Attempting to increase batch sizes using conventional pectin will not work reliably. The Pomona type pectin is the only type that can allow you to make larger batches without concern as to the amount of sugar used.

I prefer to make smaller batches, but it's instructive to see how someone makes a larger one and some members may find it helpful. The reason most don't do this is there's a risk of overcooking and rubbery texture during the long cooking required with this kind of volume.

The citrus pectin helps forestall that. We've had discussions previously on citrus pectin, but not recently. There isn't much information out there on homemade citrus pectin as opposed to apple, so again the pictures and instructions are beneficial. Just the pectin could be canned in small amounts (though freezing is probably preferable) and used to supplement compatible low-pectin fruits. It's not as "neutral" as apple pectin, so preservers have to decide if they want that flavor in a particular marmalade or jam.

Just for clarification, there's nothing in marmalade that presents any risk and BWB is absolutely adequate. There is a risk of breaking the gel with pressure canning. But it's nice to know it worked well for you.

Carol

Thanks for the information Carol. The pectin derived from the pips (seeds) has worked great for us, we also did it this way last year. If we get a citrus flavor from it, so much the better and I also like the price!

Let me tell you folks, this did not even make a dent in our citrus supply, so making smaller batches of marmalade is not too useful for us. Considering how many LOADED citrus trees I see around here, perhaps other folks in CA and FL that have citrus would like to read about canning larger batches.

Very true about your comment on scorching the mix. Notice I wrote "stir constantly' this requires a giant wood spoon, and it did get pretty tiring. I am not kidding about 'constantly', this is why team work is great (I do need to take bathroom breaks from time to time....). My job was to gather the fruit from the trees, process everything up to the point where I had gelling marmalade. He then takes over from there, which was good because I was tired, sweaty and in need of a shower by then. We both know that BWB would be sufficient (thanks for confirming this), but there was not a force large enough on this earth to prevent him from using his new pressure canner, maybe some of you know how this goes....

Thanks for the heads up on the danger to breaking the gel, the pressure canned stuff looks to be completely solid. I think part of the success was from boiling it down a bit (concentrating it) and also from using a good amount of pectin - we did use a quart zip-lock bag full of pips. Part of them I had frozen earlier from another juicing session, since I knew only the Meyers had sufficient seeds. I am unsure if freezing did anything to facilitate the pectin release?

We will ask our combined friends plus 11 siblings who would like some marmalade. I suspect we will be making another batch this size, but the next one will be 100% Meyers lemon marmalade. When we do I will try to remember to take more pictures of the process including the pectin extraction.

Meyers marmalade was made and we took a couple more pictures of the process. This batch made 14 1/2 pints, this time we canned in both pints and half pints. We should have done some half pints of the previous one (mixed citrus, recipe shown above).

I need to look over my notes to write the recipe and will try to take pictures of the actual marmalade soon, so I will post again. In the mean time, these are for illustration purposes and apply to any marmalade made in this fashion (large batches and using the citrus pectin)

Here is the pectin extraction process. The bag of pips is boiled with the citrus juice, allowed to cool (overnight) and then the bag is squeezed to extract more of the pectin. The whitish liquid shown dripping is the natural citrus pectin.

Bag of pips after it has boiled in the Meyers lemon juice, soaked in it overnight and squeezed. This is of course removed (pips go into the compost pile)

At this point, the slivered peels are added and we start to boil the mixture,

After boiling down for a while to reduce liquid. The liquid started yellow but turned darker. The marks on the side of the pot are quarts, very useful when boiling down the liquid. I also love the giant wooden spoon shown in the previous pictures.

Here is the tester, first I place the little dishes in the freezer, put the hot marmalade (at different stages, to test when done) and put them in the refrigerator until they are no longer hot, but not really cold either. This one shows jelled marmalade.

Almost like Pomona powdered pectin, as thats what its made of too.

