Homemade Orangegrapefruit Jam Recipes

TRADITIONAL CITRUS MARMALADE

Steps:

• Wash mason jars and screw lids in soapy water and rinse soap off well under running hot water. Place clean jars on a baking sheet and place in oven preheated to 200 degrees. Set screw bands aside. Next, boil a kettle of water and pour into a clean glass bowl. Carefully submerge the sealing discs in the bowl of hot water. Set aside.
• Wash the fruit very well and dry with paper towels. Using a very sharp knife, cut each piece of fruit in half lengthwise. Next, very thinly slice across each piece of fruit. Once sliced, cut each slice into roughly one-inch pieces.
• Place all fruit into a large sauce pan or pot. Add the water and bring to a boil. Cover continue to gently boil for 45 minutes.
• Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Bring to a boil. Continue to boil uncovered over medium heat for one hour - stirring frequently.
• In the meantime, fill your water bath canner to the halfway mark with water and add the jar rack. Bring to a full boil.
• Ladle the marmalade into prepared mason jars using a funnel to prevent the sauce from touching the rim of the jars.
• Use the non-metallic bubble remover to remove any air bubbles.
• Wipe down the rim of each jar with a damp paper towel to ensure no sauce has come in contact with the rim.
• Carefully remove the sealing discs from the hot water with a magnetic lid lifter. Position the sealing disc directly onto the lid of the jars. Do not touch the underside of the lid.
• Screw on the screw bands until firm - do not apply pressure! Just use your fingertips to tighten the screw bands.
• Using the jar lifter, place the jars into the water bath canner with the boiling water. Do not place the lid on the canner.
• Boil for 20 minutes. Carefully remove each jar from the canner using the jar lifter. Try not to tilt the jars. Place jars onto a wire cooling rack that has been covered with a clean kitchen towel.
• Leave the jars to cool for a minimum of 12 hours. Once cooled, wipe the jars of any residue that might have been transferred to the outside of the jar during the boiling process. Label the jars and store in a dark, cool cabinet for up to one year.

HOMEMADE ORANGE MARMALADE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Wash and dry the oranges. Using a sharp vegetable peeler or paring knife, remove the brightly colored zest-and only the brightly colored zest-from the oranges. Be sure to leave behind any and all of the white pith directly underneath as it is very bitter.
• Chop the zest. Keep bigger pieces for a chunkier marmalade, and ribbon-like strips for a more spreadable result. Set the zest aside.
• Cut the ends off the zested oranges and then, working with one orange at a time, cut off the thick white pith from around each orange. Discard the ends and white pith.
• Working over a bowl to catch the juices, hold a fully peeled orange and use a sharp knife to cut out each segment between the membranes that hold the sections together.
• Once you've cut out all the fruit, squeeze any juice out of the membranes into the bowl of segmented fruit. Set the membrane aside, along with any seeds (the pectin in these will help "set" the marmalade later).
• Combine the zest, fruit, juice, water, and sugar in a large, heavy pot and bring to a boil. Stir just until the sugar dissolves, then stop stirring.
• Meanwhile, lay a double layer of cheesecloth in a medium bowl and put the membranes and seeds on top. Lift up the corners and tie the cheesecloth into a bag to hold the membranes and seeds.
• Add this "pectin bag" to the pot and bring the mixture to a boil. Place a couple of small plates in the freezer to chill.
• Meanwhile, bring the marmalade to 220 F and hold it there for 5 minutes. Be patient, this can take quite a while. Do not stir.
• Put a dollop of the mixture on a chilled plate. Swirl the plate to spread the mixture a bit and drag a spoon through the mixture. If the marmalade is set, the spoon will leave a trail, and you'll still be able to see the plate where you dragged the spoon.
• Remove the pectin bag, squeezing any marmalade out and back into the pot, and discard the bag. Take the marmalade off the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes. Set up 3 clean pint jars with sealable lids (if canning, they should be hot and sterilized) next to the pot.
• Stir the marmalade to distribute the zest evenly in the mixture. Use a ladle to transfer the marmalade into the jars, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace at the top of each jar. Put the lids on the jars and refrigerate, or you can proceed with canning.

