Making Marmalade: Tips & Techniques

[TicTac]

 

Trying to figure out how to upload a video - in the meantime here’s an action shot!  

 

[FrogPrincesse]

 Nice. For sure you need to cook it more, you are probably half way there. As you get closer, the liquid will darken a bit, the bubbles will sort of thicken / get smaller and make a different sound. That's when you know you are almost there and should reduce the temperature so you can achieve the exact consistency that you prefer (you are just fine-tuning at that point). Most recipes don't describe this stage very well, although it is probably the most critical. 

 

Your grandpa probably learned from watching someone else do it, and learn to do this "by feel". Once you know what it is supposed to look like (and do it regularly so you don't forget), it's pretty straightforward. You will eventually be able to tell it's ready just by listening to your pot.

 

[TicTac]

So does that mean you are AKA the Bubble whisperer!? 

 

I was reading a few articles and some talk about the 'foam' disappearing from the boil.  I understand what you are saying though.  Keeping an eye on it.  It is going to be a late night (almost my bed time!) but I am not stopping now!

 

You know, I never did ask Gramps who taught him, will have to ask my dad - but I recall the most divine strawberry, raspberry and marmalade jams every time we were at their place.  Made it with him a few times, but that was 25-30 years ago!

 

 

[FrogPrincesse]

Yes,  I am the bubble whisperer. I also cook rice by sound, believe it or not.

 

It's correct about the foam. It will foam quite a bit, and then much less as you get closer to the end. Marmalade is a commitment for sure and I am glad you haven't given up. You cannot always predict how long it's going to take, but once you are in, you have to keep going. It's going to be so worth it at the end, trust me!

 

[TicTac]

If you ever get bored or want a change in careers, I think Jam Consultant might be your new calling!  You and @Kerry Beal should hook up to form a sweet tooth's dream team! 

 

9 Jars have been poured, I splashed 2 of them with a tad of booze.  One some Four Square rum (a rarity here in Canada, the stuff is unreal!) and one with a local port finished whisky. 

 

I guess the results will be seen tomorrow!

 

Good night & I am sure I will be dreaming about swimming in vats of marmalade.

 

 

[Katie Meadow]

Briefly, without telling you the quantities and measurements, here's my process. Citrus is juiced and measured, and put in a large dutch oven. Twice as much water is added, and the bag of pips. This gets simmered for about 30 min. The zest/peel gets added, and the mix continues to simmer another 30 min. The pips bag gets removed, then the liquid gets measured and the sugar (I used regular white granulated)is added (3/4 cup sugar : each cup liquid)  That gets boiled until it reaches approx 228 degrees on an instant read thermometer. We don't do any kind of test. This temperature always seems to work for us. So there are two stages: before the sugar is added the mix is kept at a med simmer. After sugar is added the mix gets boiled, otherwise you would be in the kitchen til midnight.

[JohnT]

@Katie Meadow Surly your temp should read 221°F / 105°C and not 228°F? My marmalade is stopped at 105°C and I get a perfect set every time. If I use orange (Not Saville) I always add the juice of one lemon to the fluid to get the pectin to set. We do not get Saville oranges anywhere where I live.

[TicTac]

Welp, I just checked (my wife laughed that I woke up so early to check on my jam!) and the damn stuff still seems to move around in the jar.  It's thicker than previous batches for sure, but still in a fluid state...

 

Ugh!  The experiment continues, I guess!

 

Read somewhere that the set can take 24-48h, so hopefully I am surprised later today/tomorrow....not holding my breath though!

 

 

[JohnT]

@TicTac we only have cane sugar in my part of the world, so I have no idea what would happen, or any difference, if a person uses beet sugar. So, my question is basically, what type of sugar are you using? I ask this simply because I do not know if there would be any difference between using cane v beet.

 

I make lots of different marmalade using different citrus and combinations of citrus and all set properly. I do bottle and give all bottles a 10 minute boiling water treatment within a few minutes of bottling so I only know the next day that all is good. I never use any commercial pectin - just the natural pectin in the fruit, as others appear to do in this thread.

[FrogPrincesse]

@TicTac Some batches take a few days to fully set once in the jar. It’s thicker already which is a great sign. Fingers crossed! 

[FrogPrincesse]

@JohnT Beet or cane, it’s sucrose. The source of sugar doesn’t make a difference with respect to reaching the gelling point.

What are your favorite citrus combinations to use?

[TicTac]

I used cane sugar for this batch. 

 

@FrogPrincesse - I can only imagine, living in CA with the access to amazing fresh citrus, the various preserves you concoct!  I can still picture the farmers markets in San Fran years back and the abundance of unreal fruit. 