Pomona pectin does sounds like a good thing and I am glad it works for you Ken. However, pips (seeds) are free! There is no extra work to getting them, since they are automatically separated when I juice. If I had used Pomona pectin for the two batches it would have cost me at least $20 dollars extra. Besides, I rather boil the seeds to make sure they do not go around sprouting when I use my compost, the last thing I need is more citrus trees ;-) (I am not complaining, but it is a bit overwhelming)

Here are my notes on the Meyers Marmalade:

2 quarts slivered rinds (yes, two quarts, you read that right - and I did the peeling and slicing by hand, I just do not like the way they come out with the food processor - it was quite a 'zenful' activity....)

2 cups pips (seeds and some membrane) from juicing lemons

8 quarts Meyers lemon juice

10 lbs sugar

After pip bag is boiled with the lemon juice, the pectin extracted, pip bag removed, slivered rind and sugar added, total volume = 10 1/2 quarts.

Boiled down to 7 1/2 quarts, which made 14 1/2 pints by the time the game was over.

The procedure for making it is just as described above, but this time we just used juice and no pulp. We used only the pips that came from the Meyer's we juiced. The consistency was not as firm as the mixed citrus marmalade, where I had saved pips in the freezer from previous juicings. The other differences were that there was a higher proportion of sugar, but this is because Meyers lemon juice is a lot more tart and a lot less sweet than the mix I had used earlier.

We liked the slivered peels a lot in the first recipe posted in this thread, so we decided to increase the proportion of peels for the second batch (Meyers) and we really like it better this way, with more of the slivered peels.

Compared to commercial marmalade these (both the mixed citrus and the meyers) taste like marmalade on steroids. Maybe more of a European taste than American taste. What I am trying to say is that it might not be to everybody's liking. We love it of course, this is why we make it.

The mixed citrus marmalade ended up tasting similar to the classic Seville oranges marmalade (the grapefruit gives it the needed bitterness) and the Meyer's one is really tangy and has less bitterness. They are really different, I like both.

Light was not good this morning for taking pictures of the product, so I will post those later.

Might be free for you, but here, any citrus of any kind cannot be free, unless you have someone buy boxes of them for you from Florida and ship to your area. Or your only dealing with meyer lemons as small trees indoors when its cold outside. I only brought up Pomona to state that its made from citus, and uses calcium to set. In FL, water is higher in calcium like some other places, so Pomona sets up quite fast.

Thank you for the photos of the citrus seeds. I will start saving the ones is generate.

I also wanted to share that I made marmalade a lot this winter and had some various and sundry citrus fruits left including some juiced blood oranges. I took the frut that remained from the blood oranges and chopped it, and then added it to the zest and fruit. I use a standard marmalade recipe from an English cookbook. I called it Compost Heap Marmalade (an idea from the same cookbook). People are so intrigued by the name, and yes, amused by it. It helps that the marmalde is wonderful.. lol

Our last marmalade efforts were indeed meant to be glazes, or citrus syrup/candied peel. One batch was mixed citrus again, but I used a lot of the chopped fruit, rather than juice and rind. Very nice color, canned in quarts. Then we found a pack of pectin we had bought by mistake (looks like the lids) so we reserved 2+ pints to make solid marmalade. The end product was actually too solid, but the glaze is actually marmalade, loose, but spreadable and thick enough. We used Oranges, grapefruits, minneolas, meyers lemons and eureka lemons. It is weird to have marmalade canned in quarts, but I have no trouble going trough it.

cabrita

So sorry! I didn't see this post when I made mine.

Gosh, that marmalade looks good!

I'm envious that you have access to so much citrus fruit.

Anney, I hope it helps you some. Much easier with smaller amounts!

Abundance of citrus is a blessing, but can be overwhelming!

Is my memory faulty (quite possible) or have there been posts deleted from this thread? Many good threads also seem to disappear, what is up with that?

Now I finally know what to do with all my lemons! Wish I weren't stuck in an RV this year, waiting on my house to be rebuilt from a fire. The dirty dishes from doing that large of a project would be overwhelming. I'm letting my lemons rot and fall on the ground, get collected for the compost. But next year I have plans! Thank you so much for your post!