Candied Citrus Peel - The Topic

[swissmiss]

I have some beautiful oranges, and would like to make some candied and chocolate-covered orange peels. An Internet search gave me a few recipes, which are not consistent. I thought one had to boil the peels twice, but the Food Network's recipe (courtesy of Gourmet magazine), only calls for a 10-minute boil. Any help and recipe will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

[micha]

I make great quantities of candied orange and grapefruit peel every Christmas and bring to the boil and drain only twice before cooking in the syrup. However, I use a vegetable peeler to remove the rind with no pith which makes for a very thin product. Perhaps whole peel would require more blanching to prevent bitterness -- must try it this year

[swissmiss]

Thank you for your response Micha. I think you are 100 percent right about the peel/rind nuances. Maybe I'll start with your version.

[Bux]

I don't mean to be an alarmist and occasionally use a lemon, lime or orange peel in a recipe, but I've noticed in France that every time a recipe calls for citrus peel, they specify non traitee or something to that effect, meaning you should use the peel from a fruit that wasn't treated with pesticide or other toxic materia. I've also noticed in better supermarkets, those hypermarches that offer an incredible array of goods and run for country miles in the middle of either nowhere or a new shopping center, there is often an array of different grades of lemons, or oranges and some are definitely labeled as untreated. Here in the US, that kind of labeling is only required on the carton, if at all, and the local shop need not mentioned it on the display of oranges removed from their shipping cartons. I usually wash the skin if I'm going to use the peel, but some of those topical sprays can be absorbed. I figure I don't eat much of it in the long run, but it is a concern, especially as almost all the cartons I've seen say treated with some long name I can't fathom.

[nightscotsman]

I don't mean to be an alarmist and occasionally use a lemon, lime or orange peel in a recipe, but I've noticed in France that every time a recipe calls for citrus peel, they specify non traitee or something to that effect, meaning you should use the peel from a fruit that wasn't treated with pesticide or other toxic materia. I've also noticed in better supermarkets, those hypermarches that offer an incredible array of goods and run for country miles in the middle of either nowhere or a new shopping center, there is often an array of different grades of lemons, or oranges and some are definitely labeled as untreated. Here in the US, that kind of labeling is only required on the carton, if at all, and the local shop need not mentioned it on the display of oranges removed from their shipping cartons. I usually wash the skin if I'm going to use the peel, but some of those topical sprays can be absorbed. I figure I don't eat much of it in the long run, but it is a concern, especially as almost all the cartons I've seen say treated with some long name I can't fathom.

Doesn't untreated = ogranic? Many mainstream grocery stores now carry organic produce, including oranges. It is usually labeled as such and kept separate from the conventionally grown selection.

[swissmiss]

Thank you for mentioning the non-traite factor Bux. I will buy organic oranges, which should be the same, as nightscotsman indicated. My grocery store has a (small) selection of organic fruits.

[Simon Majumdar]

If you sweat the grated peel of citrus fruit with onions until it forms a jam, it makes an incredible dish to go with any fish

S

[swissmiss]

Simon this sounds wonderful. Stupid question, but should any sugar be added?

[Simon Majumdar]

Simon this sounds wonderful. Stupid question, but should any sugar be added?

No sugar needed. The onions release a lot of sweetness as they cook

It is very very simple

Sweat two finely sliced red onions with one chopped green chilli and the zest of two ( in this case) oranges in a little oil and butter

Do this over a low heat for at least an hour ( more if needed )

The end consistency is jam like and has a wonderful sour sweet quality that works with all fish I have found ( oily fish is especcially good, try it with grilled sardines )

it also works as a side with roast duck

S

[hollywood]

I had a great aunt who made and sold Orange Walnuts, a sort of candy thing using I think blanched walnuts, sugar and flavor from orange peels. I used to gobble handfuls of the things.

[TatarsHat]

Bux - That was a very good point you brought up regarding pesticides. Living in Florida, I know for a fact that the groves are sprayed for various maladies. My previous home had 6 large fruit trees and one year I had to spray them with Malathion due to leaf minor. The 2 trees I have now are healthy thank goodness.

