Late in January or during February the best marmalade oranges which are SEVILLE ORANGES, are available for a few short weeks in the stores here in Canada. These oranges are as bitter as a lemon so if you substitute the results will suffer. During that time, I make as many as 80 jars of the best bitter Scottish style marmalade for my own use and as gifts. It is a real passion for me.

This why I'm the Marmalade_Man.

If you like Robertson's Seville Orange Marmalade, you will like this recipe, as the results are better, in my opinion. If you like North American marmalade like Sheriff's Marmalade, don't bother making it, buy it in the store.

If you have never made cooked jams before, try making jams before you try marmalade. Making the BEST marmalade is a lot more time consuming than making jam.

• 5-6 Seville Oranges
• 1 Lemon
• 1 1/2 cups water (or as needed)
• 1/4 tsp. Baking Soda (optional as I find it sometimes causes froth)
• 2:1 Ratio Sugar to Cooked Down Peal and Juice Mixture
• 1 1/2 (47g) Boxes of fruit pectin crystals (about the size of a box of Jell-O)
• 6 - 10 236ml (1 cup) flat wide mouth canning jars

METHOD:

You can make marmalade all in one go, but it will take about 3 hours or more. I make it on Friday evening and Saturday morning to make it less tedious.

After supper I cut each fruit in half. I extract the juice using a hand juicer. What you want is about 3 cups of juice and pulp. Carefully remove and discard seeds and membranes but retain the pulp and juice. If you have more than three cups of juice/pulp cut down on the water used elsewhere in this recipe and substitute the extra juice for the water. Put the mixture in a plastic container and refrigerate over night.

Scrape as much of the membrane from inside the peal with a spoon. Cut peal into wedges (about 6 per 1/2 orange). Try to remove all but 1/16 to a 1/8 of an inch of the inside white with a spoon or knife.

Use a sharp knife, vegetable cleaver or scissors to cut the peal into FINE shreds about 1/16 inch wide by 3/4-inch long slivers. FINE is important! This is tedious. I do it with scissors while watching television. Just sit down with two bowls, one of the peal wedges and one of the shredded peal and go for it. What you want is about 3 cups of shredded peal. If you have more of less don't worry about it. We will fix that later. Refrigerate peel in a covered plastic bowl.

The next morning, combine baking soda, shredded peal and water in a large heavy-bottomed pot (at least 12" across by about 7" deep). Cover and boil for about 10 minutes. Add extra water if necessary so it does not boil dry.

Add juice/pulp mixture; bring to a boil; cover and cook for at least 20 minutes. What you want to do is cook the peal until it is tender. Stir it frequently and add just enough water so it does not burn and yields a thick slurry when done. Adjust extra time until the peal is tender.

Measure the volume of the mixture. You should have between 3 and 5 cups of this slurry. If you have more, perhaps you have too much water, so try to reduce it in volume a bit by cooking it longer and stirring constantly. Add two cups of white sugar for each cup of the boiled down peal/juice mixture; stir; bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes. What you want is to stir almost constantly and keep the heat so it will boil gently but not froth or overflow.

Remove from heat, add pectin crystals. Return to heat for 5 minutes, skim and stir but reduce heat so it does not froth. Test for thickness using the cold plate method. If not thick enough, return a gentle boil until desired consistency is achieved. Discard any froth. Pour final result into hot sterilized wide-mouthed flat 1 cup (~236ml) snap cap canning jars. Seal immediately and process in a hot water bath according the instructions in your canning book. Allow to cool and set for at least 24 hours.

HINTS:

• If you don't know if you will like this type of marmalade, buy some Imported Scottish marmalade first.
• You may have to cook the peal for up to an hour to get it tender enough. Taste it for tenderness, not "taste" as it will be very sour. The sugar will fix that.
• If it doesn't set, it will still taste good.
• If it is too runny, make another batch and add the old batch when you have bottled about half of the new batch. Boil the mixture down and rebottle in clean sterilized canning jars.
• I suggest the flat jars to stop the peal from floating to the top.
• If you think this is too much work, cut up the oranges and put them through the food processor. Your yield will be larger. It will not look quite as nice, be as clear or taste as good. It will still be better than store bought.
• If you can't get Seville oranges, try any orange or citrus fruit.
• If you scald a batch SLIGHTLY, it still may be good - taste it. I made an excellent dark caramelized marmalade once by accident.
• Some recipes call for retaining the pith and seeds to extract the natural pectin. I would rather have consistency and use No-Name pectin crystals purchased on sale. I find the liquid pectin too expensive.
• Once you have made several batches, you may be able to make it without a recipe as I do. Cook peal until tender, add juice and pith, add sugar, melting it, add pectin and bottle. Boiling after adding the pectin may not be required. Read the instructions on the box.