On the second day of Christmas my kitchen gave to me, Orange Marmalade!
I love canning! I love collecting empty jars and having them fill up my husband's garage. I love finding people who have too much fruit on their trees and would love to get rid of some. I love tasting the delicious liquid before it has been canned. I love the "POP" sound that the jars get when they seal. And I love the look on people's faces when I give them a jar of gold when they were least expecting it.
Recently, I was graciously given several bags of oranges (just in time for Christmas). Since I love canning, my first (and only) thought was to make orange marmalade. I was told it was easy. I was told that its like canning any other thing. And I was lied to. It is not easy when you need to make 8 batches of marmalade (totally 50 jars-some 8oz, some 16oz) to use all the oranges. It is not easy when you have a tiny little cut on your finger which stings all day long from the oranges and lemons. Its not easy when the sticky orange mess gets cooked on your stove and it takes 3 hours to get it off. Its not easy when you follow the recipe and it doesn't gel, thus requiring you to open all the jars to add more pectin and then sealing them all over again. However, after tasting the homemade orange marmalade it was all worth it.
Orange Marmalade (yield 7-8 16oz jars):
-4 C. chopped oranges
-1 1/2 C. chopped lemons
-4 C. water or orange juice-divided (I did 2 C. of each)
-1/8 tsp. baking soda
-4 C. sugar
-1 box low-sugar pectin (plus a little more if you want to save yourself the trouble of another day to re-can everything)
-jar grabber
-mid-sized pot for cooking the orange marmalade
-BIG pot for canning your jars (I don't have a special caner or anything, a big pot works just fine)
-Before preparing fruit, put clean jars in the dishwasher on a sanitize cycle (or you can boil your jars if you don't have a dishwasher). Start boiling water in a big pot so it is ready when you're ready.
-Using a peeler, peel just the orange part off the orange (white equals bitter), chop and place in pot with 2 cups of water (or orange juice) and baking soda. Bring to a boil, cover it, and let simmer for 20min.
-In the meantime, discard the outer white part and the middle white part of the oranges and chop them up until you have 4 cups. Peel and chop lemons as well (discarding as much of the white part as possible) until you have 1 1/2 cups. Note: Be careful to save all the precious juice as you are chopping everything up.
-In a bowl, mix 1/2 cup of sugar and the pectin together. Then add the chopped oranges (with any juice that tried escaping), the chopped lemons (with any juice that tried escaping), and the remaining 2 cups of water (or orange juice).
-When the pot of peels are done simmering, add the fruit/pectin mixture to the pot and bring to a boil for 10min.
-After 10min, add the remaining 3 1/2 cups of sugar. Bring it to a full hard boil, and boil for 1min.
-Take the hot, sterilized jars out of the dishwasher or boiling water and fill with orange marmalade until it is 1/4 inch from the top. Using a clean damp towel or paper towel, clean off the top of the jars. Apply flat lid and ring (tighten lightly), and place in pot of boiling water. Make sure that there is 2 inches of water covering the tops of the jars. Boil for 15 minutes.
-Now comes the fun part: Remove from boiling water and set on a towel to cool. Let a smile creep onto your face every time you hear a "POP" (although, don't sit around and wait for it because sometimes it can take several hours).
Variations I did:
-added some cinnamon (before boiling it for 10min)
-added some vanilla bean (before boiling it for 10min)
-left out the peel to make it less bitter (skipped the peel part but still made sure to add a total of 4 cups of water (or orange juice)
Fixing your Orange Marmalade if it is too runny:
Note: don't fix more than 4 quarts (or 8 pints) at a time
Things you'll need (for 4 quarts):
1 cup sugar
6 Tbsp. powdered, low sugar pectin
1 cup white grape juice
1/2 cup bottled lemon juice and bring to a boil.
new flat lids (the jars and rings can be washed and reused)
-Mix the sugar, pectin, white grape juice and lemon juice in a pot and bring to a boil (be careful not to let it burn)
-Add the runny marmalade and bring to a full hard boil for 1min.
