Marmalade Making

Marmalade is a traditional English preserve made with Seville oranges, a special type from Spain. They're more bitter than the oranges we're used to, but they are fantastic for jam because they contain more pectin and enable a good "set". When a lady who works with the Newcomers' Club offered an invitation to make marmalade in her beautiful home, I jumped at the chance. Luckily so did another good friend from the club, and Leah and I set off one Tuesday morning in the freezing cold to Jenny's house.

We arrived to find the table already laid out with everything to begin the process:
-Seville oranges (previously frozen and now thawed and squishy)
-lemons
-cutting boards and knives
-a pan in which to put the "pips" (seeds) and pith
-a container for the peel
-juicers

We cut the oranges and lemons in half and juiced them.

Once finished, we removed all the pith from the orange and lemon peels and put it in a pan to place on the range. We also cut up the peels into smaller slices before placing them in a "magi-mix" (aka food processor) to chop.

We boiled the pith mix to bring out all the pectin in the juices. It took about 15 minutes.

Having already cut up the orange and lemon peels and microwaving them on high for about 10 minutes, Jenny transferred the mixture to a large pot that could be placed on the range. 

The now-boiled pith mix was then put in a strainer over the big pot and she demonstrated how you roughly stir the mix to release all that great pectin into the boiled peel mix. Leah did a good job with this- I was far too gentle about it and Jenny relinquished me from the duty of stirring. 

Then Jenny added 4 lbs. of warmed sugar (it had been in the oven on about 50 degrees C) into the mix. (Can I add right here that I didn't realize how much sugar that was until I saw it with my eyes? Good gracious. But the thing is, you can't cut back on the sugar or else the marmalade won't set as it should. So don't even try to be healthy about it.)

Then we left the peel & sugar mix to boil on the range for a good while- about 40-45 minutes. 

So while that was boiling away, we did some cleanup. May I add it might be more reasonable to do the dishes when this is your view from the kitchen window? Certain groups actually come and tour Jenny's garden during the year, and there's no question why. 

Every now and again, after about half an hour of boiling, Jenny would test the mixture by placing a small amount on a cooled plate and placing it in the fridge for a few minutes. If the mixture "ran" when she tilted the plate sideways, it was not ready yet. She warned us not to be impatient about this, because if you take the mix off too early, it won't set properly in the jars - we tested it 3-4 times before the dollop stayed in place. (Another thing to note is the color - it should darken a lot as it boils until it's a deep orange in the middle.) After that she took the mix off the stove and began pouring it into pre-heated jars. And because everything was already hot, the jars sealed themselves. 

After lids were matched up and placed tightly on each filled jar, Leah and I decorated the jars using Christmas wrapping paper and rubber bands. Here we are with the finished project! We each got to take home one of the jars. The rest were sold at the Christmas fair to help raise money for the Newcomers' Club.

We had such a great morning and were so grateful to Jenny for welcoming us into our home for this project. I suppose it was a bit like letting your kids help you wash the car- more for their benefit than yours- though she said we really did help speed up the process :) 

Thanks Jenny for the lesson, coffee and conversation!