Sometimes, as winter turns to spring and even before the first fruits of summer appear, thoughts turn to food preservation. One recipe to try this time of year is orange marmalade.  Citrus fruits, oranges and lemons in this recipe, are still in season and flavorful. This recipe does not include added pectin, instead it relies on the natural pectin in citrus peel for a gel to form. As a result, this recipe will help you build your canning skills as you try something new!

Jellied fruit products rely on the right combination of acid, sugar, pectin, and fruit for the perfect product. It’s important to follow a tested recipe from a reliable source to ensure that any canned product that you make is both safe and high quality. This recipe, from the National Center for Home Food Preservation website fits both requirements. It was developed and tested by Dr. Elizabeth Andress, director of the National Center, and includes key factors which ensure a safe product: a boiling water canning process (with adjustments given for elevation) and directions to check for jar sealing (to ensure spoilage does not occur on storage). The ingredients are simple (and make for a delicious product):

Orange Marmalade

• 4 cups thinly sliced orange peel with albedo (about 2.5 to 3 lbs. oranges as purchased)
• 4 cups orange pulp, cut up
• 1 cup thinly sliced lemon (about 1 large lemon as purchased)
• 6 cups of water
• 6 cups of sugar

Recipe continues here; be sure to follow all the steps! While blogs and websites abound offering food preservation ideas and dispensing advise, nearly all are lacking in scientific support and the assurance of food safety. So, as your thoughts turn to food preservation this spring and summer, be sure to turn to tested recipes from reliable sources; go-to sources that I recommend are the National Center for Home Food Preservation or your local county Extension office (in Wisconsin).  Safe preserving! Barb