Making marmalade without muslin?

[PassTheTwiglets]

I am all ready to make my marmalade, got my Sevilles all ready, but I haven't got any blinking muslin to tie up the pips & pith! Any way of getting around this or do I need to go and buy some muslin? (goodness knows where from). Also I'm supposed to use a whole lemon for the amount of oranges I have but I've only got half a lemon left - do you think I really need a whole one?

you dont need it. Cook the fruit whole slowly for a couple of hours. Then retrieve the oranges. Cut up, removing a good part of the pith and the seeds and chuck them away. Then do the whole fruit/sugar/boiling thing. It will set.

Do you have any bandages? They work just as well if big enough.

Or a (clean) j-cloth - squeeze out by hand when cool after cooking over a sieve to get all the gunge out. Half a lemon will prob be ok

Bit of old tea-towel/open weave pillow case?

But make sure that they aren't stretch or self-gripping bandages - pure cotton only.

Cotton handkerchief or a piece of cotton sheeting will do as well - again, only 100% cotton.

Alternatively you can prick the oranges deeply all over and cook them slowly for a couple of hours, then peel and discard insides. Squash the discards in a colander to extract as much juice and pectin as poss, first. Slice peel finely, add to juice and cooking water, add the sugar and continue to the boil-and-set stage.

I used a clean tea towel and it worked well.

Ditto Tikkabillajive, and I've already made 27 jars, with about another 9 to go. All done through a linen T Towel.

My tea towels aren't clean enough but we have bandages and j-cloths - brilliant, thanks ladies! You can always rely on MN :)

I don't actually like marmalade, I just like making it :)

The last lot I made was for a show - won 1st - then gave it away

PTT, if you boil your Tea Towel up to steralise it, you shouldn't have a problem.