marmalade

"Allan Adler" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The recipes I have for making marmalade, say from oranges,
call for just using the thin pigmented layer at the
outside of the peel, and also some of the pulp of the
fruit. One basically lets it sit for three days in

water,

Quoted message said:

boiling for 10 minutes every 24 hours (I guess to kill
whatever might

start

Quoted message said:

growing in it), and then adding a lot of sugar and boiling
it for an hour

or

Quoted message said:

until thick.

I don't know why one excludes the rest of the peel, so as
an experiment I simply took two entire grapefruit peels
and nothing else. I cut them up and chopped them in a
blender with a lot of water and then followed the above
procedure using just the peel, no inside fruit. I've been
using the results for about a week and it tastes fine. So,
I'm inclined to

conclude

Quoted message said:

that:
(1) All you need to make acceptable marmalade is the peel
and some sugar and water; you don't need any of the
pulp of the fruit.
(2) You don't need to discard any part of the peel.

Is there any reason I'm not aware of for avoiding most of
the peel?

I'm cross posting this to sci.chem just in case someone
knows a chemical reason for avoiding it.

Ignorantly, Allan Adler [email hidden]

The white inner layer of a citrus fruit is called the pith.
Generally it creates/has very little flavor of the
particular fruit however in most cases it is very or quite
bitter and therefore changes the end product substantially.
Outer layer or zest contains most of the violate oils of the
citrus fruit where a very concentrated flavor is contained.

Dimitri

Allan Adler said:

The recipes I have for making marmalade, say from oranges,
call for just using the thin pigmented layer at the outside
of the peel, and also some of the pulp of the fruit. One
basically lets it sit for three days in water, boiling for
10 minutes every 24 hours (I guess to kill whatever might
start growing in it), and then adding a lot of sugar and
boiling it for an hour or until thick.

I don't know why one excludes the rest of the peel, so as
an experiment I simply took two entire grapefruit peels and
nothing else. I cut them up and chopped them in a blender
with a lot of water and then followed the above procedure
using just the peel, no inside fruit. I've been using the
results for about a week and it tastes fine. So, I'm
inclined to conclude that:
(1) All you need to make acceptable marmalade is the peel
and some sugar and water; you don't need any of the
pulp of the fruit.
(2) You don't need to discard any part of the peel.

Is there any reason I'm not aware of for avoiding most of
the peel?

I'm cross posting this to sci.chem just in case someone
knows a chemical reason for avoiding it.

Ignorantly, Allan Adler [email hidden]

Ask the question in rec.food.preserving. There are some very
knowledgeable people there.

--
Susan N.

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who
understand binary and those who do not.

Allan Adler said:

The recipes I have for making marmalade, say from oranges,
call for just using the thin pigmented layer at the
outside of the peel, and also some of the pulp of the
fruit. One basically lets it sit for three days in water,
boiling for 10 minutes every 24 hours (I guess to kill
whatever might start growing in it), and then adding a lot
of sugar and boiling it for an hour or until thick.

I don't know why one excludes the rest of the peel, so as
an experiment I simply took two entire grapefruit peels
and nothing else. I cut them up and chopped them in a
blender with a lot of water and then followed the above
procedure using just the peel, no inside fruit. I've been
using the results for about a week and it tastes fine. So,
I'm inclined to conclude that:
(1) All you need to make acceptable marmalade is the peel
and some sugar and water; you don't need any of the
pulp of the fruit.
(2) You don't need to discard any part of the peel.

It may be because the pithy part of the peel is bitter. That
can be a good thing. When I make Seville Orange Marmalade I
juice the oranges and save the juice and the seeds. The
seeds go into a cheese cloth sac. The peels are sliced thin
(in a food processor) and go into a pot with the juice and
bag of seeds and enough water to cover. I bring it to a boil
and then turn down the heat and steep the mixture until the
peels are soft enough to be squished between the fingers. I
then make the marmalade in small batches, using equal parts
of mash and sugar and boiling for five minutes. It makes
tremendous marmalade.

On 14 Apr 2004 16:39:23 -0400, Allan Adler <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

The recipes I have for making marmalade, say from oranges,
call for just using the thin pigmented layer at the outside
of the peel, and also some of the pulp of the fruit. One
basically lets it sit for three days in water, boiling for
10 minutes every 24 hours (I guess to kill whatever might
start growing in it), and then adding a lot of sugar and
boiling it for an hour or until thick.

I don't know why one excludes the rest of the peel, so as
an experiment I simply took two entire grapefruit peels and
nothing else. I cut them up and chopped them in a blender
with a lot of water and then followed the above procedure
using just the peel, no inside fruit. I've been using the
results for about a week and it tastes fine. So, I'm
inclined to conclude that:
(1) All you need to make acceptable marmalade is the peel
and some sugar and water; you don't need any of the
pulp of the fruit.
(2) You don't need to discard any part of the peel.

Is there any reason I'm not aware of for avoiding most of
the peel?

I'm cross posting this to sci.chem just in case someone
knows a chemical reason for avoiding it.

You might also try sci.bio.food-science There are food
profesiosnals there -- among others.

Nothing harmful; I know people who like to eat orange peel.
Grapefruit peel tends to be more bitter.

As others have noted, the composition of inner and outer
peel are quite different, so you should get different taste
and texture depending on what you use. Suit your taste.

bob