Orange marmalade is a classic bitter-sweet preserve often served with British scones, English muffins or simply on buttered sourdough toast for breakfast.
Although Seville oranges are popular for making marmalade, you can use regular oranges and get the same delicious result.
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Best oranges to use
Any.
Many claim Seville oranges to be the best, but I guarantee you, any good quality orange will make a great orange marmalade.
Choose seasonal oranges with firm flesh, not too thick skin and as always, sweet as honey.
Blood oranges also make amazing marmalade, especially when they are fully ripe and the juice is deep red.
With or without pectin
Many recipes avoid using pectin. This is an error. Here's why.
The natural pectin in citrus vary from fruit to fruit and might not be enough to thicken or set the marmalade.
To compensate for this, I've seen cooks trying to reduce it, with bad results.
This can lead to very runny or overly bitter and heavily reduced marmalade. Some recipes call for extracting the pectin from lemon pith. Although you might get natural pectin, there is a big problem.
Orange marmalade should be bitter-sweet, but not too bitter. Extracting the pectin from any pith and not removing the orange pith will result in overly bitter marmalade.
When we remove the pith, we are left with almost no naturally occurring pectin to thicken the marmalade. Hence, we add in apple pectin, easily found in most stores or online.
This way we get a perfectly balanced marmalade, and we can control the thickness by adjusting the amount of pectin used.
Ingredients
- Oranges - The best you can get. Bad oranges will make even worse marmalade.
- Pectin - Apple pectin is the standard and widely available in most stores, found in the baking section.
- Lemon - Lemon is used to give balance and also most importantly to activate the pectin. Citric acid in powder form can also be used, but you lose on the flavour.
- Sugar - Any regular white sugar will do. Avoid using brown sugar or muscovado sugar, as the final marmalade colour will not be beautiful.
Instructions
- Cut the oranges and lemons in half.
- Juice them and set the juice aside while removing the pith from the lemons and the oranges with a spoon.
- Cut the orange and lemon rind into smaller petals, then carefully remove the rest of the pith attached to the peel until only a thin layer is left.
- Chop the peel into thin strips, then bring to a boil in plain water. Let it sit in the water for a few minutes, then discard the water.
- Mix the sugar and the pectin well and place into a pot with the citrus peel and juice.
- Bring to a slow boil, then simmer gently until the temperature reaches 105° C or 221° F.
- Check the set by placing a bit on a cold plate and into the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Store your marmalade in Mason jars in the fridge or as instructed in the storage chapter.
Video
Tips for success
- Make sure to use the best oranges with firm flesh, thin skin and sweet as honey.
- Always remove the pith as much as possible and blanch it for a few seconds in plain water. It makes the bitterness level perfect.
- Never boil marmalade vigorously. You'll end up with tough, rubbery peel if you do.
- Make sure to mix the pectin and the sugar together and add to the peel when cold. Adding pectin to hot mix results in undissolved pectin that will ruin the batch.
- Use a kitchen thermometer to accurately judge the setting temperature of the marmalade. It should be 105° F or 221° F.
- Test the set by placing a bit on a cold plate into the freezer for 10 minutes.
Serving suggestions
- On toasted sourdough, sourdough baguettes or English muffins with butter.
- As an alternative to strawberry jam on British scones with homemade clotted cream.
- On vanilla or dark chocolate ice cream.
- As a topping for carrot cake or pumpkin bread with pumpkin cream cheese spread.
Storage options
Canning - Steam or boil your canning equipment. While still hot, pour the warm orange marmalade into the jars, seal and cool it down immediately to fully seal airtight.
Vacuum sealing - Cool down the marmalade completely before placing in vacuum bags and vacuum until all the air is out.
Freezing - Freeze in plastic containers or vacuum bags, but there is very little need for freezing as it's well-preserved.
Fridge - I simply store mine in the fridge in a sealable container. As long as you only use clean utensils and don't double-dip the spoon, your marmalade will keep for months.
Frequently asked questions
If stored correctly, sealed airtight, marmalade will outlive anything alive today. If canned, it will even be longer.
Marmalade is made from citrus rind. Jam can be made from any fruit or fruit juice and does not necessarily contain rind. In fact, it hardly ever does.
Two ways. Remove the pith and boil the peel in plain water for a few seconds. This will leech some bitterness out.
Mostly this happens because you boiled it too fast or over reduced it.
Another way to ensure tender peel is to marinate the peel in sugar overnight.
Useful equipment
Temperature Probe
Electronic Kitchen Scales
Citrus Juicer
Small Kilner jars
Related recipes
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Recipe
Homemade Orange Marmalade With Pectin
Ingredients
Instructions
- Cut the oranges and lemons in half. Juice them and set the juice aside while removing the pith from the lemons and the oranges with a spoon.
- Cut the orange and lemon rind into smaller petals, then carefully remove the rest of the pith attached to the peel until only a thin layer is left.
- Chop the peel into thin strips, then bring to a boil in plain water. Let it sit in the water for a few minutes, then discard the water.
- Mix the sugar and the pectin well and place into a pot with the citrus peel and juice. Bring to a slow boil, then simmer gently until the temperature reaches 105° C or 221° F.
- Check the set by placing a bit on a cold plate and into the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Store your marmalade in Mason jars in the fridge or as instructed in the storage chapter.
Ann says
Sorry to contradict, but ONLY Seville oranges make good, tangy, and slightly bitter marmalade. Of course, types of DESSERT oranges can be used but they make inferior marmalade because they are way too sweet. Consider the fact that Seville oranges are inedible. The skin and pith are thick, there is very little pulp and juice, and they are full of pips. I once counted 61 pips in just one Seville orange! There is no need to remove the pith. Just shred it along with the skin. It helps marmalade set because it is rich in pectin. I don't use the skin around the segments, such as they are, because it is too stringy and tough. As for the pips, just put them in a bowl, cover with lukewarm water, and leave overnight. The next day you will find the water has turned into thick jelly. Strain and add the jelly to the mix of shredded peel and pith, water and juice. Return the strained pips to the bowl and repeat process to extract more pectin. I usually let everything soak for at least two days but often for three days before making the marmalade. IMO extended soaking makes for a tangier marmalade. Seville oranges are extremely hard to find in Canada so I haven't made marmalade for a while because I don't like it made with the too-sweet dessert oranges. However, I have just come across one-litre bottles of very bitter Seville orange juice in a Middle Eastern grocery store so I am now trying a batch of marmalade made with dessert oranges and using the Seville orange juice instead of the water called for in the recipe. I have also added the juice of two lemons. I hope it will produce the desired level of tanginess!
Linda says
Can you process this in the canner and how much juice should there be
thank you
Charlé Visser says
You would have to boil it first, then can it.
Ian says
You tube says 8 g pectin - which one is korek broo??
Charlé Visser says
8g correct, my bad
Ann says
You don't need any pectin for citrus fruit marmalades. The pith has a lot of pectin so don't remove it from the peel. The pips also have plenty of pectin. Put the pips in a bowl, cover them with lukewarm water and leave to soak overnight. You'll find that the water has turned into jelly by morning. Add the jelly to the shredded peel, juice and water mix. Traditional British marmalade recipes call for soaking the peel for around 24 hours before boiling it. If you cannot access Seville oranges (the only type to use for British marmalade), see if you can find bottles of Ehsan Seville Orange Juice and use it instead of the water. I haven't made marmalade for years simply because I cannot find Seville oranges where I live. I have just tried making some with sweet oranges (the wrong type for marmalade), and the Ehsan juice instead of water and it works pretty well to produce the taste of traditional British marmalade.