Saturday, April 16, 2011

Homemade Orange Marmalade-Tutorial

Hey everyone! Around Christmas bloggy buddy Frog Hollow Farm Girl sent me an amazing jar of homemade Orange Marmalade! So good I may have whimpered when I finished it up. We chatted about the recipe, it was from Ina.

Yesterday as I had a bagel with sub-par store bought marmalade I decided this would be my next project!
 
Ina's recipe can be found on foodtv.com HERE. There appears to be a bit of controversy as to exactly how much sugar to add so I looked at my Ball Blue Book. They say it should be a 1 cup of fruit to 1 cup of sugar ratio. I also have someone's Grandmom's recipe 1 cup fruit to 3/4 cup sugar, so here's what I decided...
With all due respect to Ina and Ball, Granny wins every time!

Day One:
I started with five naval oranges between the size of a tennis ball and baseball, and two lemons.
Using a 1.5MM mandolin (placed on a cookie sheet to collect the juice) I sliced two whole oranges and the lemons. Of course this can be done with a knife too.
Then cut them into smaller pieces so the marmalade would spread nicely.

Take the peel off of three more oranges and slice it into very thin match sticks. The peel does not cook down, whatever size you start with is what you'll have in your marmalade. 

Cut the pith off (toss it) and slice and chop the three oranges.
Sort through the fruit and discard all seeds, the cookie sheet helps - happy hunting:@)

Pour everything into a big pot.
Add 6 cups of water.
Bring to a boil and simmer for 7 minutes (Ball says 5, Granny says 10, I split the difference).
Take off the stove, cover and let sit for 12-18 hours. 
Apparently this "rest" helps develop the natural pectin in the fruit and it is important!
I did everything up to this point late in the afternoon and let it sit over-night.

Day Two:
Put the water bath on to boil, when it's ready...
Bring the fruit up to a boil again and cook rapidly until the peel is tender,
my fruit was thin enough that this only took about 10 minutes.
Carefully measure the fruit and liquid, then return it to the pot.

Add 3/4 to 1 cup of sugar for each cup of fruit.
For 7 cups of fruit I added 5 1/4 cups of sugar (using the 3/4 cup guideline).
I carefully (it's very hot) tasted it, and decided to add 1/4 cup more sugar, just because.

Heat until the sugar is dissolved stirring constantly.
Then cook rapidly until almost the gelling point. As mixture thickens stir constantly so it doesn't burn.
I used #7 on my electric stove, no pictures, boiling sugar is very hot-full attention required!
They say it should take approximately 30 minutes, I boiled mine for 1 hour, stirring constantly.
My thermometer barely went above 210 degrees. Since Ball said boil it until just below the gelling point (add 8 degrees to boiling), I would occasionally spoon some onto a chilled plate, let it cool then run my finger through it. As soon as it left a clean line on the plate (and did not run back into itself) I called it done.

Skim any foam off of the top, and ladle into sterilized, prepared jars.

Wipe top of jar clean, screw on lids and process in a water bath for 10 minutes.

Remove from canner, count the "pops" and love life!
Find complete safe canning information and recipes HERE.
Can be stored in a cool dark place for one year.
I hope this is helpful and sounds like something you'd like to try!
Have a happy day:@)

I'm joining:
Sweets for Saturday
Seasonal Sunday
Metamorphosis Monday
Masterpiece Monday
Take A Look Tuesday
Foodie Friday

31 comments:

  1. I LOVE marmalade. I've been making it for years using the MaMade canned seville oranges and really like it. However, I'm bookmarking your "from scratch" recipe. Just to be sure I like it, please send me a jar--the one with that adorable pig topper. Thank you!! = )

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  2. I love orange marmalade but never attempted to make it! Going to give this one a try. How long does it keep after processing?

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  3. I enjoyed reading about your adventures in marmalading! Enjoy!

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  4. Patti, our friends at Ball say one year. This batch only made 7 1/2 half pint jars. As soon as you give a couple as gifts, they go fast:@)

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  5. Oh, yum! you've started canning already?! Lucky you. Looks deelish.

    Have a beautiful day ~
    TTFN ~
    Marydon

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  6. I'm the only one in my house that loves orange marmalade so I just buy a super good brand. Yours looks easy but I don't own any canning stuff or jars. Great tutorial.

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  7. I love marmalade! There's nothing like homemade! Looks so good!

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  8. Ooooh, orange marmalade! Mouth is watering!!

    Di

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  9. Besides anything lemon flavored, there is nothing better than orange marmalade. I made some cookies one year that you needed orange marmalade for. I decided to make my own. My first attempt at canning! It was so good and from then on I was hooked on canning! I am going to try this one since I need some marmalade NOW! Thanks for posting!

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  10. Oh look at the orange marma laid! :)

    Don't like the stuff, but I would trust your grandma too. Now bring on the blueberry preserves, and I am there! :)

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  11. Llynn,

    Look at all that goodness!! I LOVE orange ANYTHING!! I am definitely going to try your directions. I love canning, I feel so 'grandmother~like', although I'm not one!! lol!

    Happy Saturday!

    XO,
    Jane

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  12. I'm with you- I'd go with grandma's recipe every time! That marmalade looks great! I've never made my own before, but there's always a first time for everything! :)

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  13. I love orange marmolade my very fav! This recipe and tutorial looks terrific, my hubby loves making them, he's going to love it! Thank you for sharing dear "Piggie!"
    Happy Easter.
    FABBY

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  14. Oh, this sounds really good! I haven't had homemade orange marmalade in years!

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  15. This sounds (and looks) delicious!

    I love that pig fabric under the lid!

    Katherine

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  16. Looks and sounds delish...thanks for the recipe :)
    Happy SS!

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  17. I love orange marmalade. Thanks for the play by play.

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  18. This was such a good tutorial! Love the stuff but never made it. Yeah, go with Granny. It will be a must do for this summer.

    Pat

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  19. i love orange marmalade ... this looks delicious ... thanks for the recipe!

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  20. Such a beautiful tutorial. Thanks so much for being a part of Seasonal Sundays.

    - The Tablescaper

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  21. I've never made marmelade, and I think you've finally got me thinking I need to try it. I could almost smell the aroma of the oranges in your pictures.. Lovely. Thanks for the recipe.

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  22. Yummy...wish I could do something so creative in the kitchen:) Thanks for posting my pet party, the date is May 4th, you have the 5th:) Thanks again for posting it.

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  23. Just playing catchup as we were out of town for Spring Break and I tried to post, but didn't have time to visit. This really looks wonderful. I haven't ever made it but we love to eat it and I can bet the store bought is nothing like this!

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  24. Oh wow this sounds amazing...gotta try it. Thanks!

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  25. This looks delicious...now I feel like marmelade on toast- my favorite :)

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  26. Wow, this sounds good. never made marmelade before. Thanks, Lynn.

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  27. I am so impressed you make your own orange marmalade! I like it too. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
    Happy Easter!

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  28. We just got back from North Carolina, and my husband raved over the marmalade. And here is your recipe, with a fantastic step-by-step. Thank you!

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