The Preserver's Year

lbt_2

Hi nodwah

Yes, I am home I have just made a batch of sweet chilli jam - yummy.

Don't worry about taking the pith off the peel - it dissolves into the marmalade during the cooking and boiling.

Also, don't worry about the amount of juice - I didn't get a huge amount either but the weight of oranges was right before I started juicing

Hope this helps

Valli

Wah hey - marmalade made (batch 1) and tastes lovely (setting saucer/pan scraping) so many thanks lbt - also have nice distribution of peel - was somewhat cynical about the pith but none evident and it's a lovely amber colour.

Rhubarb and Ginger Jam
(Vera's Recipe - think I have posted this before - probably on a jam thread actually)

2 and a half pounds of rhubarb (prepared weight)
2 and a half pounds of granulated sugar
2 - 3 heaped teaspoons ground ginger
Juice of 1 lemon

wash and slice rhubarb, put on pan with ginger and lemon juice. Bring slowly to boil. Cook until tender (I cook until all lumps have gone - takes a good while - on a very low heat until there is sufficient 'liquid' )
Add sugar, dissolve/stir. Bring to boil and boil briskly for 10 minutes.
Test and pot when ready.

If you peel your rhubarb you get a green jam, I leave the skin on for a pink jam.

You can adjust ginger to your taste.

Enjoy!

Vera was my neighbour in my previous home and my jam mentor - I used to borrow her pan but managed to find one, week before we moved here for £3 in Help The Aged.

By the way I am glad I have a jam funnel - really needed it for potting the marmalade .

(Out of interest I tasted the peel to see if it was tender - how bitter are those oranges:rotfl:)

nodwah

thank you lbt and valli

It's all steeping away now but I have only added about 3 l of water ( coz my big bowl isn't big enough for anymore and it's a BIG bowl!)

Have just realised that I'm really busy tomorrow and I'm not sure if I've got enuff time to do the boiling bit!! i'll be doing it at midnight!!

Yes Valli, I've got a burn on my hand which is nipping like anything and i licked my fingers and it's so sour - "jaw clappin" as we say here!

lbt_2

Hiya Valli, so glad it turned out well. I have only just started preserving (although I have done quite a bit in the last month or so) and have had loads of help from everyone on here so it's great to be able to give some back.

Yikes :eek: I tried the peel too and it nearly made my eyes water. I have two seville oranges left over and I am not sure what to do with them? :huh: They are so sour that I might try using them in drinks in place of lemons, unless anyone has any other suggestions?

Hiya nodwah (I think I know you from the greenfingered board?) In the end I bought a preserving pan from Lakeland. I was using the base from my steamer pan and I could just about manage but it was a bit dodgy when the marmalade came to a rolling boil. I tried freecycle and the charity shops first of course, but no luck. I love this pan though. I made sweet chilli jam today and although it didn't even half fill the pan I could tell that the heat distribution was better, and being the larger size I will be able to double up on some recipes.



So after making a few batches of marmalade including whisky marmalade, my next recipe to try is this one: http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/chunky-marmalade-bread-and-butter-pudding,1038,RC.html. Lots of cream so I think I'll wait until someone comes round for dinner otherwise I'll be the size of a barrel :eek:

Valli

I could tell it had a lot of pectin in - when I squeezed out the pips in the muslin that was setting pre-sugar! Have calculated it has cost about 10p a jar...
I will try batch 2 tomorrow - thanks for the help.

Out of interest I have NEVER used preserving or jam sugar - have always used apples for pectin (Bramble Jelly) and have never had a failed - or a mouldy - jam yet though I have had some 'soft' sets.***touches wood copiously***
I have kept jam for up to 2 years too...I used to make plum jam - counted the plums in and the stones out :rotfl: but my mum's plum tree died.


What I would REALLY like is a larder or a cellar shelf to line all my lovely jars up on.

I didn't get much juice out of my oranges - maybe half a pint? certainly no more...

I have that recipe (bread and butter pudding) as it's in the only Delia book I have (I didn't like her recipe for marmalade either (the one in that book) I did like the one lbt posted. The Dairy Book recipe called for the oranges to be boiled whole then roughly chopped...

lbt have you got a stainless tell pan? I covet them - mine's an old aluminium one - Swan.

I am a big Bread and Butter pudding fan - I would recommend anyone to try using a sweet tea loaf to make it...really yummy...

mathsus

I absolutely adore ginger marmalade - the bought stuff which seems to be mostly chunks of ginger. I can buy fresh ginger very cheaply & have tried to reproduce it but just cannot get the big chunks of ginger to soften. Even after pressure cooking they seem tough & fibrous. Has anyone got the knack? I'd love to be able to make stem ginger and crystallised ginger too.

Anyone help?

nodwah

lbt wrote: »

Yikes :eek: I tried the peel too and it nearly made my eyes water. I have two seville oranges left over and I am not sure what to do with them? :huh: They are so sour that I might try using them in drinks in place of lemons, unless anyone has any other suggestions?

Hiya nodwah (I think I know you from the greenfingered board?)


Hi there - yes I'm more on the greenfingered but I lurk here a lot :rotfl:

I kept 2 seville oranges back to try to make some curd - HM lemon curd is fabulous but bad for my gallstones and so will orange curd, but I'll do it anyway:o

Valli

TBH if I were going to have one or two ornges left over I would juice them and add the juice (and being me probably the pulp/skin too) - rather than waste it. Jam recipes can take a bit of flexibility and I see no reason why marmalade would be any different. Presumably you could freeze to use later...maybe in a mixed citrus marmalade (ie lemon/lime/grapefuit and orange mix) - I see no reason why this could not be done...but maybe someone else knows more - after all Rose's make a lime marmalade...
:rotfl: at those of us who couldn't resist trying the peel...mind you I am a new slow cooker owner...and you're not supposed to stir or lift the lid ... and can I manage to comply with that guidance?:rolleyes::o

ampersand

Valli wrote: »

By the way I am glad I have a jam funnel - really needed it for potting the marmalade .

quote]

####################
Was en route to finding the 'buttermaking from reduced priced cream' posts, spotted this and had simultaneous thought, very old-style ms.

I cut down a milk container for freezing something yesterday and thought the upper half would make a good funnel, with helpful handle......
It should work. I do a fair amount of jam/jelly/curd making and am usually wearing gloves to take hot jars from oven.

rosemarym_2

I have just made marmalade for the first time in years. 53 jars in 3 batches - orange, orange and lemon, orange and lime. I have a very easy recipe - you boil the oranges whole until they are tender. Drain them (keeping the boiling liquid) and allow to cool. Cut them in half, scoop out the flesh (pick out the pips as you go) and put back into the liquid. Stick the rinds in the food processor to slice them, put them in the liquid. Then dissolve the sugar into the liquid and pulp, boil up and away you go. Some of the rind comes out of the food processor too big, so just snip that with the scissors.

The pulp and the pith just seem to disappear. It is not as sparkly clear as a jelly, but it is quite clear and a lovely colour, with loads of flavour. The rinds seems to shrink and get smaller and finer when you cook it.

I agree that the jam funnel is an absolute boon to the busy marmalade-maker!