I had been looking at a Facebook post with a request for a Orange Marmalade recipe. I just picked about forty pounds in my neighborhood and tonight started a great batch using both navels and juicing oranges. The recipe is very simple, but prep work is always time consuming for citrus. This is a two step recipe so that you have time for the peels to soak to soften overnight. It's great when you have only enough time at night to do one step at a time. First day prep, second day cook and can.
Orchard Orange Marmalade
10 medium Navel and Juicing Oranges (see preparation below)
4 cups sugar
6 cups water
¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
Orange prep:
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| 1. Peeling Orange with Potato Peeler |
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| 2. White Pith needs to be removed |
Using a (1) potato peeler, peel the outside of each of the oranges and set the peels aside. When you have completed the entire peeling, remove all the (2) white part of the orange, which is called the “pith”, so that you can see the (3) flesh to segment the oranges. You can cut the orange in half width wise and separate the segments in smaller sections being careful to get rid of seeds and any of the membrane or internal white parts as you can. Once you have segmented the oranges into a bowl cut the peels into a (4) fine julienne or small strips and add 1 cup of them to the bowl as well.
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| 3. Peel or cut down to the flesh |
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| 4. Julienne the rind |
In a dutch oven or heavy stainless pot, add the oranges and peels, sugar and water. Leave overnight to pre-soften the rinds and infuse the sugar.
The next day place the dutch oven on the stove and begin simmering the recipe till it comes to a slow boil. Continue to cook for 30 minutes and stir frequently. You will see that the orange segments will start to break down in the pot and the mixture will become thicker for the spoon to stir. After 30 minutes add the lemon juice and continue to cook to get to 220 degrees on a candy thermometer or gel test using a plate in the freezer. Drop a tablespoon of the recipe on the cold plate, wait one minute, if you turn the plate upside down and the mixture is solid and you push your finger through and it "wrinkles" the mixture is set to be canned.
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| Example of the wrinkle |
Ladle mixture into half pint jars and water bath for 15 minutes. When you remove your jars from the water bath they may take a few days to completely set.
This is a very basic recipe that can be varied by adding flavors such as vanilla bean (1 pod adding during cooking), cardamom (20 green pods crushed infused during cooking in cheesecloth), coriander seed (1 T. infused during cooking in cheesecloth or tea ball), and crystallized ginger (1 T. chopped finely added during cooking).
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