CITRUS MARMALADE

Steps:

• Cut the citrus: Using a sharp knife, slice off the top and bottom of the citrus so it sits sturdily on the cutting board. Slice off the peel and white pith in sections, starting at the top and following the curve of the fruit. (You should have a pile of peels and a few naked fruit.)
• Thinly slice the peels (with the pith) no thinner than 1/8 inch and no thicker than 1/4 inch, place them in a large bowl and set aside.
• Halve the fruit and remove any visible seeds. Thinly slice about 1/4-inch thick (white membrane and all), removing any seeds you might have missed. Add the fruit to the peels, and cover with 3 to 5 cups of water, taking note of how much water you used. Let this sit for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours in the refrigerator. (This will help extract the pectin slowly as well as soften the peels.)
• Make the marmalade: Place a small plate in the refrigerator to chill. (You'll use this later.)
• Place the peels, fruit and water in a large pot. Add enough water to bring the total to 6 cups and bring to a strong simmer over medium-high heat.
• Cook the citrus until the peels have begun to soften and turn translucent, and the liquid has reduced by about three-fourths, 40 to 50 minutes.
• Add sugar and any add-ins and continue to cook, stirring occasionally at first, then more frequently as the marmalade cooks and the juices thicken. Continue until most of the liquid has evaporated and the peels are totally softened and almost completely translucent, another 40 to 50 minutes.
• As the marmalade cooks, the liquid reduces, the sugars thicken and the natural pectins activate. You'll notice the liquid go from a rapid, rolling boil with smaller bubbles to a slow, thick, tarlike boil with larger bubbles: This is the stage at which it's most important to stir constantly along the bottom of the pot to prevent scorching and sticking. (Sugar is heavier than water and will concentrate at the bottom of the pot, making the fruit more likely to burn.) It's also the stage at which splattering may occur, so take care in stirring.
• When the marmalade reaches this point, add lemon juice and continue to cook, stirring constantly until the jam has returned to its previously thickened state, about another 5 minutes. At this stage, the mixture should look thick and viscous with bits of the peel floating around. The peels will never break into the liquid as with a jam: This is O.K.
• To test the jam's thickness, spoon a bit onto the chilled plate, return it to the refrigerator and chill for 2 minutes. Drag your finger through it: It should hold its shape on either side without appearing watery or runny. If it's not there yet, cook it for a few more minutes.
• Remove from heat and discard the vanilla bean, if used. Divide among jars, leaving 1/4 inch of space at the top, and seal immediately. Can the marmalade (our How to Make Jam guide has detailed instruction), or store in the refrigerator.

ORANGE-GRAPEFRUIT MARMALADE WITH GINGER

Steps:

• Cut fruit in half, squeeze out juice and pulp, discard seeds. The volume of this should be approximately 4 cups. Remove zest, this should yield approximately 1/2 cup. Transfer juice, pulp and zest to a large glass bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. This helps the peel to soften.
• After soaking, put the citrus in a large stockpot. Add 6 cups of water, simmer for 1 1/2 hours. A sample of the peel should feel quite tender if rubbed between fingers. Add sugar and ginger. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Boil hard for 20 minutes until sugar is dissolved and mixture is thickened. If the mixture foams up, add a pat of butter and the froth will subside.
• Test for jell-point: drop a small amount of hot marmalade on a chilled plate. Return to the freezer for 1 minute. If surface forms a skin, it has reached jelling point, if still syrupy, continue cooking and test again in 5 minutes.
• Remove from heat, stir in pectin. Cool for 15 minutes, spoon into half-pint sterilized jars leaving 1/4-inch headspace and seal.
• ** Recipe Note: Traditionally the citrus seeds and pith are enclosed in a nylon bag and boiled along with the juice/pulp. This releases the natural pectin that is stored in that part of the orange. For time and ease, we eliminated that step and used store-bought fruit pectin. It worked very well.
• ***To sterilize the canning jars, wash the containers in hot, soapy water and rinse. Boil them in a large pot for 10 minutes. Keep the jars in hot water until ready to use to prevent the jars from cracking. Dry with paper towels before filling with marmalade. Once filled, put on lids and collar. Boil again for 10 minutes to seal the jars.

