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Marmalade Disaster

1/23/2017

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I've been coaching a couple talented badminton players in Portland OR. They work hard and try to do what I ask. As a result, they are much stronger than when we started, less than a year ago. If they continue, and avoid injury, they will certainly be state champions soon. One of them, Daniel, is from Iceland.

Recently, Daniel brought back a jar of his father's home-made three-citrus marmalade, from Iceland. Wow! It's, by far, the best I've ever tasted! Think of Dundee Orange marmalade, which is made from Seville oranges, only more complex and lighter. My wife insists we try, so here goes.

We couldn't wait for the correct equipment, or the recipe, so my first batch was, ummm, not successful. Well, if you want to use it as a hockey puck, then it is the most delicious hockey puck you've ever had.

​The mistake was to use this fancy, expensive, super-special, 2-part pectin powder. Don't ever buy, or use, Pomona pectin powder. I think it is optimized for low-sugar preserves. This is a bad idea, since sugar acts as a preservative, in canned fruit goods. Unless you really know what you are doing, and you have refractometers and stuff, it's a really bad idea to "wing it" with home-preserved goods.

Long story short, Pomona pectin includes "calcium water", which, in addition to screwing up your recipes, adds opacity to the preserves. Award winning preserves have extra steps just to create a transparent, jewel-like stage for the floating fruits. Pomona pectin creates the opposite of this.

Oh well. At least I used the cheapest citrus from the Asian market...less than $1.00 per pound for juicing oranges. It tastes ok, but the texture is grainy. We put a tiny blob on our cupcakes.
​

Here is the recipe we will try next. NOTE! This is not a proven safe recipe as-is. For example, there is no (hot-water-bath) processing step! That said, it hasn't killed anybody yet...that we know of. :

Three-fruit marmalade (26 hrs needed)

(measurements are all in volume so it doesn't matter what the unit is - liter, quart, pint, cup)

1 unit chopped citrus fruit pips and rinds (5 oranges, 3 lemons, 1 pink grapefruit - all medium size, adjust as necessary)
1 unit water
1 unit orange juice (with pulp)
Soak overnight

Next morning let the mixture simmer for an hour.

In the evening bring to the boil.
Add 3/4 (75%) unit of sugar slowly and stir at the same time.
Simmer gently for about two hours or until ready - not too thick - stir frequently.

Pour into clean hot glass bottles.
The finished marmalade has about the same volume as the raw fruit.
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    I'm an applied-math-research Ph.D. and serial startup founder. I am a recognized computer security expert, fortunate to join the ranks of many, great CTO's. I've founded and seed-funded multiple, successful, VC-backed companies. I'm still at it!

    My wonderful wife and I moved from New England to near the Portland Oregon area. We LOVE the Pacific Northwest, and we've been here a few years now. We have an adorable baby girl, Vivi.

    People here are nice and smile a lot. Vegetables are insanely delicious. Driving is not like Mad Max.

    This blog is very Vivi-centric. Our family just can't resist. :) Also, there are some stupid hacking and geek tricks.


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