fori, just go for it. The stuff hanging over your fence is fine, along with whatever lemons you can get or have.

For your first batch I'd probably go easy, and use the recipe that's inside the box of Sure Jell or whatever pectin you use. It's faster and easier than the long cooking types and marmalade is infamous for not setting, or for taking a couple of weeks to set.

It's not hard and it's not scary. You absolutely cannot poison anyone with marmalade, no chance of botulism, etc. As long as you don't eat any moldy marmalade there's virtually no chance of getting sick. Your worst problems would be marmalade that didn't thicken enough or lids that don't seal.

Really, it's easy. Happy Canning.

And yes, you can reduce a recipe, but if you're using commercial pectin you may have problems if you try to double it.

Annie

Thanks. I feel braver. And maybe a little silly. :)

Marmelade is easy and yummy. I have never had a "set" problem and I make the no pectin kind. And I am famous for "non setting" jams in general, (in other words if it can go wrong it will with me) and I have never had a problem with marmelade, so go for it. The only thing you might want to watch is the thickness of the pith (the white part just under the orange part of the peel) on your oranges. Navels sometimes have thick pith, and pith can make bitter marmelade. If the pith is really think, then you can just peel the orange with a knife to just get the orange parts of the peel and not a lot of pith. Of course then you have to peel off the pith which can be a drag. This is NOT necessary unless the oranges have thick pith. I usually don't do this but I seek out thin skinned oranges or marmelade. Navels can also be a bit on the bland side for marmelade but that is counteracted by using some lemon juice. Some of the best marmelade I ever made was with navels (my first batch, of course!) so their taste also varies, some being blander than others. I love homeade marmelade, it is easy peasy and so much better than store bought. They don't bother with pith issues in the jam factories, lol! The fact that you have oranges growing in your yard, (and I am sitting here in my office wearing a down jacket because it is so cold), well that is just icing on the cake for you! HAVE FUN!

I agree. The worst thing that can happen is you end up with marmalade that didn't set. Label it syrup and pour it over ice cream or pancakes. Try again.

Especially if you've got FREE ORANGES!!
I'm jealous.

Just remember.............we want pictures! LOL

Try it. You'll never go back. The pride alone will keep you canning. You'll want to leave it on the counter for days so you can look at it.

Deanna
(Hi, my name is Deanna and I'm a Can-o-holic!)

I made some Meyer lemon marmalade last weekend...my first straight citrus marmalade. The recipe I used called for tying the pith and seeds in a bag and boiling it with the lemons to extract the pectin, squeezing the bag and then adding sugar and boiling to gel point. It came out nice and thick. I wonder if your oranges and lemons would have a Meyer-ish flavor.....yum.

Okay--I'll try it. Not sure why I have this craving for marmalade!

Technically I don't have any fruit growing in my yard, unless you count my baby trees that haven't put out yet, but neighbor trees are just about as good!

I agree, while you have every thing out and ready to go, make a full recipe and share if you don't want it all.

Question for Katie or Deanna-I know the sugar to orange ratio it critical. Last year I used 1/2 orange juice and 1/2 water. Did that mess up my sugar ratio? I ask because I didn't know that fact until recently so looking back I don't know if that tweak was in the batch that failed or the batch that was a success.

My citrus trees never grew--gee DH aren't you suppose to plant them in the sun?? Anyway, last week I picked plenty from my DB's trees. Now to get busy with the marmalade.

Ignore the question to Katie and Deanna. Reading over my notes, I found that it was suggested on a marmalade website to substitute OJ for water. I guess that's where I got the idea.

Here's a groovy tutorial on making marmelade. The only things I would change is she boils the peel with 1/8 tsp. of baking soda which I have never done so I don't think that is necessary. Also she says you could MAYBE use Splenda but from what I have read, Splenda DOES NOT WORK with pectin jams, so follow the instructions on the Sure Jell box. I use the LOW SUGAR PECTIN. (Calling it "low sugar" is really a misnomer because both pectin and non-pectin marmelade is loaded with sugar, but that's what makes it marmelade. The difference in sugar is by degree, I would say the two types of commercial pectin are MORE SUGAR THAN FRUIT PECTIN, and LOTS OF SUGAR PECTIN, lol!) But like Annie says, just follow the directions that come with the pectin, they are very good.