Hollywood - That recipe for the sugared Walnuts sounds great! I had some fabulous walnuts in the UK but would really like to try them with the addition of orange peel. After that I would try dipping then in a thin coating of Lindt chocolate.

[micha]

Unless authentically Organic, I think it's wise to assume that every fruit and vegetable has been exposed to some type of pesticide (and 'organics' may have been contaminated by any number of human-transmitted pathogens. Singling out citrus peel as risky doesn't make sense to me.

I wash, in mild detergent, and thoroughly rinse just about every fruit and vegetable that we use -- even those with peels that are discarded and not eaten. I understand that the pesticides used on tropical fruits such as bananas are so potent that transfer from hand to fruit is inadvisable.

If we were to avoid eating skins that have been exposed to pesticides then we would not be eating sugar snap peas, snow peas, strawberries, asparagus, tomatoes, baked potatoes, etc, etc, etc.

IMHO, it's wise to be cautious but not paranoid.

[swissmiss]

The December issue of Gourmet offers a recipe for candied citrus peel. I anxiously flipped the pages, but the actual recipe takes about two days to complete and seems unnecessarily complicated. Would anyone with more experience care to comment on it?

[mjc]

Does anyone know if you can make candied orange peel dry faster? Maybe put them in the oven?

thanks.

[Chewie]

I've had good sucess drying orange peels in the microwave at LOW power. I don't know if candied would work though, as the sugar would likely melt...good luck

[jhlurie]

How about one of those food dryer machines--you know the kind a lot of people use to accelerate fruit drying. Damnit, I don't remember brand names or anything. There are these big circular pans you sit stuff in, you plug the sucker in, and come back a day or two later when its leached all of the moisture from everything.

[awbrig]

As far as dried fruits go Charlie Trotter dries them in the oven at a very low heat for a few hours. Not sure about the peels but will check it out. Check out his Nancy Silverton recipe in his first book, if you dont have it PM me...

[WHT]

Does anyone know if you can make candied orange peel dry faster?  Maybe put them in the oven?

thanks.

I have never had that problem. Maybe there is something off in your recipe? Or something off in the environment? If you have to force them to dry try an oven set to 200F.

[mjc]

thanks everyone. It was pretty humid in my place, so that was a problem. I tried putting one batch in the oven at 200 and left the other out by a cool fan. The one in the oven did dry a little faster.

[Rachel Perlow]

How about one of those food dryer machines--you know the kind a lot of people use to accelerate fruit drying.  Damnit, I don't remember brand names or anything.  There are these big circular pans you sit stuff in, you plug the sucker in, and come back a day or two later when its leached all of the moisture from everything.

You mean a dehydrator?

[WHT]

thanks everyone.  It was pretty humid in my place, so that was a problem.  I tried putting one batch in the oven at 200 and left the other out by a cool fan.  The one in the oven did dry a little faster.

You might want to increse the amount of sugar slightly to compensate.

[eatrustic]

I use a lot of candied orange peel (homemade) in my baking throughout the year and was wondering if my technique can be improved upon to intensify the flavor. This technique differs slightly from peel that would be eaten as a confection.

I generally use thick skinned oranges (organic when possible) that I juice, scrape the pulp and membrane out of, cut in 1/4's and blanch the usual 7 times (changing the water). I go by the tenderness of the peel to decide if I have blanched enough as well as tasting to see how bitter it is. Correct?

My syrup is much lighter than that which is used for making garnishes or dipped in sugar. Generally I use 1 part water : 1/2 part sugar and poach for about 10 -12 minutes.

Ialso recycle the old orange syrup with the new if it is fairly recent.

Anything I can do to make this better????

Thanks

[Bernaise]

What do you mean by better? more orange-y? How about using real seville oranges in season?

[eatrustic]

Yes, a more intense orange flavor. Sevilles will be nice (perhaps more of a bitter note than is usually needed for a lot of baked goods though) but that only works for a few months and I can only stockpile so much.

Believe me the Sevilles, Blood Oranges and Meyer lemons will get a good work out now that marmalade season is just about here.

[chiantiglace]

you only need to blanch them three times.

and have you ever thought ove making and orange syrup by pureeing the orange peel, straining and boild down with a little simple syrup to hard ball stage. Then coat the orange peel with that. you could also get an orange extract. I use that some times.