"Topaz" wrote in message
...
On 5 feb, 18:42, Brian Mailman wrote:
Topaz wrote:
I have made my annual trip to Stonemanor, the British supermarket
near Brussels, to buy Seville oranges for Marmalade. This year I am
folllowing Alan J. Flavell's recipe (used to be on the University of
Glasgow site; where is it/Alan now?). This link is the recipe but not
the original copy:
http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/...html#marmalade

My question is: why, unlike jam, do you add so much water to the
orange juice/peel to make marmalade?

Alan's recipe uses 3 liters water for 1 kg of oranges. Delia Smith
uses 5 liters : 1.35 kg.

I got just over 300 mls juice from 800 grams of oranges; I plan to
add about 2.2 liters of water.

Doesn't this dilute the flavour? I would never do this with
raspberry jam !

One of the differences between the UK-style preserves and "North
American" is a preference in flavors. UK people seem to prefer a more
longer cooked-type flavo/ur (I've read "if we wanted it to taste like
fresh fruit, we'd eat fresh fruit), and non-Anglophile North Americans
like a brighter fresher flavor ("oh, ick, you've cooked the life out of
it.").

You're using UK recipes. Adding so much water and then cooking it down
will achieve the former condition.

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Thank you for your replies.
The long cooking time for marmalade is a) to soften the peel and b) to
extract the pectin from the pips, etc. This can take place at a low
simmer for 1 to 2 hours, lid on and with little evaporation.
Only at the end do you turn the heat up to do a "rolling" boil to
reach setting point (plus 100°C), and without a lid.
Since this is short, any evaporation is probably limited.

How do you reduce the cooking time in N. American recipes?
I have read recipes where the a) and b) above are done apart from, and
then added to, the main mixture for the final setting-boil.
What water ratios do N. American recipes use ?

Marmalde, that's a product with passion !
Topaz

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

I cheated and used liquid pectin to achieve a good set.

Peel from 3 oranges and 2 lemons was placed in a pot with 1.5 cups water and
simmered, covered, for 20 minutes. Then the juice and chopped fruit was
added and simmered, covered for another 20 minutes. Add the sugar, bring to
a boil for a minute, remove from heat, add pectin.

My marmalade has tender peel and a fresher taste, the way I like it. I've
never had much luck with the long cooked recipes, nor did I like the taste
anyway.

Kathi