Not one , not two , I made three jars of marmalade of different fruits. In three consecutive days using the same borosil bowl in the microwave and peeling and segmenting a new fruit each day . Limes , grapefruits and oranges . It was fun . Then i got bonkers photographing them .
If you are making a small quantity of the marmalade, it's as easy as making coffee a few times a day. The microwave makes it easy for you . Dunk in some segments of the citrus fruit with water and cook till soft . Add sugar and keep cooking for a couple of minutes whenever you go to the kitchen . The cooking mixture will bubble up and each time it will thicken a bit . Also,when you are away and the cooking syrup is cooling down , it is evaporating copiously making the marmalade thicker even when you are away and the MW is off. MWs make evaporation of water quicker and that helps us here.
Starting with the grapefruit , because this is the biggest fruit and the pictures of the segments and the membranes are clear to understand....
separate the segments and the membranes and keep the membranes in a microwave safe mug . Boil the membranes and seeds with water and keep it aside . I did not use the grapefruit skin , with oranges and limes the skins are to be boiled with the membranes too . These parts have pectin and boiling lets the pectin extracted in the water.
Now strain the liquids and add to the borosil or pyrex bowl . You would want to extract every last bit of pectin from the seeds and membranes mush so press it harder and use a muslin cloth if needed . Add the segments too and get started .
Microwaving for a couple of minutes will result into this...
Add sugar and keep microwaving this syrup for a couple of minutes every time you are in the kitchen , or till the time you are working on something else....multitasking.
The same sequence for the oranges and the limes...I quartered the oranges and the limes both lengthwise and then sliced them thinly....
Orange seeds and some skin and the membranes , as much as can be separated from the sliced fruit ..... to be boiled to extract pectin...
And the sliced oranges in the pectin extract ...
The lime slices in the pectin extract ....
After cooking for a couple of times , 2 minutes every time , the syrup gets thicker...
Keep cooking the syrup till it thickens and a shiny glaze appears on it . Fill in sterilized jars as soon as the marmalade thickens .
I used 4 limes , 2 oranges and one grapefruit to make about a jar full of these three glistening beauties...
Included the skin of the lime and oranges but with grapefruits i was apprehensive of the skins as the skins are strongly bitter and very thick . They made very nice candied peels though...
You can see the thin strips of skin in the lime and orange marmalade but the crimson colored grapefruit marmalade doesn't have any skin in it , still the taste is quite awesome.....Making a grapefruit marmalade was my achievement as it was my first time with grapefruit marmalade . Lime and oranges of different types i had worked for making bottles of marmalade...but that was on gas stove . In a microwave it was much more fun.
Now a recap of the quantities used . I used 4 limes and 1.5 cups of sugar for the lime marmalade . 2 oranges and a cup of sugar for the orange one and one whole grapefruit without skin and 1.5 cup of sugar for the grapefruit marmalade...
Also, i started with approximate quantities of sugar . The trick is , as you keep boiling or microwaving the syrup , it should get thick and should get frothy . At this stage if you see the frothy liquid is not getting shiny , add some more sugar and watch till it cooks , froths and becomes shiny . While cooling a bit it gets a glazed skin formed quickly . It is the time to bottle it . Do it fast and place the cap when the bottle is cool.
Easy ... Every day , for three days , i cooked a marmalade through the day . Microwaving for 2-3 minutes about ten times during the day and emptying the bowl in the evening . Next day another fruit was cut , peeled and cooked in the same bowl without washing, minimizing a lot of work.... I made them about 2 months ago and they were angry with me as i had kept them locked up for so long... Now they look so happy ...all of them...
I amusing them a lot , the lemon marmalade is being used for a few yummy stir fries too .....stay tuned for the recipes...
Now look at this one...
I loved it while making these beauties and i am loving it looking at the pictures now and writing about them . Just now we had the orange one smeared generously over two butter cookies and microwaved for 30 seconds ...the marmalade beautifully glazed over the cookie and felt like having an orange tart :)
If you are making a small quantity of the marmalade, it's as easy as making coffee a few times a day. The microwave makes it easy for you . Dunk in some segments of the citrus fruit with water and cook till soft . Add sugar and keep cooking for a couple of minutes whenever you go to the kitchen . The cooking mixture will bubble up and each time it will thicken a bit . Also,when you are away and the cooking syrup is cooling down , it is evaporating copiously making the marmalade thicker even when you are away and the MW is off. MWs make evaporation of water quicker and that helps us here.
Starting with the grapefruit , because this is the biggest fruit and the pictures of the segments and the membranes are clear to understand....
separate the segments and the membranes and keep the membranes in a microwave safe mug . Boil the membranes and seeds with water and keep it aside . I did not use the grapefruit skin , with oranges and limes the skins are to be boiled with the membranes too . These parts have pectin and boiling lets the pectin extracted in the water.
Now strain the liquids and add to the borosil or pyrex bowl . You would want to extract every last bit of pectin from the seeds and membranes mush so press it harder and use a muslin cloth if needed . Add the segments too and get started .
Microwaving for a couple of minutes will result into this...
Add sugar and keep microwaving this syrup for a couple of minutes every time you are in the kitchen , or till the time you are working on something else....multitasking.
The same sequence for the oranges and the limes...I quartered the oranges and the limes both lengthwise and then sliced them thinly....
Orange seeds and some skin and the membranes , as much as can be separated from the sliced fruit ..... to be boiled to extract pectin...
And the sliced oranges in the pectin extract ...
The lime slices in the pectin extract ....
After cooking for a couple of times , 2 minutes every time , the syrup gets thicker...
I used 4 limes , 2 oranges and one grapefruit to make about a jar full of these three glistening beauties...
Included the skin of the lime and oranges but with grapefruits i was apprehensive of the skins as the skins are strongly bitter and very thick . They made very nice candied peels though...
You can see the thin strips of skin in the lime and orange marmalade but the crimson colored grapefruit marmalade doesn't have any skin in it , still the taste is quite awesome.....Making a grapefruit marmalade was my achievement as it was my first time with grapefruit marmalade . Lime and oranges of different types i had worked for making bottles of marmalade...but that was on gas stove . In a microwave it was much more fun.
Also, i started with approximate quantities of sugar . The trick is , as you keep boiling or microwaving the syrup , it should get thick and should get frothy . At this stage if you see the frothy liquid is not getting shiny , add some more sugar and watch till it cooks , froths and becomes shiny . While cooling a bit it gets a glazed skin formed quickly . It is the time to bottle it . Do it fast and place the cap when the bottle is cool.
Easy ... Every day , for three days , i cooked a marmalade through the day . Microwaving for 2-3 minutes about ten times during the day and emptying the bowl in the evening . Next day another fruit was cut , peeled and cooked in the same bowl without washing, minimizing a lot of work.... I made them about 2 months ago and they were angry with me as i had kept them locked up for so long... Now they look so happy ...all of them...
I amusing them a lot , the lemon marmalade is being used for a few yummy stir fries too .....stay tuned for the recipes...