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Homemade Orange Marmalade Recipe on notjustspice.com

Homemade Orange Marmalade Recipe

Orange marmalade doesn’t get better than this — it is gloriously bittersweet, and charmingly rich. Slather it on pretty much everything — breads, chapatis, biscuits, scones and muffins — to turn them into awesome treats. Homemade orange marmalade just can’t be beat.

Ingredients

  • 6 oranges scrubbed
  • 1 lime
  • 8 cups (2 litres) water
  • 7 cups (1.4 kg) sugar
  • A pinch of salt
  • 1 tablespoon Scotch

Instructions

  1. Cut the oranges in half.
  2. Using a lemon squeezer with a mesh, or a non-reactive strainer over a bowl, squeeze out the juice, so you catch the seeds over the mesh. Do the same thing with the lime.
  3. Place the seeds in a non-reactive metal bag (like steel), or tie them up in a cheesecloth or muslin. They’ll have to withstand a few hours’ of boiling, so ensure that your knot is secure.
  4. Cut the orange rinds in half, and then proceed to slice them thinly. Hold the slices down together and cut them up into pieces that are no more than 1.3 cm (1/2 an inch) long. Do the same thing with the lime.
  5. In a heavy bottom-vessel like a pressure cooker or a stockpot, add the water, seed pouch, salt, all the juice you collected from squeezing the oranges and lime out, and the finely-cut orange slices, and bring the whole lot to a boil.
  6. Immediately reduce the heat, and let it all simmer for 30 minutes.
  7. Remove it from the heat and let it sit on your countertop for 7-8 hours (overnight).
  8. Place it back on the stove and add the sugar in. Bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Stir occasionally, so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the vessel.
  9. It has to cook until it reaches the jelling point, that is 103ºC (218ºF). For me, it took about an hour and 45 minutes. Remove the seeds after an hour and 15 minutes. You won’t need them again.
  10. 10. To test if your marmalade has set, place some marmalade on a plate that has been sitting in the freezer for half an hour, and place it back in the freezer for 3 minutes. When you slide your finger through the middle of the marmalade, it should stay separate and wrinkle a bit. If not, let it continue to simmer.
  11. 11. When it has reached the temperature (if you’re checking with a thermometer) and consistency (freezer-plate method), turn off the heat.
  12. 12. Stir in the Scotch and allow it to cool before you spoon it into clean jars.

Notes

Your marmalade will be runnier than the store-bought ones dues to lesser sugar. Pectin also make your marmalade more jelly-like, and as these oranges contain lesser pectin than a few other varieties like Seville oranges, the resulting orange marmalade may not be as thick as marmalade made from Seville oranges. Letting the whole thing soak for a good 7-8 hours helps the the release of additional pectin, so don’t skip the soaking bit. Storage: It stays good for a month in the fridge — that’s how long it stayed in our fridge as I ended up using a loooot of it, and more of it in cakes and muffins. I was out of control. So, I don’t know for how much longer it will actually stay. However if you want to preserve it, you can learn the procedures here.