It’s that time of year again! (marmalade)

[viques]

Mine is bubbling away, sugar added, plates in the freezer, jars warming in the oven.

For people who have never tried making it it is a very satisfying way of spending a winters afternoon.

Any more marmalade fans? There must be some around, the guy in the Waitrose where I got my Seville’s said “you are the sixth person this morning to ask me where the marmalade oranges are.”

@Ted27

Some combinations I tried this year

Raspberry and chocolate
Rhubarb and ginger
Rhubarb and gin
Strawberry and pimms
Strawberry and gin
Plum and cinnamon
Damson and cinnamon
Fig and cinnamon

Mmmmmmm yummy.

@EishetChayil

What a lovely thing to do!

I'm always delighted to receive homemade preserves as gifts.

yy and me.

You’ve inspired me to give up his a go. What type of oranges do I need please?

@Plastictattoo

You’ve inspired me to give up his a go. What type of oranges do I need please?

For classic marmalade you need Seville oranges which are around for a v short time only. Your local greengrocer or upmarket supermarket may still have some. But panic not if they are already gone. Large oranges will do, they won't have exactly the same tang and oomph BUT will still be a twelve million times better marmalade than any mass production one.

I made mine yesterday too. Was supposed to be at the weekend but......

I use a pressure cooker and the oranges cook in 15 mins!!!

Oranges came from Ocado which I was surprised about when I saw them available on there (not sure why!)

Thank you all for the helpful tips. I’m going to have a go at the weekend!

@Ted27 I note that you use half the amount of sugar as most recipes. I like lower sugar too, do you find the bitterness tolerable?

@Asparagusluvva

I thought kilo fruit to kilo sugar was a standard recipie, none of my jam is bitter

I agree - equal weights of fruit and sugar. If you less sugar the jam won't last as long and will need refrigerating once opened.

@Ted27 Most marmalade recipes are double the sugar to fruit. So 1 kg of oranges needs 2kg of sugar , but I think this is way too sweet . I usually do just over equivalent amount but I do have problems with set sometimes though! My most recent batch was very runny. Will have to reboil it.

thank you for the reminder, will search out Seville's. I couldn't find any last year, but did discover that some supermarkets sell ready prepared seville orange pulp in a tin which was a reasonable substitute. The only thing is that everything in my kitchen is sticky afterwards but worth the cleaning to have marmalade all year.

I make grapefruit marmalade every year. Ooh, it’s the best.

And you don’t need preserving sugar or pectin. Good citrus has all you need in it. Soft fruit jams need added pectin from lemon, apples or quince skins and cores.

I can’t get Seville oranges where I live, so make it with sweet oranges and grapefruit. I boil the fruit first and then chop in the food processor. Hadn’t thought of boiling it in the Instant Pot before - will do that next time!

I use the pressure cooker for to start with, but then like to slice the pieces by hand.

Orange and a lemon with a bit of vanilla and a drop of whisky was the best last year.

Have not done it yet this year.

Love normal marmalade, but also a huge fan of Nigella's pink grapefruit marmalade (in Domestic Goddess or here).

Also definitely second the cooking whatever citrus fruit in the Instant Pot too, soooo much easier.

@Asparagusluvva

I'll take your word for it on marmalade - I've never made it- I was asked about jam recipies

You're right about marmalade recipes @Asparagusluvva I wouldn't have wanted less sugar in the marmalade I made this year though. There's also water in marmalade, which there isn't in soft fruit jams.

I'm not in the UK so last year I was able to make it from trees in my own garden. Not many jars though and I only have one left. We moved over the summer too so although I got a tree in a pot I don't have enough fruit this year.