Also the pith issue, don't be obsessive about it. Pith has pectin, so you want some. My instructions are just if you have some oranges with extremely high pith to fruit ratios. Some pith is good. You may want to leave out more pith if you make the added pectin kind of marmelade. I make the no-pectin marmelade most of the time. BTW, no pectin marmelade should not be confused with no-sugar pectin. No pectin marmelade has LOTS of sugar and relys on the natural pectin in oranges to set. The no sugar pectin is made for specialty canning without sugar for people on special diets. I don't know anything about no sugar jam making and I would not recommend it for a beginner unless you have some kind of health issue where you know that is the only kind of jam you are ever going to want to make. No sugar jams are a whole other solar system of techniques.

Lastly, because I know how heavily sprayed oranges are, unless I know how they were grown, I wash my oranges for marmelade in warm water with biodegradable soap and a scrub brush for produce.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to make orange marmelade

Ohh thanks. I feel a vitamin C fix coming on!

Every time I see this thread I get a guilt complex.

Clive just loves Marmalade. He likes the British style marmalade made with Seville oranges. Seville oranges are from Spain and are the ugliest things you've ever seen!

They are strictly for marmalade not eating out of hand. They are also only available late January , early February.

Guess I better get off my duff and make some. With any kinda luck I won't be able to find the oranges! LOL

Good luck with your marmalade making and be sure to let us know how it went!

I have probably made literally tonnes of marmalade over the last 20 years, I had a jam stall in a flea market and also was the top pick for jam making when someone wanted to do a fundraiser. My method:
Weigh fruit. Slice thinly and place in a non-reactive bowl with its weight in water. So, if you have one pound of fruit, add one pound (pint) of water. Save any seeds and place in a piece of thin cloth tied into a bag with trussing string. Add this to the mixture and leave it all to steep overnight. Put a saucer into the freezer (all will become clear :-) ).
Next day, place in a _deep_ pot and bring to the boil. Simmer until the fruit is soft. Remove the seed bag and discard. Add double the weight of the fruit in sugar. So, if you had one pound of fruit, add two pounds of sugar. Stir until dissolved. You may find seeds you hadn't noticed before will pop up to the surface, where you can remove them with a spoon.
Boil hard until setting point is reached. It will foam up a LOT, so keep an eye on it. Adjust the heat so it bubbles just below the top edge of the pot. The slower you get it to setting point the darker the colour of the marmalade. Stir to prevent sticking but not constantly as this lowers the temperature. If any whitish "scum" forms, skim it off with a slotted spoon and discard.
When it is close to setting point, the way the bubbles looks changes. The bubbles get very small and fine, like the foam on good champagne. Pour a dribble onto your frozen saucer. Give it a little gentle prod with your finger. If the surface wrinkles when you push it, you are at setting point. Keep testing till you're there.
When it is at setting point, take off the heat and let it sit for about ten minutes, then stir to evenly distribute the peel. Ladle into hot, sterilised jars.
Now, being Australian, I don't process my marmalade, I just put the lids straight on while it's boiling hot. I should note I have never had a failure or mouldy jam, even after months/years. But, if you prefer, process your jam (ask others for a how-to on this bit).
Enjoy!

Alright. I'm ready. Oops. I need jars. Fed the kids some stolen oranges and they have really thick peels. Is that bad? The lemons are thin skinned and perfect though.

Luckily, these are chemical-free. Scrub off the bird poop and go. (Too organic--I'm gonna sneak over and fertilize those trees one of these days. Organic by neglect, the way I grow stuff!)

D@mn.... I found Seville oranges. Guess I'm making marmalade tomorrow.

Colleen I do it pretty much as you describe except I separate the peel from the fruit and after marinating overnight I include the fruit pulp in the cheesecloth bag with the pips. The peel I slice thinly and cook with the juice.

Colleen, thank you for sharing your vast experience with us. I will c&p your method and add to my growing marmalade notes.

Sharon, I will get some Sevilles at the farmers market this weekend. I like the Murcotts very much but I will try the Sevilles too.

Fori, Fed the kids some stolen oranges. I took DGS hiking (3 1/2 years old at the time) and we came across an orange grove. I told him to pick an orange for mommy, daddy, and sister. He said "no can't pick somebodies oranges". I said, "Mr. Smith said we could pick some oranges". He thought a minute and asked "where Mr. Smith's house?" The kid didn't believe me!

Awww good kid.

They aren't really stolen. They are technically in our yard and the neighbors know we eat them. They're probably 12 feet from both our houses. They taste better if you think of them as stolen though!

