Marmalade crisis, help!

[Plateofcrumbs]

I'm in the middle of making marmalade and I have screwed up - am supposed to boil up the peel/juice/muslin bag of pith for a couple of hours BEFORE adding the sugar. I've already put the sugar in - can I salvage this?

The pith won't matter as it's just used to give more pectin to help it to set.

I think, only think, that your peel will remain very hard/tough as once you have added the sugar the peel won't soften.

It this happens & it tastes OK you could always, when the marmalade is cold & set, whizz it throught the food processor to homogenize the lot.

I've also got a recipe for marmalade ice cream (which is delicious) where you also blitz the marmalade first.

I think you're right about the reason for boiling it without sugar - I wonder if I sieve the mix to extract the peel, rinse it, boil it in a little water then add it back into the sugar/water/juice mix?

I think I would be tempted to sieve it to take the peel out (once it's been in there long enough to help with the set) but not bother trying to put it back in, just have marmalade without peel.

When you make damson jam you take the stones out once they have given up enough pectin to set it, so it's worth a try (and in my experience the more you faff about trying to fix things, the more chance there is you won't get a set at the end of it!)

Hmm peel-less marmalade is an idea, though the peel is the best bit (usually, if it's not rock hard due to cocking up the recipe).

Marmalade saved !- followed my plan of straining out the peel and boiling it up in a small amount of water and the bag of pith, then adding it back to the juice/water/sugar mix. Resultant marmalade is softer set and a bit milder than when I made it last year, perhaps due to the extra water. But still better than shop bought!