Marmalade

Marmalade.

I have said enough.

What other preserve or condiment ages and becomes a more sophisticated taste over time?

In 2010 I had approximately 13 pounds of bitter oranges (Seville Oranges). I parboiled them 3 times. I reserved the water from the first boiling. (about 1 gallon) When I was done with the par-boiling, pulping and shredding, I had this:

Total pulp 96 fl. ounces - which yielded only: xxxx fluid ounces of orange juice.
Rind in shreds: 74 ounces.

To each pound of fruit (and juice) add a pound of sugar. Add enough of the reserved boiling liquid to make thin to your taste.

Cook to the soft ball stage 235° F–240° F.

Put the marmalade in preserving jars and can another 30 minutes on a low simmer. Cool and store in a dry place.

To ease the technique of the foregoing, I present some recipes from William Kitchiner and Mrs. Beeton's cookery books.

Mrs. Beeton's Household

ORANGE MARMALADE.
Ingredients.—Equal weight of Seville oranges and sugar ; to every Ib. of sugar allow if pint of water. Mode.—Weigh the sugar and oranges, score the skin across, and take it off in quarters. Boil these quarters in a muslin bag in water until they are quite soft, and they can be pierced easily with the head of a pin; then cut them into chips about 1 inch long, and as thin as possible. Should there- be a great deal of white stringy pulp, remove it before cutting the rind into chips. Split open the oranges,
scrape out the best part of the pulp, with the juice, rejecting the white pith and pips. Make a syrup with the sugar and water; boil it until clear; then put in the chips, pulp, and juice, and boil the marmalade from 20 minutes to ^ hour, removing all the scum as it rises. In boiling the syrup, clear it carefully from scum before the oranges are added to it. Time.—2 hours to boil the rinds, 10 minutes the syrup, 20 minutes to J hour the marmalade. Average cost, Gd. to Sd. per Ib. pot. Seasonable.—Make this in March or April, when Seville oranges are in perfection.

ORANGE MARMALADE, an easy way of Making.
Ingredients.—To every 1 Lb. of pulp allow 1 1/2 Lb. of loaf sugar. Mode.— Choose some fine Seville oranges ; put them whole into a stewpan with sufficient water to cover them, and stew them until they become perfectly tender, changing the water 2 or 3 times; drain them, take off the rind, remove the pips from the pulp, weigh it, and to every 1 Lb. allow 1 1/2 Lb. of loaf sugar and 1/2 pint of the water the oranges were last boiled in. Boil the sugar and water together for 10 minutes ; put in the pulp, boil for another 10 minutes ; then add the peel cut into strips, and boil the marmalade for another 10 minutes, which completes the process. Pour it into jars; let it cool; then cover down with bladders, or tissue-paper brushed over on both sides with the white of an egg. Time.—2 hours to boil the oranges; altogether ^ hour to boil the marmalade. Average cost, from 6d. to 8d. per Ib. pot. Seasonable.— Make this in March or April.

ORANGE MARMALADE, made with Honey.
Ingredients.—To 1 quart of the juice and pulp of Seville oranges allow 1 Ib. of the rind, 2 Ibs. of honey. Mode.—Peel the oranges, and boil the rind in water until tender, and cut it into strips. Take away the pips from the juice and pulp, and put it with the honey and chips into a preserving-pan ; boil all together for about 1/2 hour, or until the marmalade is of the proper consistency; put it into pots, and, when cold, cover down with bladders. Time.—2 hours to boil the rind, 1/2 hour the marmalade.

Orange Marmalade, Pounded
Average cost, from Id. to 9rf. per Ib. pot. Seasonable. — Make this in March or April.

---------------

Cook's oracle: containing receipts for plain cookery, on the most economical ... By William Kitchiner (1843 edition)

TO MAKE ORANGE MARMALADE.
641. Choose the largest Seville Oranges, as they usually contain the greatest quantity of juice, and choose them with clear skins, as the skins form the largest part of the Marmalade. Weigh the Oranges, and weigh also an equal quantity of loaf Sugar. Skin the Oranges, dividing the skins into quarters, and put them into a preserving-pan ; cover them well with water, and set them on the fire to boil: in the meantime prepare your Oranges; divide them into Gores, then scrape with a tea-spoon all the pulp from the white skin; or, instead of skinning the Oranges, cut a hole in the Orange and scoop out the pulp; remove carefully all the pips, of which there are innumerable small ones in the Seville Orange, which will escape observation unless they are very minutely examined.

Have a large basin near you with some cold water in it, to throw the pips and skins into—a pint is sufficient for a dozen Oranges. A great deal of glutinous matter adheres to them, which, when strained through a sieve, should be boiled with the other parts.
When the skins have boiled till they are sufficiently tender to admit of a fork being stuck into them, strain them; some of which may be boiled with the other parts; scrape clean all the pith, or inside, from them; lay them in folds, and cut them into thin slices of about an inch long. Clarify your Sugar; then throw your skins and pulp into it, stir it well, and let it boil about half an hour. If the Sugar is broken into small pieces, and boiled with the fruit, it will answer the purpose of clarifying, but it must be well skimmed when it boils.

Marmalade should be made at the end of March or the beginning of April, as Seville Oranges are then in their best state.

ORANGE MARMALADE, ANOTHER WAY.

641.* To each pound of Seville Oranges allow two pounds of Sugar, grate the oranges lightly, and slice them down with a very sharp knife as thin as possible, and straight through,—nothing must be kept out but the seeds,—clarify the sugar, put the fruit in, and boil it slowly, for at least an hour, until the chips are perfectly tender and clear, and it will jelly—a little of the grate may be put in if approved, the rest is nice for seasoning puddings.

ORANGE MARMALADE, ANOTHER RECEIPT.

642. Take equal weight of Orange and Sugar, grate the oranges lightly score them across, and take off the skins in quarters, boil the skins in a linen bag until you can pierce them easily with the head of a pin—slit open the inside of the orange, and scrape out the fine part of the pulp, along with the juice, keeping back the tough white skin and seeds. When the skins are tender, scrape out the strings, and cut them as thin as possible into chips about an inch long—clarify the sugar, and put in the chips, pulp, and juice, and boil quickly twenty minutes.