Fresh From Florida Citrus Marmalade
Florida Citrus Marmalade is a beautiful glowing orange color and has them flavors of fresh from Florida citrus. Winter is the time of year when most of the citrus grown in Florida is in season. Take advantage of those juicy fruits to make a batch of marmalade.
Florida Citrus Marmalade
Back in September when I wrote about our move to this house I mentioned that I would be sharing more recipes in the Fresh From Florida series.
Renting a house with a mature backyard orchard is a dream come true. Unfortunately the citrus trees do not get enough sunlight and I suspect that they have not been fertilized properly in the past few years.
Some of the fruit is not pretty to look at but they taste great and that is all that matters.
Fresh Florida Citrus
This was my first time making homemade marmalade and also making a jelly without using pectin. I am happy I attempted it because it turned into a beautifully golden amber yumminess! One thing I will say though is that I am much more appreciative of marmalade. It took me a good long time to scrape the white pith from the citrus peels.
How to avoid bitter marmalade
When I reached the point at where I was about to say the heck with it and throw the peel in the pot, pith and all I thought about the flavor of marmalade. Some marmalade is very bitter flavor. That bitterness is what turns some people off of marmalade all together. The pith is what makes marmalade bitter.
I didn’t want to end up with a batch of bitter tasting marmalade that left a nasty aftertaste in my mouth and end up with something I wouldn’t eat. After all the fruit may have been free but sugar is expensive these days.
I made some slight changes to the recipe knowing that I could make some changes without affecting the safety of the marmalade. If you’re new to canning please get a few recipes under your belt before you make any changes to a tested recipe. Also read everything you can get your hands on about food canning safety.
One of the things I did not change was the ratio of fruit to sugar, which is 1:1 in a traditional batch of marmalade. I did cut back on the amount of citrus peel the original recipe called for. The thing I like about marmalade is the addition of the fruit peel but I do not like chewing a mouthful of peel in every bite.
The original recipe called for 3 cups of citrus peel. I decreased it to 1 ¾ cup. If you like more peel you can increase the amount up to 3 cups for this recipe. I am very happy with the way my first batch marmalade turned out. I’ve still got some oranges on the trees so I will probably be making a batch of orange marmalade. And possibly, if I am not sick of scraping the pith from the oranges peels I may also make a batch of pineapple and orange marmalade.
Florida Citrus Marmalade
Florida Citrus Marmalade Recipe
Ingredients
- ¾ cup thinly sliced grapefruit peel
- 1 cup thinly sliced orange peel
- 3 quarts water, divided
- 1 cup chopped grapefruit pulp and juice
- 2 cups chopped orange pulp and juice
- Equal amounts Sugar per cup of fruit
Directions
- Prep fruit
- Combine fruit peels and 1 ½ quarts of water. Boil 5 minutes and drain.
- Add fruit pulp, juice and the remaining 1 ½ quarts of water to the pot; boil 5 minutes.
- Cover and let stand 12 to 18 hours.
- After 12-18 hours measure the fruit and liquids.
- Add 1 cup of sugar for each cup of fruit mixture, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
- Bring to a boil on high heat stirring constantly, to avoid boiling over and scorching.
- Turn the heat down and continue to cook on a medium heat that sustains a rapid boil until the gel point is reached.
- Checking for gel point
- If you have a thermometer when the mixture reaches 220 degrees it has hit the gel point.
- If you don’t have a thermometer you can use the chilled saucer trick like I did when I discovered my rapid read thermometer died while
- I was making this recipe.
- Place a glass saucer in the freezer. After 20 minutes of rapid boiling drip about 1/4 teaspoon of marmalade on the chilled saucer. Return the saucer to the freezer. After 1-2 minutes take the saucer from the freezer and gently push at the edge of the marmalade with your finger tip. If the marmalade wrinkles up along the edge it has reached the gel stage. If it doesn’t place the saucer back in the freezer and continue to boil the marmalade, checking for the jell set every 10 minutes or so. Marmalade is normally a little runnier than I care for so
- I let my cook a bit longer and it firmed up very nicely.
- Remove from heat when gel has been reached and skim any foam that there might be off the top with the edge of a spoon.
- Ladle into prepared hot jars, leaving ¼ inch head space and wipe the rims clean with a damp paper towel.
- Place a flat lid on and put the ring on and gently tighten.
- Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.
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PinDescription
Take advantage of Fresh from Florida winter citrus crop and make this homemade Citrus Marmalade recipe.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup thinly sliced grapefruit peel
- 1 cup thinly sliced orange peel
- 3 quarts water, divided
- 1 cup chopped grapefruit pulp and juice
- 2 cups chopped orange pulp and juice
- Equal amounts Sugar per cup of fruit
Instructions
Prep fruit
- Combine fruit peels and 1 ½ quarts of water. Boil 5 minutes and drain.
- Add fruit pulp, juice and the remaining 1 ½ quarts of water to the pot; boil 5 minutes.
- Cover and let stand 12 to 18 hours.
- After 12-18 hours measure the fruit and liquids.
- Add 1 cup of sugar for each cup of fruit mixture, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
- Bring to a boil on high heat stirring constantly, to avoid boiling over and scorching.
- Turn the heat down and continue to cook on a medium heat that sustains a rapid boil until the gel point is reached.
Checking for gel point
- If you have a thermometer when the mixture reaches 220 degrees it has hit the gel point.
- If you don’t have a thermometer you can use the chilled saucer trick like I did when I discovered my rapid read thermometer died while I was making this recipe.
- Place a glass saucer in the freezer. After 20 minutes of rapid boiling drip about 1/4 teaspoon of marmalade on the chilled saucer. Return the saucer to the freezer. After 1-2 minutes take the saucer from the freezer and gently push at the edge of the marmalade with your finger tip. If the marmalade wrinkles up along the edge it has reached the gel stage. If it doesn’t place the saucer back in the freezer and continue to boil the marmalade, checking for the jell set every 10 minutes or so. Marmalade is normally a little runnier than I care for so I let my cook a bit longer and it firmed up very nicely.
- Remove from heat when gel has been reached and skim any foam that there might be off the top with the edge of a spoon.
- Ladle into prepared hot jars, leaving ¼ inch head space and wipe the rims clean with a damp paper towel.
- Place a flat lid on and put the ring on and gently tighten.
Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.
Notes
Please practice safe canning measures! This Citrus Marmalade Recipe is adapted from the Ball Blue Book
More canning recipes can be found on my canning recipe page.
Kat says
Sometimes I wish I had orange or lemons growing in my backyard. But then I think of how my apple trees have "gone downhill" over the years and I wish I had taken better care of them.
I will have to just buy my marmalade and be "envious" of your creations.
Lynn @ I'll Have What She's Having says
Those jars look perfect! I've been thinking about making marmalade this season, though sadly not from my own trees.
Rachel @ My Naturally Frugal Family says
I absolutely adore marmalade but have never made because I feared all of the work involved.
Thanks for the recipe and I am so very jealous of your citrus fruit trees I wish those would grow here in North Carolina.
Mama F says
I am so excited because we just closed on a house and it has 5 different types of fruit trees in the yard!! I can't wait to get in and start canning stuff next season!
Suzy says
Why not simply use a zester to get enough of the peel without the pith?
Arlene Mobley says
Suzy you could use a zester like this that will give you ribbons of orange zest. But you are going to have a lot of waste because you will not be able to get all of the orange zest. I would not use a microplaner like this because the very thin pieces of zest may cook away and marmalade should have pieces of thick orange zest in it. Otherwise you are just making orange jelly.