Orange Jam Recipe

If you have a basket full of oranges waiting in your kitchen and if you don’t know what to do with them, make this homemade orange jam! You will love it so much that your family will finish it in a very short time and you need to buy more oranges to make it again.

If you love quick breakfast, just spread a good amount of good butter on a toasted bread and top it with this orange peel jam. A great way to start your day!

About The Ingredients

• Oranges: You can use any juicy orange variety you can find. The best options include Mandarin (Tangerines), Clementines, Kinnow, Malta, Seville oranges and Blood Oranges. Keep in mind that this will affect the flavor. But the technique and sugar ratio doesn’t change at all.
• Lemon: Adding lemon to the orange jam recipe is crucial for us. It helps create a more balanced flavor that isn't just sweet. And it also helps add pectin so that the jam can thicken.
• Sugar: For this recipe, we use a 1:1 ratio of citrus mixture to sugar. A low-sugar marmalade will obviously contain less. However, the marmalade won't have the same consistency. Sugar both acts as a preservative and helps jams to set.

How To Make Natural Pectin From Oranges

Most of the pectin comes from the peel of citrus fruit. However, you can make natural pectin by squeezing the pulp and seeds of the citrus.

This is the technique we will use today. All you need to do is combine the pulp and seeds in a muslin cloth. Then, turn the ball tightly so that the pectin can be squeezed out of this mixture, directly into the juice bowl.

This is the secret to how to make orange jam without pectin. And before you ask, no. You cannot make marmalade without pectin. But you can make it without store-bought pectin.

How To Prepare Oranges

This orange peel jam recipe is incredibly easy, packed with well-balanced sweet and tangy citrus flavors, and has a perfect consistency.

Juice the oranges: Cut 6 oranges and 1 lemon in half. Juice them as best as you can. It’s perfectly fine if any pulp goes into the juice. Remove the seeds and set them aside. Keep the orange and lemon skins.

Remove the pulp and squeeze out the pectin: Use a teaspoon to scrape out the pulp inside the orange and lemon skins. Then, place the pulp with the seeds in a muslin cloth. Turn it tightly so it creates a firm bundle. Set it aside for later use.

Prepare the citrus skins: Place the skin on a flat surface. It's fine if it tears. Slice or scrape off the white pith. Once all of the lemon and orange skins have been cleaned, slice them very thinly. Set them aside.

Prepare the final two oranges: Peel them completely and discard the zest and white rind. You should only use the juicy fleshy parts. Chop them roughly.

How To Make Marmalade Jam

Create the orange marmalade base: In a large mixing bowl, combine the freshly squeezed orange juice and lemon juice, the thinly sliced prepared citrus skins, and the chopped orange slices.

Add the natural fruit pectin: Hold the muslin cloth ball over the marmalade base. Then, squeeze it tightly so that a ton of sticky juices come out. This is the natural pectin that will help the marmalade thicken.

Adjust the orange mixture and sugar ratio: Weigh your orange mixture in a pot (remember to deduct the weight of the pot). Ours weighed 700 grams (1.540 pounds). Add the exact same weight of sugar. In other words, add 700 grams of sugar.

Cook the mixture: Bring the ingredients to a boil over high heat. Leave it to simmer for 20-30 minutes or until it starts to thicken. After 30 minutes, lower the heat to the lowest setting.

Do a plate test to check the consistency: Drop a tablespoon of orange jam on a plate. Place it inside the fridge for 10 minutes. Shake the plate. If the ham doesn't flow quickly, the consistency is perfect. But, if it runs all over the plate, it is too runny, and you need to continue cooking it for another 5 minutes.

Cool and store the orange jam: Once you are happy with the consistency, remove the pot from the heat and leave it to cool completely. As it cools, it will thicken some more. It will be a spreadable orange jam but not as thick as store-bought jellies.

Orange Marmalade vs Orange Jam vs Orange Jelly

Is Orange Marmalade The Same As Orange Jam? 

No. Marmalade and jam are not the same thing. A regular recipe for orange jam only uses the pulp and juice of the citrus fruit. It doesn't contain any peel. A homemade marmalade, on the other hand, uses juice and peel, not pulp.

Is orange marmalade the same as orange jelly? No. You make jelly using the juice only. It doesn't contain any fiber like pulp or peel of the fruit.

So, because we use juice, pulp, and peel, this becomes a hybrid recipe that we like to call an orange jam marmalade. It combines the best of both in terms of texture and flavor.

Tips

• The ratio of the orange mixture and sugar is one to one (1:1). As we’ve mentioned, you should weigh the citrus juices, prepared thinly sliced skin, sliced orange segments, and natural pectin together. That amount, for our recipe, came to 700 grams. That means you have to use 700 grams of sugar.
• It is crucial that you remove the white parts from the citrus skins. They make the marmalade bitter if you don't.

FAQs

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