Grapefruit Ginger and Black Pepper Marmalade

This recipe gave me a hard time... yes it didn't set for me the first time so I waited three days and poured the contents back into my pot and reheated it back to 220 degrees to retest the "sheet" and finally got it to set. It happens to all of us once in a while. 

This recipe is great on a crunchy artisan bread with a spread of goat cheese or brie. Most marmalade are an exceptional spreads on chicken or fish for an added flavor during cooking or barbecuing. 

Grapefruit Ginger and Black Pepper Marmalade

7 Tex Ruby Grapefruit
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 T. minced fresh ginger or 1/2 t. powder ginger
4 cups sugar

Preparation: Prepare 5 half pints lids, and rings. Sterilize the jars and keep them in the hot water till its time for processing. Rinse the grapefruits and pat them dry. Halve the grapefruits and juice them removing the seeds as you go. Reserve the juice. Using a spoon scrape out the pulp and remove any residual seeds. 

Using a sharp knife slice the peels into 1/8 inch thick strips. 

Cooking: In a large stainless steel or enameled Dutch combine 4 cups of water and the peels. Bring heat to high till you are simmering. Let simmer for 10 minutes and turn off the heat. Let peels sit for 20 minutes in water.  This process helps to release the pectin and soften the peels so they are not chewy. Pull peels from the water and set them aside. 

Add juice and pulp. Cook till boiling which will be about 15 minutes. Using a fine mesh strainer remove pulp from the liquid. Add back the peels, sugar, ginger and cracked black pepper. Bring mixture up to a boil and continue cooking until mixture reaches 220 degrees using a candy thermometer.  Once it reaches this temperature, which takes about 10-15 minutes, remove from heat. To test the marmalade use the Sheet or Plate test. (see bottom of this site for instructions) If the consistency is not right put it back on the stove and boil for another minute. Retest. 

Filling the jars:  On a dishtowel place your hot jars and using your funnel in each jar fill leaving  1/4”  headspace.  Taking a clean papertowel wet it with warm water and wipe the rims of the jars removing any food particles that would interfere with a good seal. Using your magic wand extract the lids from the hot water and place them on the now cleaned rims. Add your rings to the tops of each of the jars and turn to seal just "finger tight".

Processing: Make sure your rack is on the bottom of the canner and place the jars in the water bath making sure that the water covers each of the jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add hot water to the canner if it doesn't measure up. Cover the pot and turn up the heat under the canner and wait for the water to start boiling. Once the water has come to a boil start your timer for 10 minutes. When complete turn off the heat and remove the cover and let the jars sit for another few minutes. Remove the jars and place them back on the dishtowel in a place that they will sit overnight to cool. Do not touch or move them till the next morning. 

Sealing: Sometime in the next hour your jars will be making a "pinging" or "popping" noise. That is the glass cooling and the reaction of the lids being sucked into the jar for proper sealing. Some recipes may take overnight to seal. Check your lids and reprocess any jars that did not seal.

Grapefruit Sea Salt Lime Marmalade

7 Tex Ruby Grapefruit

1/2 tsp Himalyan Sea Salt (any sea salt will do)

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice

4 cups sugar

Follow instructions above to make this grapefruit marmalade alternative!