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Amber Marmalade
1 grapefruit 1 orange 1 lemon 3 1/2 quarts water 5 pounds sugar Wash and wipe the fruit. Cut in paper-thin slices, using a very sharp knife. Add the water and let stand overnight. Cook until the peel is tender and let it stand overnight. Add the sugar and cook until the sirup thickens slightly on a cold dish. Pour into clean jars and seal.
A three-fruit marmalade of the classic English type, stretched over three days with two long soaks. Nothing here is difficult, but the slicing and the gel test decide whether it sets.
- Slice thickness is the whole jobPaper-thin slices are what let the peel soften and the pectin leach out during the soak. A mandoline set to about 1/16 inch, or a very sharp thin-bladed knife, is worth the effort; thick peel stays leathery no matter how long you cook it.
- Keep the seedsThe recipe does not mention them, but citrus pips and pith are both rich in pectin. They can be tied in a square of cheesecloth, soaked and cooked with the fruit, then lifted out and squeezed before the sugar goes in.
- Why two overnight restsThe first soak hydrates the peel and starts drawing out pectin; the second, after cooking, lets the peel finish softening. Skipping either is likely to leave the peel tougher and the set thinner. Cover the pan and refrigerate in warm weather.
- Pan size3 1/2 quarts of water plus 5 pounds of sugar needs a preserving pan of at least 10 to 12 quarts. Marmalade climbs the sides violently once the sugar goes in.
- The cold-dish test, in numbersChill two or three small plates in the freezer first. Marmalade sets at 220-222F at sea level, about 8F above the boiling point of water where you live. Drop a spoonful on a cold plate, wait 30 seconds, and push it with a finger: it should wrinkle rather than run.
- Sugar goes in after the peel is softThe order matters. Sugar added before the peel has softened tends to firm it, and it will not tenderize much afterward, which is why the recipe cooks the fruit through before sweetening.
- Sealing"Clean jars and seal" would have meant paraffin or simply capping the hot jar. Use clean hot canning jars with new lids and process them in a boiling-water bath for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude, then check the seals before storing.
- YieldExpect roughly 10 to 12 half-pint jars, depending on how far you take the boil.