Marmalade

I made my first batch of marmalade the other day. I've been going to try making it for years, but kept putting it off. My Mom loved it as does my hubby Steve, but I always found it kind of bitter. This marmalade I made tastes great! There isn't that bitter taste that I associate with bought marmalade. Steve absolutely loves it; I just wish I would have made it for my Mom before she passed away. She would have loved this!

I googled a bunch of recipes and finally decided on the one from CanadianLiving.com It is called a "Classic Seville Orange Marmalade", but since I don't know what "Seville Oranges" are; I used what I had which was 2 lbs. of Navel oranges.

Here is Canadian Livings' Recipe
(Printable Recipe)


2 lb Seville Oranges
1 lemon
7 cups sugar

Scrub the oranges and lemon; cut off both ends and any blemishes. Cut in half crosswise and squeeze out juices, reserving pulp and seeds, and strain into Dutch oven.
Pull membranes from peels and place with reserved pulp and seeds onto a 15 inch square doubled piece of cheesecloth, bring up sides, tie with kitchen twine and add to pan.

Half orange and lemon peels and cut crosswise into paper-thin strips. Add to pan.

Add 8 cups of water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and simmer, stirring often and pressing bag to release pectin, until peel turns to mush when pressed between fingers, 2-2 1/2 hours.
Remove bag and let cool; squeeze juice into pan.  Mixture should measure 7 cups. If not, add water or boil until reduced.

In clean Dutch oven, bring sugar and fruit mixture to full rolling boil, stirring. Boil vigorously, stirring constantly until free of foam, thickened and at gel stage, 12-15 minutes. (Now this took me about 45 minutes)
Using sterilized jars, lids and utensils, fill 1 cup jars leaving 1/2 inch head space. Cover with prepared lids and screw on bands.
Place in boiling water canner for 10 minutes.