Hmmm by the time I get jars we'll have eaten everything I can reach. I suppose that's healthier. =)

My favorite recipe actually came from Readinglady and if you don't want to take the "quick and easy" way of commercial pectin, this is the recipe I always use, but you have to be aware of the timing, it takes two days:

Orange Marmalade
(Readinglady)

2 cups thinly sliced orange rind
1 quart chopped orange pulp
1 cup thinly sliced lemons
1 1/2 quarts water
5 cups sugar

1. Add water to fruit and simmer 5 minutes.
2. Cover and let stand 12-18 hours in a cool place.
3. Cook rapidly until peel is tender, about 1 hour.
4. Measure fruit and liquid.
5. Alternate sugar with each cup of fruit mixture.
6. Bring slowly to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.
7. Cook rapidly, about 25 minutes.
8. When mixture begins to thicken, stir occasionally to prevent sticking.
9. Pour hot into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space.

10. Adjust caps.
11. Process 10 minutes in boiling water bath.
12. Yield: about 7 half pints.

Since you have to leave the fruit sit 12-18 hours, be sure to time this so it'll be ready to start cooking when you are. I started mine on Saturday night and made marmalade on Sunday afternoon after I came home from the farm.
Good luck, it's worth it, trust me. This is yummy stuff.

Annie

If it were me and the pith part was really thick I would peel the oranges with a knife and only use the orange part of the peel with about half the pith left on it. You could save the rest of the pith and put it in the cheesecloth with the seeds. I dunno, maybe I'm just lucky but I don't have problems with my marmelade not setting. But it definately could be luck. I did end up with a batch of bitter marmelade once, and that was with bland navels with thick pith, so that's why I am a bit paranoid.

Darn, now I may have to make some marmelade. I am out of jam. Depends on what oranges I can get at the market for how much dough.
I love that vanilla bean marmelade! That calls for meijer lemons but I used regular oranges jazzed up with extra lemon juice.

Annie, I have used the recipe that you posted with success. It is the first recipe that I have in my file>thank you>

Fori, I agree yours weren't stolen! All my neighbors' citrus is generously shared. I wouldn't think twice about picking what was in arms length of my property.

Thanks to your little nudge fori, Clive now has Marmalade. He loves it so much it's worth the effort.

B-E-A-U-tiful Sharon. Now to get my butt in gear because I'm craving English muffins with marmalade.

Sharon, that is absolutely beautiful marmalade. I'm with Clive, I love the stuff, I need to make some more.

Annie

I made some in the microwave the other day and it tastes good but the skins were tough, an a bit bitter. What should I do about that? Must you used lemons when making marmalade?

Individual tastes may vary. Lemons add a tartness quotient, some people like more of this than others. Some oranges are more tart than others too, so it depends on the type of oranges you are using. Seville oranges are supposed to be the best for marmelade due to their tartness, but I can't get them. Anyway, that's the reason behind the addition of lemons. Marmelade can be made with any citrus peel. I like clementine marmelade, and I've used blood oranges, and grapefruit. But after trying all that, I find I like the tried and true orange stuff the best. As far as tough and bitter skins, that again is a taste kind of thing. Some people LIKE marmelade with a lot of chunky, chewy peel in it, others do not. I like mine chunky and chewy. But if your batches are too bitter for your taste, try just using the colored part of the peel and peeling away the pithy parts. But realize that the pith had the pectin, so you might want to make the added pectin kind of marmelade if you do that.

Here's the Orange Marmelade with Pectin recipe from the Ball Blue Book of Canning

3 cups thinly sliced orange peel (about 4 large)
1/2 cup thinly sliced lemon peel (about 1 med.)
1/2 cup seeded and chopped lemon pulp (about 2 med.)
3 1/2 cups seeded and chopped orange pulp. (about 4 med.)
2 1/2 cups water
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1 package powdered pectin
6 cups sugar
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Combine citrus peel, water and baking soda in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 20 min. Add chopped fruit to the peels and return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 10 min.
Note: I have never made this recipe, so maybe it's the baking soda that counteracts the bitterness. I make the no pectin marmelade.

Measure 5 cups of the prepared fruit and pectin into a large saucepot. Bring to a rolling boil. Stir in sugar and nutmeg. (I would think the nutmeg could be optional. If you want to be even more gourmet, chop off about 1/4 of a vanilla bean and add the scraped insides to the marmelade. Cook the outside vanilla bean rind in with the jam too, but remove it before canning.). Return to a rolling boil and boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. REmove from heat. Skim foam and stir after 5 min. to distribute peel. Pour into hot hars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Process 10 minutes in Boiling Water Bath. Adjust caps.

Yield about 6 half pints.

Lemon is not a must but I like the sparkle it adds.

