Neither the lime jelly nor the lime marmalade came out edible – the jelly is better than the marmalade but there’s a nasty bitter aftertaste from all the lime peel. I think if I were redoing it, I would either add just a smidgen of blanched lime peel or just use lime juice. Or something. Mix it up in small batches and see how it turns out.
The orange marmalade, on the other hand, came out beautifully – sweet, full of orange flavor, and with just a hint of bitterness from the zest. I credit the mandarin oranges for that. They have a very tasty peel with only a hint of bitterness. Next time I make candied orange peel I’ll use mandarin oranges; they’re also nice because the peel comes off so easily. Things to think of.
I’m not too upset that the lime jelly didn’t work out since I had run out of canning jars and still have the quince jam left to do. So I’ll dump out the lime marmalade, run the canning jars through the dishwasher to clean them out, and reuse them (with new lids) for the quince jam.
I’ll probably do that this afternoon – I had planned to go riding, but got suck(er)ed into going to an awards luncheon that doesn’t end until 2pm, which would be too late to get a long ride in afterwards (it’s getting dark earlier and earlier these days). Sunday I plan to go riding, IF it doesn’t rain. Otherwise I’ll go riding Monday/Tuesday, which are supposed to be clear.
One interesting aspect of the jellies and marmalades is that it’s given me an opportunity to work out recipes for straight pectin. I have a jar of pure pectin that I bought from a restaurant supplier and haven’t known how to use. It turns out that 1 tsp per cup of chopped citrus works just fine, and it’s WAY cheaper than buying all those packets of pectin at the grocery store. I’ve been using the rubbing-alcohol test: put some fruit juice (sweetened or unsweetened) into a bowl, add an equal amount of rubbing alcohol, and mix around. If you get a nice lump of jellied juice, you’ve got enough pectin; otherwise, keep adding the stuff. I’m going to try getting more pure pectin next time I go to my chocolate wholesaler. (Next week, I think.)
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Hi Tien, how important do you think using organic citrus is when you are largely using the zest/peel? I had been using only organic lemons for all my lemon zest containing recipes, but since the frost, and then massive fires, all citrus has jumped through the roof pricewise. At this rate, I’m looking into how hard it would be to grow a Meyer lemon tree in a pot on my porch…
I don’t think it’s that important – by law all citrus peel has to be safe to eat. I do try to get organic when possible, but I don’t think it makes a huge difference.