HOMEMADE ORANGE/GRAPEFRUIT JAM

Steps:

• If you want to have thin orange zest you have to soak zest from one orange 5 days changing water every 12 hours. After 5 days, cut the zest into thin slices.
• Squeeze out juice from orange and grapefruit. It should be aboput 2 liters of juice.
• Put orange zest, sugar and juice into pot and start to cook. After boils, cook on moderate fire about 15 minutes. In the meantime put glass-bottles into oven on 100°C
• After 15 minutes, add pectin in amount necessary for making jelly. Stir well 1-2 minutes making sure all pectin is dissolved.
• Than start to fill in the glass- bottles. Leave 1 inch space between jam and cover. Leave to cool it slowly.

ORANGE-GRAPEFRUIT MARMALADE

Steps:

• Remove peels from fruit and scrape off excess pith. Cut peels into fine strips.
• In saucepan, combine peels, baking soda and 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to boiling, cover and simmer 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, remove white membrane from fruit and section, working over bowl to catch juices. Discard seeds.
• In 8-10 quart Dutch oven, combine sections, juice and undrained peel. Cover and simmer 10 minutes.
• Measure 3 cups cooked fruit mixture; add sugar and mix well.
• Bring to full rolling boil and boil, uncovered, 1 minute.
• Remove from heat, stir in liquid pectin and skim off foam with metal spoon. Stir and skim for 10 minutes.
• Pour into hot, sterilized jars and seal.

GRAPEFRUIT MARMALADE

Steps:

• Inspect two 5-ounce jars for cracks and rings for rust, discarding any defective ones. Immerse in simmering water until marmalade is ready. Wash new, unused lids and rings in warm soapy water.
• Thoroughly wash and dry the grapefruits. Run a zester around 2 grapefruits to produce ribbons of zest. Set aside. Cut away thin strips of peel from the other two grapefruits with a sharp paring knife.
• Peel off all remaining outer white parts of the fruit and discard. Cut the grapefruits into wheels. Remove any seeds.
• Put grapefruit wheels and zest strips into a non-reactive saucepan. Add sugar and stir well to cover fruit. Heat over medium-high heat until bubbling, mixing constantly. Smash the heated fruit until it liquefies. Reduce heat to low and cook over a steady boil, stirring often. Remove and discard any persistent white froth that won't disappear after being stirred. Continue to cook for about 10 minutes until marmalade begins to coat the back of a spoon.
• Add zest ribbons and cook for 5 minutes more. Place a small amount of marmalade on a plate and put it in the freezer. Test the consistency after 3 minutes.
• Remove the marmalade from the heat when the freezer sample meets your desired consistency.
• Pack grapefruit jam into hot, sterilized jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of the top. Run a clean knife or thin spatula around the insides of the jars to remove any air bubbles. Wipe rims with a moist paper towel to remove any residue. Top with lids and screw rings on tightly.
• Place a rack in the bottom of a large stockpot and fill halfway with water. Bring to a boil and lower jars 2 inches apart into the boiling water using a holder. Pour in more boiling water to cover jars by at least 1 inch. Bring to a rolling boil, cover, and process for 10 minutes.
• Remove the jars from the stockpot and let rest, several inches apart, for 24 hours. Press the center of each lid with a finger to ensure the lid does not move up or down. Remove the rings for storage and store in a cool, dark area.