Homemade Seville Orange Marmalade recipe

The delights of high quality homemade marmalade were eluding me.  After successfully sourcing the Seville oranges at a reasonable price and remembering to buy enough sugar to fuel both the home brew and marmalade making I have made consistently runny although highly flavoursome orange marmalade for the past couple of years.  I was beginning to be the laughing stock of the Gregory family because without fail I would end up having to add extra pectin to a preserve which uses one of the most highly pectin containing fruit - Seville oranges.

I even looked up the recipe and method on the Web and came across Delia's version - bloody hell Dee we haven't all got three days to let it simmer, cool, simmer etc using stove top techniques developed by the Victorians.

My Mum decided to re send the instructions, keen that I would uphold the Gregory family tradition of great Marmalade making:-

Dear Dave "you gormless good for nothing - are you daft?"

Dad told me that you'd had trouble with the marmalade setting...Again!  You must be doing something wrong. 

Here is the marmalade recipe and method that we use and it has always been foolproof.

2lb Seville Oranges
4lb Sugar
2 pints water
2 lemons

Wash the oranges thoroughly. Squeeze the juice and collect the pips in a muslin bag and tie up tightly. Using the pressure cooker put the water and the oranges, orange juice and pips into the pan and pressure cook for 10 minutes at 10lb pressure (If you don't have a 10lb option you will have to use the 15lb for about 8 minutes I think). **

Reduce pressure immediately.  When cool enough to handle take the bag of pips out and squeeze to get the maximum pectin out and the softened oranges and cut them up as thinly as possible and put them back into the pan. (this is a bit messy)

Now add the juice of the two lemons and the sugar and bring to a rolling boil and boil until set -  Usually between 15 and 20 minutes.

Let stand for five minutes to prevent fruit floating then pour into warmed jars and seal.

Better luck next time.

Update 25th January 2004 after four years of sloppy stuff Jan and Dave are proud to announce the arrival of a perfect sticky tangy wonderful 14 jars of homemade marmalade.

** didn't let the pressure actually get to 15 lbs - could be the problem with the heat/pressure destroying the pectin.

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