I have solved the small orange problem

[noblegiraffe]

I just saw a Waitrose billboard that said "You know it's Christmas when you peel your first clementine" which made me think "I know it's Christmas when I consider Pigs in Blankets to be a viable crisp flavour" but it got me mulling over the issue of small oranges, and I think I have finally solved it.

The correct order for small oranges is:

1. Mandarin - the <chef's kiss> of small oranges.

2. Satsuma - a solid entry in the small orange category, easy to peel. Sometimes you get the odd duff tasteless one but usually delicious.

3. Tangerines - could be ranked higher but rarely on the shelves so I kind of forget they exist.

and WAY down the bottom, basically in the bin

4. Clementines - the absolute worst. What is up with that horrible flavour? You'd get a better orange experience from drinking some juice straight after brushing your teeth. They try to disguise them by rebranding them 'easy peelers'. Look at the small print and it's a covert clementine.

I think this is one thing we can all agree on this Christmas.

I have googled each type of small orange and here are some labelled photos so that you can successfully identify each for yourself in the future. They really are very easy to tell apart.

Excellent!

Yes! Clementines are the worst. They also have silly skin and you can’t do the try to peel off in one go thing.

The reason there are so many different little oranges is that citrus plants love to hybridise. The majority of citrus fruits we have in the world can have their roots traced back to a handful of species.

It's a fascinating subject.

One wonders if it was over being given clementines?

Your pics are unreasonable I'm afraid @noblegiraffe, the mandarin is at a different angle/viewpoint/plane whatever the right Maths name is for that....

Therefore they do not help those of us who can never remember which is which!

Also, I used to think real oranges weren't worth the effort, but I changed my stance in lockdown.

They are amazing!

Here we are:

Tangerines, Clementines and Satsumas are all Mandarins. Citrus is the Genus, Mandarin is the Species and the three others fall under that category.

clementines are the work of the devil. it's the smell. they make me leave the room. all other orangey things smell quite nice but those lumps of evils shudders

Ooh, yes, this unleashes my Trading Standards rage. Easy Peelers that are not easy to peel. See also: The sticker on my old Dyson hoover that said "No loss of suction". I love baby oranges and get through a couple of net bags of them a week. One lot in the fridge, one in the fruit bowl. I am to be found in the supermarket on a Saturday morning fondling all types of orange to ascertain which will really be the easiest to peel.

Big Clementine propaganda. They cannot all be mandarins because mandarins are Number 1 and clementines are Number Tending To Minus Infinity.

Wow @MandyMotherOfBrian, are you a citrologist?!

Erm, yeah, why not? 😂

(although I realise I said ‘category’ and if I was actually a bit more sciencey I probably would have said sub species. Maybe. I dunno really)

This thread has made me realise I've never even really taken stock of the fact that there are FOUR names for these things and that some types are different from others. I just think of mandarin/satsuma/tangerine/clementine as interchangeable names for the mini-orange things that appear at christmas. If I buy them I just have a look at them and try to guess if they look OK. I like easy peeling, I like it when they have leaves attached, or little paper wrappers. I don't like pips, and I really hate whatever it is that occasionally make them taste weirdly like a back bin bag. Is that clementines then?

Nadorcotts is a cool word though.

I really hate whatever it is that occasionally make them taste weirdly like a back bin bag. Is that clementines then?

It sounds very likely. Now you know, you can avoid with the rest of us and only get the good ones!

Lidl have some in a box that aren't easy peelers but I can't remember what type they are. They have leaves and twigs attached to make them look festive. The entire box I had, bar one, was bloody lovely. The one was just too squishy like it was on the turn or had been battered so I didn't even risk it. I didn't feel I could handle the emotions of eating a sad tasteless little orange.

I just thought satsuma was another name for clementines (not for girls . That would be a whole new MN names thread). I could not for a moment tell you the difference.

I only eat navel oranges.

Other things that annoy me:

Why is it tangereen but clementyne?

Where do they go the rest of the year? Is there a hibernation village for miniature citrus fruit? Is this the same place as nuts with shells on and dates?

I say Clementeen.

The girls name l say Clementine.

I must be strange.

I would like to offer up for your consideration the Queen Orange - used to get these in Sainsbury's around January time, but haven't been able to get them since Covid/brexit fucked up all the trade/transport/fruit production. They're the same size as a large satsuma & taste lovely.
Loved them as they'd often have another orange inside!

Which ones are seedless. I get it wrong every time I buy a pack.

Well, obviously!

Clementines are pretty horrible, and who even knows what easy peelers are.

Has anyone tried a pomelo? I know they're not oranges, but they're not a million miles away - they're like huge grapefruits, but they're sweeter and a bit dryer, so you can dissect the lovely bits away from the more skin-like bits. I don't know how I got to this age without knowing about them. 1 pomelo = 4 good servings.

I avoid anything that is labelled "Easy peeler" - Tangerines are my small orange of choice and it seems like Sainsbury's is the only place I can rely on to find them. I might just buy some of each again and double check which ones I like best (I have a track record for doing this) but I keep coming back to tangerines. I am a marmalade fan and went through a period of several months buying every type and make of marmalade until I decided - against all expectations that the Asda Extra Special Seville Orange Breakfast marmalade was my favourite - with their 3 peel marmalade a close second.