Life has given me a lot of lemons lately. I have made lemon chutney and
my mother's justly famous lemon curd (both recipes available with
commentary on my food blog, http://loveandcooking.blogspot.com). The
next thing I want to try is lemon marmalade.

I do have a tip on an excellent lemon-pineapple "marmajam" (from Jamie's
mom; it won a recipe contest), but was also thinking of trying my hand
at Meyer lemon marmalade (one of the overabundant trees is, indeed, a
Meyer).

I found this recipe:


<http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/102746>

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb Meyer lemons
4 cups water
4 cups sugar

on Epicurious, and it looks like a good one to start with, but I do have
some questions.

The directions say to let the lemons, the seeds (high pectin, so reserved
in a bag), and the water sit overnight. I have often heard of letting the
fruit and sugar macerate overnight; is the fruit-and-water standard
procedure for marmalade?

Also, would it be useful to whiz the sugar in the FP so that it is
"superfine"?

I live at sealevel, so am aware that gel point is 220 F where I am.

Do any of you have another recipe you prefer or care to comment on this
one?

Any other tips for the first-time marmalade maker?

Thanks,

Charlotte
--

Charlotte L. Blackmer wrote:
> Life has given me a lot of lemons lately. I have made lemon chutney and
> my mother's justly famous lemon curd (both recipes available with
> commentary on my food blog, http://loveandcooking.blogspot.com). The
> next thing I want to try is lemon marmalade.
>
> I do have a tip on an excellent lemon-pineapple "marmajam" (from Jamie's
> mom; it won a recipe contest), but was also thinking of trying my hand
> at Meyer lemon marmalade (one of the overabundant trees is, indeed, a
> Meyer).
>
> I found this recipe:
>
>
> <http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/102746>
>
> Ingredients:
>
> 1 1/2 lb Meyer lemons
> 4 cups water
> 4 cups sugar
>
> on Epicurious, and it looks like a good one to start with, but I do have
> some questions.
>
> The directions say to let the lemons, the seeds (high pectin, so reserved
> in a bag), and the water sit overnight. I have often heard of letting the
> fruit and sugar macerate overnight; is the fruit-and-water standard
> procedure for marmalade?
>
> Also, would it be useful to whiz the sugar in the FP so that it is
> "superfine"?
>
> I live at sealevel, so am aware that gel point is 220 F where I am.
>
> Do any of you have another recipe you prefer or care to comment on this
> one?
>
> Any other tips for the first-time marmalade maker?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Charlotte


That doesn't look like enough sugar. I made tangerine marmalade about a
week ago; it went something like this: (I think lemons have a lot more
pectin than tangerines.)

I simmered 2 pounds of "Honey" tangerines and 2 largish lemons in 6 cups
of water, covered, for a couple of hours, then let it cool enough to
handle. I cut the cooked fruit in half and scooped out the pulp and put
it back in the cooking water. I set the peels aside for later. I
simmered the pulp and seeds for about a half an hour, mashing
occasionally with a potato smasher. Then strained the juice out of the
pulp with a jelly bag, squeezing it as dry as possible. I sliced the
cooked tangerine peel in to slivers and added them to the strained juice
in a big but shallow stock pot. Brought it to a boil, added 8 cups of
sugar, and cooked and stirred until the sugar was dissolved. I tasted
it, and it wasn't tart enough so I added 1/2 cup of bottled lemon juice
("Honey" tangerines are not very sour at all.) The lemon juice helped a
lot, but I think it would have been better with just 1/4 cup, or maybe
1/3. I cooked it until 222 degrees on a candy thermometer, let it cool
to about 200 degrees, and ladled into 8 half-pint jars, and a little dab
left over. BWB for 10 minutes. All the peel floated to the top of the
jars during processing, so I shook them and turned them upside down
after they went "ping".


Next I'm gonna try making some marmalade with Persian limes, but I'm
just going to slice them very thin before simmering in water for a
couple of hours (I don't think they have seeds), then add the sugar. I
don't really have a recipe for the limes; I'm just gonna wing it. It
will probably be as bitter as seville oranges.

Bob

There's an article on Meyer Lemons in this month's Bon Appetit (Feb
2005). I can get damn near ANYTHING here at the asian markets or my
supermarket EXCEPT Meyer Lemons . . . and fresh figs.

Banana flowers anyone?
How about Thai Eggplant?
Kiwano?
Lynn from Fargo