Making Seville Orange Marmalade in Winter

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23 Aug 2026

Making Seville Orange Marmalade in Winter

Why Seville Oranges Only Turn Up in Winter

For a few short weeks each year, usually from late December until the end of February, boxes of knobbly, deep-orange fruit appear on greengrocers' shelves and market stalls. These are Seville oranges, and they are not for eating out of hand. Bite into one and you will pull a face: the flesh is mouth-puckeringly sour and the pith is properly bitter. What they do have, in abundance, is pectin in the pith and pips and a heady aromatic oil in the peel. That combination is exactly what marmalade needs.

Buy more than you need while they are here. Seville oranges freeze beautifully whole, and the freezer does them a favour, since the ice crystals break down the cell walls and the peel softens faster once thawed. Go for fruit that feels heavy for its size, with unblemished skin and a clean, bright scent. A little green tinge on the skin is nothing to worry about.

Get Your Kit and Your Fruit Ready

Marmalade is simple, but it is unforgiving of the wrong pan. Use a large stainless steel or enamel preserving pan. Bare aluminium reacts with the acid and turns the whole batch a dull grey. You will also want a long wooden spoon, a sharp knife, a jam thermometer if you have one, a square of muslin and some string, a saucer in the freezer, and sterilised jars with lids.

For a dependable batch, weigh out:

1 kg Seville oranges, plus the juice of one lemon
2 litres water
1.8–2 kg granulated or preserving sugar

Halve each orange across the middle and squeeze the juice into your pan, keeping every pip and scrap of membrane. Pips and pith are your pectin, so tie them into the muslin square with string and drop that in too.

Slicing the Peel Finely

This is the part that takes time, and there is no honest way round it. Cut each empty half of peel into quarters, then slice each quarter into shreds about 2–3mm wide. Thicker shreds give a chewier marmalade, which some households insist upon, but fine cut gives that jewel-bright clarity you see in a good jar. A sharp knife and a steady rhythm will see you through; put the radio on.

If you want softer peel, tip the shreds and the water into the pan with the muslin bag, cover, and leave overnight. The soak shortens the next day's simmering considerably. It is not essential, but it does make for a tenderer shred and a gentler morning's work.

Simmering, Sugaring and Testing the Set

Bring the pan to a simmer with the lid part on, and cook gently for one and a half to two hours, until the peel is completely soft. Test it by pinching a shred between finger and thumb: there should be no resistance at all, just a soft squash. Top up with hot water if it reduces too far — the peel must stay covered.

Lift out the muslin bag, let it cool enough to handle, then squeeze it hard back into the pan. That cloudy liquid is liquid gold. Now add the sugar, warmed first in a low oven if you like, and stir over a low heat until every grain has dissolved. Rub a little between your fingers or look at the back of the spoon; if it feels gritty, keep stirring.

Only once it is completely dissolved should you raise the heat and bring it to a rolling boil. Boil hard for 15–25 minutes, stirring now and then so it does not catch. To test the set, spoon a little onto your frozen saucer, leave it a minute, and push it with your finger. If the surface wrinkles and it feels jammy, it is ready. If it slides about like syrup, boil for another five minutes and test again. A thermometer should read 104–105°C.

Take the pan off the heat, skim the scum from the surface, then leave it to settle for 10–15 minutes. This brief rest is what stops the shreds all rising to the top of the jar.

Potting, Sealing and Keeping

Fill warm, sterilised jars while the marmalade is still hot, using a jug or a wide-necked funnel, leaving about 5mm of headroom. Press a waxed disc onto the surface if you use them, then screw the lid on firmly. Those quantities make roughly five to six jars.

Store somewhere cool, dark and dry, where it will keep for a year or more. Once opened, keep it in the fridge. Beyond toast, try a spoonful warmed through a glaze for roast ham, stirred into rice pudding, or spread under a sponge before baking.

When Things Go Awry

Still runny after potting: tip it all back into the pan, add a squeeze of lemon juice and boil hard again for a few minutes. If it refuses, call it marmalade syrup and pour it over porridge without shame.
Set like glue: stir in a splash of hot water and reboil briefly. Otherwise, enjoy it thinly spread.
Peel floating on top: you potted it too soon. Next time, let it rest that full quarter of an hour.
Cloudy or grainy: some sugar had not dissolved before the boil. Be patient at that stage and it will not happen again.

Preserving

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5 Comments

Robert Sonny says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am

I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
Reply
- John Abraham says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am
  
  I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
  Reply
  - Robert Sonnysays Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am
    
    I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
    Reply
Robert Sonny says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am

I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
Reply

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