Seville Orange Marmalade Recipes
Seville Orange Marmalade Quantities
Marmalade making is definitely a seasonal activity in the UK. Fresh Seville oranges are usually only available from mid January, to mid February. Ordinary desert oranges are NOT suitable for marmalade, they are thin skinned and lacking in acid and pectin. Seville oranges tend to be smaller than desert oranges, with a large number of pips and thick skins; see the photograph above. They are readily available in the larger supermarkets, in 1 kilogram bags. Thus the final recipe (3) is designed for this amount of fruit.The quantity of fruit and sugar for Seville Orange Marmalade is approximately 2 units Fruit to 3 units of Granulated White Sugar, plus 3 units of added water. An typical mix would be 2 pounds (1 kgm) Fruit to 3 pounds (1½ kgm) sugar, plus 3 pints of water. Granulated White Sugar or Jam Sugar can be used. With Jam Sugar the final heating time would need to be reduced to achieve a good set to the marmalade. Recipes (1) and (2) illustrate the difference between the 2 types of sugar. Jam Sugar gives a slightly better flavour but is not very noticeable.
Method
Making marmalade is a lot more complex than jam, and the fruit needs quite a lot of hand preparation. The juice needs to be separated from the internal flesh and segments and in turn the outside peal needs to be separated from the internal white pith. Only the juice and outside peal are used in the final marmalade, while the pips, pith and internal flesh are used as a source of pectin to make the marmalade set. Ideally a piece of muslin is used to collect all the unwanted bits of orange. This is then tied up and cooked with the juice and finally squeezed to extract all fluids and the pectin. Alternatives to muslin would be any inert fibre with a an open weave that allows the pectic and juice to be extracted. A nylon bag has been used for this process.
Clean the oranges well, cut in half and squeeze the juice out of the fruit with an orange squeezer. Tip the juice in large mixing bowl and place the pips and pith into a second small mixing bowl lined with a piece of muslin cloth. Take each of the squeezed orange peal shells, cut in half again and scrape out the remaining white pith from the inside with a sharp knife. Place all the pith in the muslin cloth. Finally cut all the orange peal shells into fine strips with a sharp knife. The final size of the shredded peal is a matter of personal taste, typically either thin cut or thick cut peal. A good compromise would be about 0.1 inch by 0.5 inch (2 mm by 10mm). Place the shredded peal into bowl of juice and add the water to the juice, tie up the muslin bag of remains and place it in the juice. Heat this mixture for the time shown in the Tables below, and then leave the bowl to cool overnight. The heating is necessary to soften the skin and extract "Pectin" from the bag of remains. Pectin is essential for making the marmalade set firm. In scientific terms it increases the viscosity of the marmalade so that it can be spread easily, but not run too easily. Oranges are high in Pectin and hence the suggestion that you use Granulated White Sugar or Jam Sugar.
After standing overnight to extract the pectin and soften the orange peal strips, remove the muslin bag and squeeze out as much fluid as possible. The pectin is a viscous fluid that might need scraping from the out side of the bag during the squeezing process. The mixture is now ready for its final heating and boiling. The times suggested, should work OK for the quantities shown in the Tables. Judging the setting point for Seville Orange Marmalade is relatively easy. The times quoted in the tables seem to be about right to give a reasonably good setting point. A good guide to the correct heating time is the point where the boiling mixture starts to rise up to the top of the mixing bowl. When the bubbling mixture gets within 1/2 inch or 1 cm of the top of the bowl, it is likely to be ready to bottle. This has been found for many different fruits over the years.
Although Seville Orange Marmalade sets relatively easily, it is a good idea to test it for setting first time around. Take a small sample of the mixture and place it on a plate or saucer and cool it in a refrigerator. If it is ready to set, the sample will form a "skin" on the top of the sample and will become more viscous.
Once the setting point has been achieved, take the bowl out of the microwave oven and use a ladle and funnel to fill your jam jars. It is a good idea to have plenty of clean sterile jars available before taking the mixture out of the oven. Clean the jars well and then place them in hot water (as hot as you can stand) just before you need to use them. Take a jar out of the water, dry well and fill with jam immediately. Do the same with the screw tops and fit the tops as quickly as you can after filling with marmalade. This helps avoid contamination with mould spores and creates a vacuum over the marmalade when the jars cool. When done correctly the tops often shrink inwards towards the jam and you have to exert some force to open them when you come to use them. This is just like commercially produced jams and preserves.
Finally when the bottles are cool, label them and store in a cool dry place. Most marmalades made this way will last for at 12 months, perhaps longer. However it might be unwise to keep them much longer than 12 months.
A selection of different quantities of fruit are shown below in the Tables. It is unwise however to exceed the maximum quantity of fruit in the final table. About 2 pounds (1 kilogram) is about the maximum suitable for marmalade.
(1) First example recipe
| Item | Weight oz | Weight gm | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fruit | 24 | 680 | ||
| Granulated Sugar | 48 | 1360 | ||
| Water | 60fl oz or 3pints | 1715ml | ||
| Method | Initial Heating Time | Final Heat & Boil Time | ||
| Heat Juice and pith bag | - | - | 30min | |
| Leave to stand | - | - | Over night | |
| Squeeze juice from bag | Add sugar | Stir until clarified | ||
| Heat Mixture | - | - | 45min | |
| Test for setting | Take sample | Cool & check | ||
| If not at set point | Heat Mixture again | - | 2min | |
| Test for setting | Take sample | Cool & check | Repeat heating | If not set |
| Bottle | 7+ jars |
(2) Second example recipe
| Item | Weight oz | Weight gms | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fruit | 24 | 680 | ||
| Jam Sugar | 32 | 908 | ||
| Granulated Sugar | 16 | 454 | ||
| Water | 55fl oz or 2.75pints | 1570ml | ||
| Method | Initial Heating Time | Final Heat & Boil Time | ||
| Heat Juice and pith bag | - | - | 30min | |
| Leave to stand | - | - | Over night | |
| Squeeze juice from bag | Add sugar | Stir until clarified | ||
| Heat Mixture | - | - | 30min | |
| Test for setting | Take sample | Cool & check | ||
| If not at set point | Heat Mixture again | - | 2min | |
| Test for setting | Take sample | Cool & check | Repeat heating | If not set |
| Bottle | 7 jars |
(3) Third example recipe
| Item | Weight oz | Weight gms | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fruit | 35 | 1000 | ||
| Jam Sugar | 32 | 908 | ||
| Granulated Sugar | 16 | 454 | ||
| Water | 60fl oz or 3pints | 1715ml | ||
| Method | Initial Heating Time | Final Heat & Boil Time | ||
| Heat Juice and pith bag | - | - | 30min | |
| Leave to stand | - | - | Over night | |
| Squeeze juice from bag | Add sugar | Stir until clarified | ||
| Heat Mixture | - | - | 40min | |
| Test for setting | Take sample | Cool & check | ||
| If not at set point | Heat Mixture again | - | 2min | |
| Test for setting | Take sample | Cool & check | Repeat heating | If not set |
| Bottle | 8 jars |
Good luck with your Seville Orange Marmalade!