I can't imagine the skin can soften enough in the microwave. it needs along simmer in my opinion. I also find it can be too bitter if you leave too much pith on the peel ....trying saying that 10 times real fast!

The microwave method may work better if you simmer the peels in some orange juice before proceeding. Maybe an hour or so.

Lori, Sharon, what are your thoughts on using orange juice for all or half of the water?

Oh pretty...

I made a really small batch because (duh) I was almost out of sugar. I was using a recipe without pectin and ummm well...let's just say I'm trying out THESE recipes next time. I went by temperature and maybe my candy thermometer is dead, but while it tastes OK (if you like peel aLOT), it is thick. I mean like unspreadable thick. Those pithy oranges must be solid pectin!

Good stuff. And now I am ready to do a full batch, following instructions properly!

Thanks y'all!

Cathy, I all the juice from the oranges and top up with the water I need.

For this batch I used 3 pounds of Seville Oranges (6 oranges) plus 1 large lemon.

All of the juice from said oranges and lemon and enough water to make 3 Q of liquid.

This is the basic recipe and process I use,

Here is a link that might be useful: How to make Seville Orange Marmalade

Thanks, that's what I do too. I collected the seeds, put in a tea ball, and cooked with the pulp for added pectin.

I have found when I use my candy thermometer and wait until the jam gets to the right temp. for setting, my jam almost always comes out overcooked/too thick. That's why I now use the cold plate test to find the setting point. (Like Colleen describes above). It seems a little less precise, but actually I find it more precise since I no longer trust my candy thermometer, but can SEE when the jam is setting up with the cold plate test. You can always thin too thick jam with a little water but it doesn't keep as long in the fridge after that. (Ask me how I know, lol! My last batch of plum jam was practically ready for gummi bears.)

Sharon you are so lucky to get Seville oranges! As far as using orange juice, I'm not sure. These recipes are formulated for a certain level of sugar and acid and adding more orange juice might change the balance, but I don't know how much really, if it would be enough to change the outcome. Seems like orange juice might make a cloudy marmelade, but I don't know. I've never tried it.

Hehehehe gummi bears. That's it! I melted it and threw it in some zucchini bread. I mean orange-zucchini bread. (It needed it since I was still out of sugar!)

I agree, I've made a few batches of "taffy" using the candy/jelly thermometer. Now I use the thermometer to know when I'm getting close, and I test using the frozen plate.

I also learned to turn the heat off when I was testing a batch, it can overcook while the drop on the plate is cooling in the freezer!

Annie

Great tips for avoiding gummy bear marmalade, I came close to it last batch.
BTW, I used a lot of OJ for the water and maybe it wasn't as clear as it could have been. Certainly nothing like the clarity in Sharon's batch. Tasted great though, I found myself eating it out of the jar way too often.

These are good tips, because if you are like me, the first time I made "too runny" jam (strawberry, which is NOT a good jam for a beginner), the next time I made that jam I OVER compensated and got strawberry taffy. Having mixed results over the next couple of years I decided to be more precise and start using the jelly thermometer. Well, that didn't work either, actually was worse. Now, after a lot of trial and error, I do what Annie does, use the thermometer for knowing when I get close, and use the frozen plate test for the final decision on when the jam is ready. If you are going to use this method you probably should have two small plates going in the freezer. And yes, like Annie said, turn the heat off while you're testing because jam goes from just right to burned in a matter of seconds when it is close to being ready. Same goes for any cooked sugar product. The cold plate test involved observing the jam as you are stirring it and watching for the point when the jam "sheets" which means it drips off the spoon in big globby "sheets" instead of small drips. Then, when you think the jam is ready, you put a tsp. of jam on a plate that has been sitting in the freezer for a good long while so it is cold. Then you put the jam drop back in the freezer for a minute. (This is why you have to turn off the jam cooking on the stove). Then take out the jam and look for the signs of being done. These are: it stays in a mound and a little syrupy pool doesn't form around the jam, and when you draw your finger through the mound it stays in two separate secions, like Moses parting the Red Sea, instead of quickly bleeding back together. Now it won't be perfectly as I describe, but this is the general appearance. Also if you tip the plate slightly the jam won't quickly drip down. But you don't want something that is like jello, it always will drip a little bit and run a little bit. Basically what you are looking for are signs that it is jam and not sauce.

Bear in mind, these are tips for NO PECTIN jams, meaning jams that are not made by adding liquid or powdered pectin. (The jams are not devoid of pectin since that occurs naturally in fruit, they just do not have additional store bought pectin added to them). If you are making a jam using liquid or powdered pectin, use the directions that come with the pectin, they are very comprehensive.