Anyone else making marmalade?

Zell

I spotted the marmalade oranges in my local veg shop a few days ago and the first batch is now simmering. I use this recipe: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1153/ultimate-seville-orange-marmalade

Last year I made 3 batches and it lasted the whole year.
Nothing to compare with homemade marmalade - in my opinion.

Michellenman

I make a lot of marmalades, jams, jellies and conserves. Nothing quite like it really

Tabitharose

I made some a few weeks ago, going to make another batch soon - just waiting till I've enough jars together - homemade jam / marmalade's the best

dee_mc

I made 60 jars today!! (I sell it at local markets)
I use this recipe http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/preserve/traditional-seville-orange-marmalade.html
Not usually a fan of Delia's recipes but everyone loves this one, apparently it tastes like old fashioned marmalade

Zell

Wow that's a lot of work dee_mc! How many batches? Do you chop all that peel by hand?

I use a preserving pan, no lid. This year to keep the oranges weighed down and covered with water [otherwise they'd float] I used the lid of a very heavy casserole. Mistake!!! The peel didn't soften enough. It's very tasty but the peel is undercooked. For the next batch I used a plate to weigh them down as I have done in previous years.

Animord

Zell wrote: »

Wow that's a lot of work dee_mc! How many batches? Do you chop all that peel by hand?

I use a preserving pan, no lid. This year to keep the oranges weighed down and covered with water [otherwise they'd float] I used the lid of a very heavy casserole. Mistake!!! The peel didn't soften enough. It's very tasty but the peel is undercooked. For the next batch I used a plate to weigh them down as I have done in previous years.

I make a lot of marmalade, I never weigh the peel down, but just cook it until it is soft. If the peel is not completely soft when you add the sugar it will harden and no amount of cooking will soften it again.

Zell

Thanks for that Animord. It's useful to know that no amount of boiling will soften the peel - although I had no intention of removing it from the pots and boiling it up again!
How do you manage shopping the peel? Do you boil the oranges whole as per my recipe - which makes chopping the peel a doodle, I must say.

dee_mc

Zell wrote: »

Wow that's a lot of work dee_mc! How many batches? Do you chop all that peel by hand?

I use a preserving pan, no lid. This year to keep the oranges weighed down and covered with water [otherwise they'd float] I used the lid of a very heavy casserole. Mistake!!! The peel didn't soften enough. It's very tasty but the peel is undercooked. For the next batch I used a plate to weigh them down as I have done in previous years.

I don't weigh them down at all, just stir occasionally while the peels simmer. It takes ages to come to the boil and up to 2.5 hours simmering to get completely soft for me. Sometimes I simmer the peels at night, cover til morning and then make the marmalade, this works great for really soft peel.
I make batches of 18-20 jars, and I cut the peels by hand with a scissors (unorthodox? haha!), I got an electric juicer yesterday which makes a big difference!

Animord

No, I squeeze them and then soak the peels for 24 hours like in this Grapefruit, Orange and Lemon Darina Allen recipe.

I also, like a poster above, sell it at markets and to the local shops.

I have to say I HATE making it. Peel chopping is a giant PITA.

dee_mc

Haha Animord I'm glad I'm not the only one that hates making the stuff! Strangely, chopping the peels is the least annoying bit for me, I particularly dislike scooping the pith out of the shells and squeezing out the muslin bag!

Animord

dee_mc wrote: »

Haha Animord I'm glad I'm not the only one that hates making the stuff! Strangely, chopping the peels is the least annoying bit for me, I particularly dislike scooping the pith out of the shells and squeezing out the muslin bag!

- you are absolutely right! the chopping can actually get quite therapeutic. It is all that scraping that is the biggest PITA.

I make big batches so I don't have to do it so often, and I swear when the marmalade stock gets low I find myself resenting anyone that buys it because I have to start the process again! Why couldn't everyone eat strawberry jam on their toast?:pac:

dee_mc

Animord wrote: »

- you are absolutely right! the chopping can actually get quite therapeutic. It is all that scraping that is the biggest PITA.

I make big batches so I don't have to do it so often, and I swear when the marmalade stock gets low I find myself resenting anyone that buys it because I have to start the process again! Why couldn't everyone eat strawberry jam on their toast?:pac:

Ha, too right!
I'm a glutton for punishment anyway, i'll be filling the freezer tomorrow so marmalade season will go on a bit longer in this house

0lddog

dee_mc wrote: »

.........and squeezing out the muslin bag!

