Let's talk marmalade!

[MoogDroog]

Making it, that is. Last year's was tasty, but nowhere near set.
I am now armed with a maslin pan and want to do it right. Please share you top tips!

Do I need a jam thermometer?

I love marmalade talk!
I don't bother with a themometer but do put lots of saucers in the fridge for the crinkle test.
Today's the day for me.

Dontcallme - ooh, let me know how it turns out. Hoe much are you making? What's your method? Tell me all!

You can buy bottles of liquid pectin if you want to give it a bit of a boost. Maybe last year's crop was a bit low in pectin because I struggled with the set on mine for the first time ever and so did a very experienced jam-making friend.

moog I've got it down to the easiest possible method.
I pre boil the oranges the cheat and use a food processor.
It's my mum's recipe but I'll try and post a link.
Looking forward to a lovely orangey house

www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/4449033/A-more-traditional-marmalade-recipe.html
The lady at the till in Waitrose told me that she add 50mls of whisky when it's cooling and that her daughter adds ginger.
I also find that I only make one batch at a time, when I tried to double up the jam pan was very full and it looked a bit dangerous.

dontcallme - easy is good for me! Will check out that recipe, thanks for the link.

Last year I bunged the oranges in the slow cooker overnight, which softened them up nicely and saved me the blisters I got the time before. However, it didn't set and I thought that was where i went wrong... However, Mrsmini maybe the oranges were the problem.

mmm, whiskey and ginger!

Black Treacle is good too.

Dh has just finished making his second batch of marmalade. Very similar recipe to the telegraph one.

Have added black treacle - about 2 tablespoons to it in the past.

If you see seville oranges & don't have the time to make marmalade, they freeze for up to 8 weeks with no problems. And using the above recipe you can just start boiling them from frozen.

DH now cuts the peel by hand as he likes it chunkier than the magi mix does it.

Just to report back.
I followed the Telegraph recipe.
Boiling took about 20 mins to achieve setting point.
I bottled at the end and didn't add any extras.
10 jars of gold.

Many years ago, mu Mother froze Seville oranges. When she took them out of the freezer several weeks later, she found that they floated too high in the water when boiling them, so held them down with a piece of chipboard. The chipboard got quite a bit thicker (taking in the water) and the marmalade set extremely well (having taken in the adhesive holding the chipboard together)!

Now she boils the Sevilles up, then freezes them, and the orange water in Jan. She can then add sugar and actually make the marmalade at any time (April, July, October etc).

Mmm, chipboard marmalade! Brilliant. Someone I know recently made a plum and spatula chutney. Nice.

Top tip about freezing though.

Good to know the recipe worked well, dontcallme - I need to get hold of some sevilles now!