Seville Orange Marmalade Recipe
When we sold our last home the buyers were so excited about the house, they gifted us a lovely basket made with homemade treats at closing. {Seriously! How nice was that?}
And one of the things in the basket they gave us was a jar of homemade Seville orange marmalade. The marmalade was perfect. 10 out of 10. It was sweet and had just a hint of bitterness to it and it was the real deal let me tell you.
The marmalade was so good in fact, that the HH and I used up the entire jar slathering it on toast, English muffins, biscuits, you name it, in less than 10 days.
To say we were sad to see the bottom of the jar would be an understatement.
Luckily though, citrus season {winter} was just around the corner and so thanks to a tip from a reader {thank you Rachel!} I was able to place an order at the local Co-op grocery store for 7 pounds of Seville oranges {enough to make 2 batches}. The only tricky part was, neither I nor the Co-op knew when {or if} they’d be getting Seville oranges in this year.
Well, as luck would have it they did get the oranges in and now I have 12 delicious jars of Seville jam sitting on my counter thanks to the amazing recipe below.
Yee-Haw!
If you’ve never made marmalade before, it’s a little bit different than making jam as there are a few more steps. But don’t let that deter you! You will be greatly reward for your efforts, trust me. And patience is key. Read all the directions TWICE before making this recipe.
I’ve made marmalade several times over the years, so the process is familiar to me, but in case this is your first time, I took tons of pictures when I made the marmalade so you’d be able to follow along step by step.
Seville orange marmalade.
It truly is, the best stuff on earth.
Seville Orange Marmalade
Ingredients
- 3 pounds Seville oranges
- 1 lemon
- 6 cups water
- 5 cups granulated sugar
Instructions
Set out 3 ceramic or glass bowls {ones that will hold about 4 cups each}.
You will need 1 bowl for the juice, 1 bowl for the seeds and membranes and 1 bowl for the peels.
Start by washing the oranges and lemon well. Slice the oranges and lemon in half.
Using the tip of your knife, scrape out any seeds that you find and set aside in bowl #1.
Juice the oranges and lemon, and place the juice in bowl #2.
Using a spoon, scrape out the membranes of the citrus and place them in bowl #1 along with the seeds.
Cut the ends off of each halved orange and the halved lemon and toss them in the garbage. Then cut the peels into the thinnest slices you can manage. Slice the peels again so they are halved and place them in bowl #3.
Place the seeds and membranes in a muslin jelly bag or several pieces of cheesecloth you can tie up into a bag. Close the top of the muslin bag or cheesecloth tightly so that nothing can escape.
Next you place all of your orange and lemon peels along with the juice in a large non reactive bowl and cover with 6 cups of water.
Push the muslin/cheesecloth bundle down into the bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge overnight.
After the peels have marinated overnight, bring a boiling-water canner, 3/4 full with water, to simmer.
Wash jars and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling.
Remove the muslin/cheesecloth bundle from the mixture and give it a little squeeze to extract the extra pectin into your bowl before tossing the bag into the garbage.
Pour the contents of the bowl into a large non reactive pot.
Add 5 cups of sugar and stir to mix together. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until it has reduced by half making sure to stir the mixture often {this typically takes between 30 – 60 minutes for me}.
When the mixture reads 220 degrees on a thermometer, test to see if it has “set” by spooning a bit onto a cold plate. If it has formed a bit of a skin and started to give a bit like goopy Jell-O, you’re good to go, if not, cook for a bit longer.
Ladle immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/2 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands on.
Place jars on elevated rack in a canner. Lower rack into canner. {Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary.}
Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process for 10 min. Remove jars and place upright on towel to cool completely. After the jars have cooled, check the seals by pressing middles of lids with finger. If lids spring back, lids are not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.
Notes
This recipe makes {6} 8 ounce jars.
Looking for a few more canning recipes? Search my Full List of Canning Recipes
Looking for a good canning book? Here’s a list of my favorites:
- Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
- The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook
- Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It
- Food in Jars
- The Amish Canning Cookbook
- Not Your Mama’s Canning Book
Additionally, you can check out these tutorials if you’ve never used a canner before.
Tutorial: Hot Water Bath Canning
Tutorial: How to Use a Pressure Canner
Karen says
I don’t eat many sweets or marmelade, but this does look delicious! How big are the canning jars, what size?
Mavis Butterfield says
I used {6} 8 ounce jars.
Terri says
My grandmother and aunt both canned food. Looks awesome!
Sharelle says
I really want to try this… I’m looking for some Seville oranges.
I’m am a tiny bit confused though… two questions:
1) what happens to the juice in bowl #2. Is it added when you marinade, when you cook, or is it just not used at all?
2) so you use 6 cups water to marinade the peels and that goes in to cook AND you add another 6 cups of water the next morning to cook. There is a total of 12 cups of water in the recipe?
Thanks for the help!
Mavis Butterfield says
Hi Sharelle,
I updated the post to make the directions more clear. 🙂
Sharelle says
Thanks… I got it now!
Mrs. C. says
Here is a mail order source for Seville oranges. I’ve used them before and found out about them via author and chef Rose Levy Berenbaum. http://www.ripetoyou.com
Leslie Moss says
Thanks for the tip. I just called a few stores- nada. However, Trader Joe’s does carry Seville Marmalade, but it’s probably not as good 🙁
Robert Gonzalez says
what other types of oranges have you used? i have oranges that the peels are very thin and often used for juicing.
Wynne says
I’ve made it with Navels and really liked the result. If you’re into the classic marmalade with a bitter note, don’t pick them. But if sweet and citrusy is good enough, it was delicious. I used the Sure-Jell low sugar pectin box recipe, which has a pretty different technique from this one.
Diane says
How are Seville oranges different than other oranges such as navel oranges? Is there a big taste difference?
Also, can any oranges to be substituted in this recipe or would you need to adjust sugar?
Mrs. C says
They are very bitter, and that’s why they work so well in marmalade. You end up with a marmalade with a bittersweet flavor balance. If you used sweet oranges like navels, the end product would be really sweet with a different flavor profile.
Linda T says
I just listened to the news. They say Maine got up to 33″ in spots. Were you in a spot? Are you deliriously happy now? (I hope)
Arbie Goodfellow says
A tip…use only un sprayed or organic oranges. The citrus industry uses alot of pesticides.
You don’t want to eat that along with the jam… Sorry but it’s true.
I have ordered organic oranges online and they were not that much more expensive.
Also if you make orange peel candy use organic as well.
Shari Harniss says
I made my mom and I some grapefruit marmalade a few weeks ago. Turned out great- sweet with a hint of bitter and bite!
Dianne says
I’m in Florida and I’ve made pepper kumquat marmalade. Its wonderful, wish I could show you the pics but I don’t see a way to attach. Plus it might be virus risky. Love your blog
Shelly says
This looks amazing and I cannot wait to make it! I love using orange marmalade as a dipping sauce for breaded seafood (I live on the coast but am not a huge fan of tartar sauce), so I will keep a lookout for Seville oranges! I’ve recently gotten into canning and enjoy being able to make delicious sauces and recipes (there’s only so much excitement I can muster for canned ground beef!)