Me too !

I boil the pith & pips separately for a few hours in a small amount of water and then put through a strainer. ( sometimes I'd then boil up again with more water & repeat ). The resulting liquid goes towards making up the total amount of liquid to be added.

Animord

0lddog wrote: »

Me too !

I boil the pith & pips separately for a few hours in a small amount of water and then put through a strainer. ( sometimes I'd then boil up again with more water & repeat ). The resulting liquid goes towards making up the total amount of liquid to be added.

That is a good idea. Effectively you are making your own pectin.

Michellenman

For those of. You who sell at markets where do you buy fruits and sugar etc?

Animord

It depends on a load of things. I try to buy soft fruit in season from local suppliers, you get to know other market traders and if they have say, strawberries left at the end of the day that wont last then you can buy them cheaply. There are also fruit and vegetable wholesalers for stuff that isn't Irish or is harder to get, but you have to buy in bulk, which obviously means either the kitchen capacity to use it immediately or freezer capacity. It depends on what you want to do to be honest, there are trade offs on local/price/quality.

Lidl is cheaper for sugar than Musgraves.

Michellenman

Mada a pineapple and vanilla jam today, have to say, sounds a bit unorthodox, but it tastes incredible. Quite a soft set though. Also made a kiwi and lime Jam too, not as tart as you'd imagine. Picked 300 jars from alpack today so still have a fair bit ahead of me! Have Seville oranges softening on the stove at the moment to make a whisky marmalade too

dee_mc

Michellenman wrote: »

Mada a pineapple and vanilla jam today, have to say, sounds a bit unorthodox, but it tastes incredible. Quite a soft set though. Also made a kiwi and lime Jam too, not as tart as you'd imagine. Picked 300 jars from alpack today so still have a fair bit ahead of me! Have Seville oranges softening on the stove at the moment to make a whisky marmalade too

Pineapple jam is so nice! And a soft set is preferable to what I made last time, which ended up as lemon marmalade with pineapple chunks...
I'd love to try kiwi and lime, what recipe did you use?

Michellenman

I just winged it really! Had seen a recipe for a diabetic version and added to it. 6 kiwis peeled and chopped, 125g castor sugar, rind of half a lime, juice of quarter.

Add kiwi and sugar to a pan, simmer for 5 mins, add lime juice, bring to a boil for about ten mins, mash it, add in the rind, sterilise jars and fill. I only got one jar from this, was all I was really looking for as it was a bit of an experiment for me. It needs to be stirred constantly to avoid burning, it's ready when it becomes noticeably thicker.

Michellenman

Trick for pineapple jam seems to be to grate the pineapple as opposed to chopping it, I grated 2.5 pineapples and chopped half of one just so it would have a bit of bite to it but ended up having to pick out the lumps as even after an hour on the stove they were still really hard.

Zuiderzee

I made a carrot marmalade from a Mrs. Beeton recipe, its quirky and very nice, even if I do say so meself.
I think it must have come from Victorian times when oranges were quite expensive.

Very popular in Portugal!!



INGREDIENTS
900 gm red carrot (I used Lisse de Mieux, also from realseeds)
100 gm tart apple
Zest and Juice of two Oranges
Zest and juice of one Lemon (try a couple of lime if you like)
200 ml water
500 gm white sugar
400 gm Demerera Sugar.

METHOD
Grate the carrots and apple. The grating is done for texture and appearance
Zest and juice oranges and lemon
Blend all above ingredients, put into a large heavy bottomed pot and soften the carrot.
When the carrot is softened, take about 1/3rd of the grated carrot and put through food blender/processor.
Return processed carrot to pot and add all sugar.
Cook until reduced to setpoint and jar.
Yields 3.5 regular jam jars, tastes delicious.

There is also a faux Apricot conserve on the same blog posting.

Zell

Very interesting Zuiderzee! I'm temped to give it a go. What blog did it come from?

0lddog

Any of you follow http://boards.fool.co.uk/2-marmalade-questions-12964202.aspx?sort=whole ?

Funny how making marmalade brings out the desire to make adventures

the beer revolu

Mrs Beer made a Seville orange marmalade. She added a touch of crystallised ginger and some elderflower syrup. Couldn't taste the ginger but the elderflower comes through beautifully.