 

I have been known to travel to destinations solely for food (and often tropical/amazing fruit) 😆

[Katie Meadow]

10 hours ago, JohnT said:

@Katie Meadow Surly your temp should read 221°F / 105°C and not 228°F? My marmalade is stopped at 105°C and I get a perfect set every time. If I use orange (Not Saville) I always add the juice of one lemon to the fluid to get the pectin to set. We do not get Saville oranges anywhere where I live.

All I can tell you about the desired temperature is that our candy thermometer registers 212 F and at the same time, the thermapen registers 228. I don't know why there's a difference, but we generally go by the Instant Read results. Marmalades run the gamut when it comes to the set. We prefer ours on the delicate side when it comes to zest (thin cut with no pith) and not too densely set, so it is easily spreadable. I have no idea if our temperature gauges are accurate, but it works for us. 

 

Marmalade has enough sugar so that the finished jars don't need further boiling. We make enough product in a couple of months during Seville season in CA to last all year, usually about 24 jars. We do sometimes add other citrus, but always of a sour/bitterr nature, such as grapefruit and lemon, often meyer lemons, but the greater percentage of juice comes from the Sevilles. One fun addition is Bergamot, two or three per batch, including the peel. Subtle and different, a little floral, still bitter.

 

 And yes, it's that time again! My husband spotted some Sevilles the last time he shopped, but he said they didn't look very good, so hopefully the quality will improve over the next few weeks. I admit, we are both addicted and can't imagine not having a generous supply all year long. We do eat a lot of toast at our house.  

[JohnT]

3 hours ago, FrogPrincesse said:

@JohnT Beet or cane, it’s sucrose. The source of sugar doesn’t make a difference with respect to reaching the gelling point.

What are your favorite citrus combinations to use?

Hi @FrogPrincesse, I do orange (not naval), orange & lemon, lemon, orange with lemon & grapefruit, grapefruit & lemon, plain kumquat and when I have too many kumquat I do a mixture of them and the above citrus. I also do limited jams of pineapple or blackberry or chunky apricot when they come into season. I hope to start chilli & onion chutney mid year sometime. My partner, Elizabeth, does her FH Vegan chilli sauce (Frightfully Hot) - I don’t like it but there are those that enjoy FH sauces!

[FrogPrincesse]

@JohnT That sounds wonderful. I do various types of citrus as well (mostly bitter oranges, kumquat, yuzu). It's fun to mix them and experiment based on what is available. Other than bitter oranges or kumquats which are delightful on their own, I have found that citrus mixes are more interesting than single citrus - one of my favorite combinations is yuzu, Cara Cara orange, and Meyer lemon.

[TicTac]

Well, it did not fully set.

 

It is extremely viscous which is an improvement over the last batch, but it still moves around in the jar.

 

Oh well, it tastes fantastic!  10 year old son who helped me make it (his first time doing so, Gramps I am sure is beaming watching down with pride) gave his full approval. 

 

And the jar with a splash of rum smells divine!

 

A side note, interestingly enough there is a small Persian grocery store that took over a local convenience store (in a very residential area) which was pretty cool, stopped in for the first time and started chatting with one of the owners.  He is in the fruit/veg import business and uses the store as a first stop or even a DC for some of his clients, trying to bring in as much unique (and preferably organic) stuff as possible.  He had cases of seville's.  Huge stunning quince.  And I bought what I thought were lemons, but when I got home to use one, found it was a 'sweet lime' - something new for me!  Great little spot.  Might have to bring him a jar of the marmalade...

 

 

[FrogPrincesse]

@TicTac Bummer. At least now it's very viscous and, more importantly, it tastes great!   It will continue to set in the jar, so maybe in a week or two it will be fully set.

And now that you have found a new source of interesting citrus, you know what you have to do next - make more marmalade!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

13 hours ago, TicTac said:

Well, it did not fully set.

 

It is extremely viscous which is an improvement over the last batch, but it still moves around in the jar.

 

Oh well, it tastes fantastic!  10 year old son who helped me make it (his first time doing so, Gramps I am sure is beaming watching down with pride) gave his full approval. 

 

And the jar with a splash of rum smells divine!

 

A side note, interestingly enough there is a small Persian grocery store that took over a local convenience store (in a very residential area) which was pretty cool, stopped in for the first time and started chatting with one of the owners.  He is in the fruit/veg import business and uses the store as a first stop or even a DC for some of his clients, trying to bring in as much unique (and preferably organic) stuff as possible.  He had cases of seville's.  Huge stunning quince.  And I bought what I thought were lemons, but when I got home to use one, found it was a 'sweet lime' - something new for me!  Great little spot.  Might have to bring him a jar of the marmalade...

 

 

 

DC?

