FoodNuts!

Moro Blood Oranges

Marmalade. I think that it’s the first preserve or canning that I ever attempted. I originally made it way back in the late eighties, and, on again, off again, have made it ever since. I can’t say that I ever have bought it since I learned to make it. That being said I must add that it is perhaps the most difficult of preserves to do correctly. And doing it correctly is all about learning from your mistakes. And they can be awful. Don’t worry, it’s not impossible, and what follows is a process I developed that avoids many of the problems that can be encountered on the road to a great marmalade.

I made two types this year: A Blood Orange Marmalade and a Sour (Dundee) marmalade. I was going to do this right up on the Sour Orange, but decided against that. Instead, I’m doing it on the making of the Blood Orange Marmalade. There are a couple of reasons for this. Most people that would attempt doing marmalade are probably going to use the Valencia Orange, the standard juice orange of California and Florida. The Valencia is a very different orange from the Sour (Seville) Orange. The Sour is very sour and very seedy. The Blood Orange, however, is a bud sport of the Valencia, so, except for its beautiful color, it’s almost the same thing (As a side note, Marmalade made with the Valencia actually has its own name. It’s called “Californian Marmalade”, and it was made famous by the King Kelly Corporation of Pasadena, California).

What makes the process difficult is making sure you have the proper pectin (not hard to do) and not caramelizing the sugar as you approach gel set point (Neither is this)

Let’s begin:  Total ingredients:

4 lbs of whole Blood Oranges

2 lemons

16 cups of water

9 1/2 lbs of White Cane Sugar

Wash all of the Oranges and let dry. Using a Mandolin or a Slicer, slice the oranges into 1/8” thick slices, retaining all juice and discarding any seeds. Once sliced, cut each orange ring into four, quarter, parts. Add all oranges to a stock pot. We will get more than enough pectin for jelling by including all of the pith, pips and peel of the oranges.

Sliced Oranges in the pot

Next, completely zest both of the lemons and juice them. Hopefully, you have an assistant for this. This Juicer’s name is Max and he’s real good at what he does.

Max, the best little juicer love and money can buy!

Add Lemon zest and lemon juice to the Oranges, sans seeds.

Add zest and juice

Next, add the water and bring it to a boil. When it reaches a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for about 40 minutes (I do this covered as I do not want to reduce the orange solution). Continue simmering until the peels become tender to touch.

Now, with the fruit tender, add the sugar, stirring constantly until it completely dissolved.

...........add sugar.....

Now well start the boil process. This is where we are going to finish the cooking of the fruit, and set the gel of the Marmalade. During this process, you will need to stir almost constantly, as this will help to keep the sugar from caramelizing and the whole liquid from browning. You may need to modulate the temperature on the pot to keep it from boiling over. Try to keep it boiling on as low a flame as possible.

While waiting for a boil, place a small dish in the freezer to keep cold. We will use this to check the marmalade as it finishes.

Take a candy thermometer and keep a constant eye on the temperature. You will slowly approach  222°F. When it does, you are almost at gel set point.

Using a candy thermometer; stirring constantly

At this temperature, place about a teaspoon of the Marmalade onto the chilled plate; let it sit about 30 seconds to cool. When cool, swirl the plate to move the Marmalade around on it. If it thickens and “wrinkles” you’re there. If not, keep boiling, watching very carefully and stirring constantly.

When you check shows that it is gelled, It’s ready for jarring. We used a dozen ½ pint jars, as they will be gifts, but you can use any size you want. Ladle the marmalade into the jars, place on the lid  and screw on the rings, making sure not to get any marmalade on the jars threads.

Ladle into jars

The finished product

Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes, and you’re done. See? It’s not that hard at all, and it’s better than almost any you can buy.

Buttered scones with Earl Grey, anyone?

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