested it and there appeared to be a slight set already started, but wasn't sure? Hence, I boiled it again for 3 minutes to make doubly sure - YES!we have arrived.This recipe and method only  needs fine tuning for next time, tasted very nice and set beautifully. Thanks Helli, I think your magic word lemon did the trick  or lime for me as it is easier to buy and very cheap..

[hellymedic]

 

Remember, I am the laziest of lazy cooks!
A bit of SCIENCE helps.

I really don't think being prescriptive re boiling times is helpful; there are far too many variables.
Boiling sugar is EVIL and needs constant vigilance.

Microwave preserves are great for the lazy cook...