The house has been smelling wonderfully of oranges over the last couple of days. Yesterday I started the marmalade, 
and today I finished it.
This is the recipe I used for this batch.
Reduced sugar marmalade 2014
1.5kg Seville oranges, 3.5 litres water, 2 lemons, 2 kg sugar ( Demerara)
(My original recipe has a ratio of ‘fruit to sugar’ of 1:2: meaning that 2 kg of oranges would require 4 kg sugar – so the reduction in this recipe is significant. note it will reduce yield also, as bigger quantities of sugar obviously make more marmalade )
Half the oranges and squeeze, pull out pulp and pith, put all this into a muslin cloth / bag over a bowl. Halve the lemons and squeeze and add the juice and husks to the muslin / muslin bag. Solids will be retained by the bag and the juices will run out.
Suspend the muslin bag from the handle of the preserving pan, so that it will sit in the rest of the mix as it is cooked. Add the juice to the pan.
Slice orange skins into fine pieces and add to pan with the water –
(You can do the chopping up bit in the blender if you don’t mind the pieces looking ‘chopped up’)
Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 2 hours, until peel is soft.
(You can do this stage in the slow cooker or bottom of an Aga overnight, or even quickly in a few minutes the pressure cooker. My Good Housekeeping book advises 20 minutes at 10 lb pressure as a higher pressure would destroy the pectin!)
Lift out the bag containing the pips etc. and squeeze as much as possible back into the pan. Then discard the bag contents.
(I usually lift out the bag over a small colander and put a bowl under the colander, then weight a saucer on the bag to get out all the juices, which are v important to add back to the mix, as they contain the pectin)
Add the sugar to the preserving pan. Stir until sugar has dissolved.
(Some recipes advocate warming the sugar first, and I have found about 2.5 – 3 mins in the microwave, in a Pyrex bowl works, and it reduces the time you have to stir and dissolve the sugar in before turning up the heat)
Bring to the boil and then boil rapidly until setting point has been reached – the time for this varies. Anywhere between 8 – 20 mins probably.
(Test by putting a small amount onto a cold saucer and pulling a spoon through it. It should wrinkle if it has reached setting point)
Warm the washed jars in the oven to 140 c for 10 minutes or more, along with the jam funnel, and metal soup ladle, if you have one, so all super clean!
Boil lids in a pan of water few a few mins. Just before you need them turn them out onto a freshly washed and ironed tea towel and do not touch the inner bits of the lids which will come into touch with the jars to make sure they remain clean and uncontaminated.
Remove the marmalade pan from the heat and skim to get rid of any scum.
Cool for 5-8 mins then stir to make sure peel is distributed evenly, then fill pots to top, remembering ‘no touch technique’ to reduce risk of bacterial or mould contamination.
Seal and when cool label. Wipe off sticky residue from the outside of the jars before storing.
Boadicea's Chariot 
How I envy you. We cannot get Seville oranges here for love nor money!
I like marmalade, esp. chunky. 🙂
Seems strange, Christina that you can’t get them out there. DO you make an alternative with grapefruit or some such?
This is pretty chunky, Janus…. and bitter 🙂
Yummy. I love Seville Orange marmalade, but I have to say my very favourite is Key Lime Marmalade, which is very difficult to get in the UK. Ironically, Keiller supply a very good version to Wegmans in the States.
never tried it, only Roses….
CO: Seville oranges can easily be found in Califonira.
California, even.
Christopher, I know I am obsessive about food but a 2000 mile trip for some Seville oranges is a bit steep even for me!
pseu, I make a jelly marmalade that I use in several recipes from sweet oranges and for something sharper to eat on toast etc I make blueberry jam with a good shot of lemon juice. Not the same but it has to do!
Looks delicious. I must remember this for when I am living in Spain next year 🙂
Indeed, gazoopi. I wonder if the Spanish eat marmalade?
“mermelada de naranja amargue (Bitter orange marmalade), and of course mermelada means jam in Spanish, and I assume marmalade is just a corruption of the same word.” But do they eat it?
Haha, yes they do, but not so much as the English.
Marmelade is also German for Jam. This was often a mix up with my wife (who is German). Initially she would ask me if I wanted ‘Marmelade’ and I would be disappointed when she gave me strawberry jam 🙂
One thing I am very sure of…the English living in Spain eat marmalade.
🙂
Lady Tambman makes brilliant Seville Orange marmalade. We sell it at our Community Centre’s tabletop sale, and it is a winner. It is so popular that Lady T freezes some oranges in January, so that she can make more of it in the summer and autumn. But marmalade sandwiches – no thanks. It only works on buttered toast (although we do not allow ourselves butter so it’s spread-that’s-not-entirely-not-butter-but-it-tastes-almost-the-same-especially-when-smothered-with-marmalade-stuff).
Well marmalade on toast has its place at breakfast. (with Lurpack unsalted butter please)… but a marmalade sandwich can be eaten any time.
Lovely too on cheese.
And my special way of eating it as a teenager was an open sandwich toasted under the grill until the marmalade bubbled. Yum
I know about freezing the oranges but have heard that the pectin is reduced and this means it doesn’t set so well….
Ah, yes, Nym, Lurpack unsalted butter. I’m a fan too.
and the spreadable version makes life easier too 🙂
Agreed. 🙂
Thank you, ladies, for contributing to Danish GDP. 🙂
Yes pseu, the pectin does reduce, but we use Certo to stiffen it!
As a teenager (yes I was one, once) I used to like marmalade on toast with Marmite. Even better combination on fried bread! 🙂
FEEG, I’m struggling to imagine marmalade with marmite on fried bread. Did it do any long-term damage? 🙂
I also was amazed that someone ate marmalade with marmite…..but even more amazed that they admitted it 🙂
Pectin is disgusting, changes the texture, much better to boil green apples and use that for the liquid to add to the oranges. American jam is always beset by pectin additive, totally inedible.
It drove me to drink! Actually it is rather good. we must have open minds on the chariot. 🙂
Christina, I don’t add pectin to my recipe: there’s enough in the natural amount that comes from the lemon and orange pips….
Never heard of Certo, tambman – googling it shows it is a natural pectin made from apples.
pseu, I wouldn’t expect you to! Sets like iron.
Certo is well known this side. Unfortunately most Americans add pectin to everything, whether it needs it or not. They do not seem to understand that some fruit are pectin deficient and others not!
They will make this no heat refrigerator jam that is absolutely disgusting and tends to get all sorts of off flavours from dirty fridges. I make loads of jam here in the traditional way and have so many people lined up for a pot or two it isn’t true! I always rather thought of it as an example of ‘In the kingdom of the blind, the one eyed man is king’! anything that is half way edible does not have much competition. Jolly useful cheap presents. Friends turn up with fruit and sugar these days. As long as they bring a bottle of wine too they generally go away happy. Were I younger I might well of made quite a little business of it but then dept of health starts wanting to give licenses etc for public sale., with three dogs in the kitchen?
Just as bad here as in the UK trying to stop the WI from baking cakes.
Christina, you may be interested in the second batch method here:
http://pseu1.wordpress.com/2014/02/04/more-marmalade-made-in-the-slow-cooker/