Ingredients / Shopping List
1 kg Seville oranges (12)2kg Preserving sugarJuice 2 lemons2.5 litres cold water
Prep to Cook: Jam pan or very large pan (5 litre), square of muslin, basin, metal spoon, string, lemon squeezer, chopping board, sharp knife, measuring jug, tablespoon, long handled spoon, sugar thermometer or temperature probe, teaspoon, saucers, 6 – 7 clean jam jars, baking tray
Prep: Make this marmalade in 5 steps
Seville Oranges are only available in our shops in late January early February. They can be frozen whole for use at a later date. Thaw fully before using. Seville oranges are tangy and bitter and make excellent marmalade.
Cooks Know How: Marmalade making is similar to jam making. Basically the fruit peel is cooked and the residual juices, flesh and pips of Seville oranges are combined with sugar and boiled until the mixture sets. What happens to create the set? Three things have to be just right to get a good set. Firstly the fruit, use Seville oranges and add lemon juice to keep the acidity correct. Secondly have the right amount of sugar and right type of sugar. Jam sugar) has a little ‘pectin’ added to it to help the end product set. Preserving sugar is a large white crystal sugar that allows the colour of the fruits to show through in the final set. Finally cook the mixture long enough. The early stage is to cook the peel (no sugar at this stage) once soft peel has been achieved add the large quantity of sugar and dissolve it. Boiling is the end stage where the aim is to reduce the amount of water in the solution and make the sugar percentage about 65%. The correct sugar percentage with the correct acidity and the right amount of pectin will make the marmalade set. That irksome muslin bag is also vital. It contains all the left over flesh segments and pips and some pith. These help to improve the pectin content of the marmalade and help the marmalade ‘set’ so don’t miss it out. If you are worried about setting, use Ikg jam sugar which has pectin (it will state this on the lable) and also use 1kg preserving sugar. That way you'll have no problems in getting a set marmalade with a lovely colour.