-Fill clean, sterilized jars, wipe off jar with clean towel, place new flat lid, screw on ring, and boil in a pot of water for 15min.
-Remove from water and listen for the "POP"
I love canning! I love collecting empty jars and having them fill up my husband's garage. I love finding people who have too much fruit on their trees and would love to get rid of some. I love tasting the delicious liquid before it has been canned. I love the "POP" sound that the jars get when they seal. And I love the look on people's faces when I give them a jar of gold when they were least expecting it.
Recently, I was graciously given several bags of oranges (just in time for Christmas). Since I love canning, my first (and only) thought was to make orange marmalade. I was told it was easy. I was told that its like canning any other thing. And I was lied to. It is not easy when you need to make 8 batches of marmalade (totally 50 jars-some 8oz, some 16oz) to use all the oranges. It is not easy when you have a tiny little cut on your finger which stings all day long from the oranges and lemons. Its not easy when the sticky orange mess gets cooked on your stove and it takes 3 hours to get it off. Its not easy when you follow the recipe and it doesn't gel, thus requiring you to open all the jars to add more pectin and then sealing them all over again. However, after tasting the homemade orange marmalade it was all worth it.Orange Marmalade (yield 7-8 16oz jars):
-4 C. chopped oranges
-1 1/2 C. chopped lemons
-4 C. water or orange juice-divided (I did 2 C. of each)
-1/8 tsp. baking soda
-4 C. sugar
-1 box low-sugar pectin (plus a little more if you want to save yourself the trouble of another day to re-can everything)
-jar grabber
-mid-sized pot for cooking the orange marmalade
-BIG pot for canning your jars (I don't have a special caner or anything, a big pot works just fine)
-Before preparing fruit, put clean jars in the dishwasher on a sanitize cycle (or you can boil your jars if you don't have a dishwasher). Start boiling water in a big pot so it is ready when you're ready.
-Using a peeler, peel just the orange part off the orange (white equals bitter), chop and place in pot with 2 cups of water (or orange juice) and baking soda. Bring to a boil, cover it, and let simmer for 20min.
-In the meantime, discard the outer white part and the middle white part of the oranges and chop them up until you have 4 cups. Peel and chop lemons as well (discarding as much of the white part as possible) until you have 1 1/2 cups. Note: Be careful to save all the precious juice as you are chopping everything up.
-When the pot of peels are done simmering, add the fruit/pectin mixture to the pot and bring to a boil for 10min.
-After 10min, add the remaining 3 1/2 cups of sugar. Bring it to a full hard boil, and boil for 1min.
-Take the hot, sterilized jars out of the dishwasher or boiling water and fill with orange marmalade until it is 1/4 inch from the top. Using a clean damp towel or paper towel, clean off the top of the jars. Apply flat lid and ring (tighten lightly), and place in pot of boiling water. Make sure that there is 2 inches of water covering the tops of the jars. Boil for 15 minutes.
Variations I did:
-added some cinnamon (before boiling it for 10min)
-added some vanilla bean (before boiling it for 10min)
-left out the peel to make it less bitter (skipped the peel part but still made sure to add a total of 4 cups of water (or orange juice)
Fixing your Orange Marmalade if it is too runny:
Note: don't fix more than 4 quarts (or 8 pints) at a time
Things you'll need (for 4 quarts):
1 cup sugar
6 Tbsp. powdered, low sugar pectin
1 cup white grape juice
1/2 cup bottled lemon juice and bring to a boil.
new flat lids (the jars and rings can be washed and reused)
-Mix the sugar, pectin, white grape juice and lemon juice in a pot and bring to a boil (be careful not to let it burn)
-Add the runny marmalade and bring to a full hard boil for 1min.
-Fill clean, sterilized jars, wipe off jar with clean towel, place new flat lid, screw on ring, and boil in a pot of water for 15min.
-Remove from water and listen for the "POP"
I'm loving mine!! :)
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