I can't be much help with this, but my mum used to make marmalade with the tinned Seville oranges when I was a child. Her generation would always have done that kind of thing. I don't remember it being particularly wonderful or particularly horrible - it was certainly perfectly edible!
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
When we lived in Belgium I couldn't get Seville oranges unless I happened to be in a cerain SM in Waterloo on the day they arrived in store. Lots of Brits live there. I took to using the tinned variety, both thick and thin shred and for straight marmalade as well as Oxford - cheap, quick and very good.
Haven't seen either tinned or fresh Seville oranges since we moved here so last year I bought a crate of the bitterest oranges I could find from a specialist supplier and made enough marmalade to last me 10 years. Very tasty but much messier and slower than the tinned version.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Thanks @floralies. I'd be more interested in some proper Irish black and white pudding but neither is in stock at the mo. I know about the store in La Rochelle but will have to seek out the one in Nantes as we've been going there more often of late for knee appointments.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
It may depend on how much of a purist you are. I have used Marmade which produces a perfectly acceptable marmalade but using Seville oranges, in my opinion, makes a far better flavoured preserve. I recently made a delicious marmalade from predominately limes, grapefruit and lemons. I left the fruits, cut into quarters, soaking in water for 2 days before separating the skin from the flesh, shredding them and boiling. It has produced a very tart, tangy marmalade, I love it but it may well be too sharp for some people.
I’ve only made marmalade a few times, but I just used regular oranges and did it in the microwave. It worked fine, and was very tasty. I only made a jar and a half each time, so I wasn’t worried about how long it needed to be kept. This meant I could reduce the sugar content to a level of sweetness that I preferred. I’m pretty sure I didn’t boil the oranges for hours! I no longer have my bigger worktop microwave, and my new smaller one is built in at eye level. I don’t fancy having to lift a big bowl of boiling marmalade in and out any more, bit too risky.
This is the recipe that came with the blue-boxed-Seville-oranges that Waitrose used to sell. These days its just nets where I live. This recipe is probably a bit more work than the cook-whole method but gives good results for me. I use 750g sugar and 1.5L water (so 75% of recipe quantities) leading to a more tangy and citrusy taste; I then do double the amount in a big cooking pan. Start to finish it is about 4 hours for about 14 jars.
I've made marmalade with seville oranges, regular oranges, grapefruit, lemons, limes over the years. Grapefruit was my favourite, seville oranges a close second. For my taste regular oranges make too sweet a marmalade (you can only reduce the sugar by so much or it doesn't set well).
I think you could do the simmering stage to soften the peel in a slow cooker, but you'd need to transfer it to a pan before adding the sugar for the rapid boil stage. You need a wide pan with plenty of "head-room" - the level increases by maybe two or three times when it's at a proper rolling boil.
I haven't used the tinned oranges but it would certainly save on the chopping time and cooking time, so maybe try it and see if it's to your taste? I remember my granny using it and I don't recall her marmalade tasting particularly different from store-bought marmalade.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
You have to be careful about reducing the amount of sugar you use in preserves as it acts as the preservative. If you lower it too much the preserve does not keep, you are making such small quantities that is not going to be too much of a problem as you will see what you have made fairly quickly.
Posts
I don't remember it being particularly wonderful or particularly horrible - it was certainly perfectly edible!
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Haven't seen either tinned or fresh Seville oranges since we moved here so last year I bought a crate of the bitterest oranges I could find from a specialist supplier and made enough marmalade to last me 10 years. Very tasty but much messier and slower than the tinned version.
https://www.comptoir-irlandais.com/en/fruit-preparations-and-spreads/4083-marmelade-mamade-thin-cut.html
I have used Marmade which produces a perfectly acceptable marmalade but using Seville oranges, in my opinion, makes a far better flavoured preserve.
I recently made a delicious marmalade from predominately limes, grapefruit and lemons. I left the fruits, cut into quarters, soaking in water for 2 days before separating the skin from the flesh, shredding them and boiling. It has produced a very tart, tangy marmalade, I love it but it may well be too sharp for some people.
I only made a jar and a half each time, so I wasn’t worried about how long it needed to be kept. This meant I could reduce the sugar content to a level of sweetness that I preferred. I’m pretty sure I didn’t boil the oranges for hours!
I no longer have my bigger worktop microwave, and my new smaller one is built in at eye level. I don’t fancy having to lift a big bowl of boiling marmalade in and out any more, bit too risky.
This is the recipe that came with the blue-boxed-Seville-oranges that Waitrose used to sell. These days its just nets where I live. This recipe is probably a bit more work than the cook-whole method but gives good results for me.
I use 750g sugar and 1.5L water (so 75% of recipe quantities) leading to a more tangy and citrusy taste; I then do double the amount in a big cooking pan. Start to finish it is about 4 hours for about 14 jars.