 

[blue_dolphin]

I've got a lot of limes falling off my tree and am planning to try this dupe of Roses lime marmalade. I may have to do the chopping in stages but that should be fine. A few years ago, I made and very much enjoyed David Lebovitz's  pink grapefruit marmalade and I should make another batch this year.  There's a farmer at my local farmers market who grows Seville-type oranges and will bring them to market on request.  Haven't been up to going to the market lately but I'll try to hit him up next week. 

 

Later in the season, I'll go up to the Ojai farmers market some Sunday AM for some of the more speciality citrus varieties. 

 

 

On 1/10/2024 at 4:30 PM, TicTac said:

So I made the batch and no matter the temp I bring it to nor the amount of seeds in there (perhaps it was too tight and not able to mix in enough!?) - it still is not setting to my liking.

 

Should I cook it longer?

I know you've got this sorted out, or nearly so, but I'm curious about your comment that no matter what temp you use, it doesn't set.  I always use David Lebovitz's guidelines of 218ºF/103ºC and haven't failed to get a good set.  What's the top temp you've targeted?

 

[blue_dolphin]

On 1/4/2024 at 12:47 PM, FrogPrincesse said:

Has anyone been making marmalade lately?

 

Here is my annual batch of marmalade. I used a dozen Seville oranges (951 g, they were on the smaller size this year), mandarin juice (1/2 glass), 2.4 L of water, and 1.5 kg of sugar. I follow the recipe from David Lebovitz in Ready for Dessert with minor modifications - I scrape the skin to remove all the membranes that I place in the seed bag (I find that if I leave the membranes in, the marmalade isn't as clear). I used 2 tablespoons of aged rhum agricole as the booze component.

The marmalade gelled pretty quickly and the set is quite firm. It tastes very bright and a bit acidic but will mellow as it ages.

The yield was 8 jars (6 x 8 oz jars and 2 x 13 oz "Bonne Maman" jars).

 

I've been asking for Seville oranges every week at the farmers market and I finally got some yesterday.  Thirteen oranges weighed in at 6 lbs 4 oz or 2.83 kilos and cost $10. 

I've gotta give these big bumpy boys a good scrubbing and run to the store for more sugar before I get going on the marmalade. 

[TicTac]

On 1/12/2024 at 9:50 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

DC?

 

Distribution Center

[TicTac]

On 1/13/2024 at 11:17 AM, blue_dolphin said:

I've got a lot of limes falling off my tree and am planning to try this dupe of Roses lime marmalade. I may have to do the chopping in stages but that should be fine. A few years ago, I made and very much enjoyed David Lebovitz's  pink grapefruit marmalade and I should make another batch this year.  There's a farmer at my local farmers market who grows Seville-type oranges and will bring them to market on request.  Haven't been up to going to the market lately but I'll try to hit him up next week. 

 

Later in the season, I'll go up to the Ojai farmers market some Sunday AM for some of the more speciality citrus varieties. 

 

 

I know you've got this sorted out, or nearly so, but I'm curious about your comment that no matter what temp you use, it doesn't set.  I always use David Lebovitz's guidelines of 218ºF/103ºC and haven't failed to get a good set.  What's the top temp you've targeted?

 

I had it at a full roiling boil at some point(s) - I am assuming as hot as it can get...it was as high as my meat thermometer goes!

 

I think the issue was either not enough sugar, or I packed the seeds too dense in the cheese cloth and they did not sit in it long enough.

 

No science to jam making in my world....shit's a crap shoot each time!  LOL

 

 

[blue_dolphin]

7 minutes ago, TicTac said:

I had it at a full roiling boil at some point(s) - I am assuming as hot as it can get...it was as high as my meat thermometer goes!

 

I think the issue was either not enough sugar, or I packed the seeds too dense in the cheese cloth and they did not sit in it long enough.

 

No science to jam making in my world....shit's a crap shoot each time!  LOL

 

Well, there's a lot of variability with the fruit going in in terms of its moisture and sugar content so you're right there will be differences each time but there's science involved as well.

Water boils at 100°C or 212°F and that's where you'll hang out for quite a while as the water boils off and evaporates, concentrating the rest of the ingredients. As the water boils off, the temps will increase. The wider the pan, the faster the water will evaporate and the faster the temp will get to the target. Most jams and jellies target temps in the range of 217°F - 222°F, beyond that, you're getting into candy making temperatures. 

Use a thermometer that's good for candy making or deep frying that can measure beyond the top range for your application. A lot of meat thermometers, like this one only read up to 200°F or 93°C.  They're designed for accuracy in the temps you'd want for meat, not way above that.  Make sure the thermometer you use for marmalade goes well above 222°F or 106°F.