Did you know that for every two scoops of classic orange marmalade you slurp, you’re eating a full scoop of white sugar? Say no to that! Today we show you how to make smooth orange marmalade completely sugar-free and without the use of artificial pectin.
Of all the homemade jams, orange marmalade is probably the trickiest. Don’t worry, we’ve tested this recipe extensively and will share everything we’ve learned with you so you can get great results while having fun.
First, Traditional orange marmalade requires a specific type of orange. To get a thick jam, you need to use bitter and pectin-rich oranges like the Seville variety. Since they are not always easy to find, we have adapted our recipe To Work with each orange. However, we recommend choosing a sweet variety to minimize the amount of sweetener needed.
Seville oranges work great because they have lots of seeds and white chunks that are rich in pectin. For the classic jam recipe (the one with chunks), place those pectin-rich chunks in cheesecloth and let it cook with the rest of the ingredients. The problem is that these chunks are also the most bitter parts of the orange. That’s why you use so much sugar in the classic recipe: to balance it (and to preserve it).
Our recipe doesn’t use the white pieces of the orange, so we don’t need to heavily sweeten it. Depending on the variety of orange you picked, you may not need to use any sweetener at all. In the following steps we will show you how to sweeten the jam with erythritol (a safe sweetener without sugar).
So how did we make the jam thick without sugar and pectin? We used starch (potato or corn) just like we did for our other pectin free strawberry jam. This technique works great and is very easy to use. We also tested the recipe with applesauce and found it to be an excellent option as well. Visit the FAQ section below where we tell you how to use applesauce instead of starch. Remember to check those out tips section for more useful advice.
Overall we are very happy with this smooth orange marmalade. It is easier easier to prepare than the classic orange marmalade with chunks, as it requires fewer steps. It is healthier because it contains no refined sugar. And be Easier to access since you can prepare it with any kind of oranges.
NOTE: The standard ingredients make about 600g of orange marmalade, enough for filling two 300g jars. We calculated that one serving is 30 g (1 oz).
frequently asked Questions
How are jars for canning sterilized?
Sterilize the jam jars and lids by first cleaning them with soap and rinsing them thoroughly. Now dip them in a deep pan of cold water and turn on the heat.
Bring the water to almost a boil and leave the jars, well covered, for 15 minutes.
Let the lids dry on a wire rack and place the jars in the oven preheated to 160°C (320°F). Do not touch the inside of the jar and the bottom of the lid with bare hands to avoid contamination.
How to prepare oranges faster when making jam?
Making orange marmalade requires a bit of prep work. Oranges have many parts; some are needed, some are not. Cleaning oranges takes time, but here are some tips to speed up the process.
First off, these are the orange parts you need to isolate when making orange marmalade:
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skin (or bark)
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Mark (the white part under the orange peel)
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the orange segments (the pulp)
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the white bits and seeds between the segments
Always discard the pulp as it is too bitter. In the traditional recipe, place the white pieces and seeds in cheesecloth to thicken the jam. In our recipe we use an alternative method, so you can also discard these parts.
Ok, now let’s see how we can clean an orange faster.
How to peel orange peel faster. Instead of peeling the orange like you would an apple, use a grater. Rub your grater once over an unblemished section of skin, then twist and move on to the next section. Do this until you have grated all of the orange. Why just a dash? That’s because you don’t want to grate the white part of the zest (the one underneath the orange peel) as it’s too bitter.
How to extract the flesh of an orange faster. If you throw away the pith, you hold the pit of the orange in your hands. The next objective is to get the flesh (the segments) and isolate the seeds and the white pieces. Since we’re discarding those last two parts in our recipe above, here’s what you can do:
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Squeeze the orange
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collect the juice
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Scrape out the inside of the squeezed orange
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Place the pulp and scraped pieces in a medium-sized sieve.
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Press down the pulp with the back of a spoon and collect the orange pulp.
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Discard the white pieces and the seeds that are in the strainer.
When we do things quickly, we lose some precision. Sometimes it’s worth it if the result is still good. If you make a lot of orange marmalade and don’t want to spend an hour or more cleaning up the oranges, then these tricks can save your afternoon!
How can I make sugar free orange marmalade without pectin?
If you don’t want to use pectin when making jam, you need to thicken the jam in some other way. At the time of writing, we’ve used four ingredients to replace pectin in four different jam recipes.
Here are the thickeners you can use:
Orange Marmalade vs. Orange Marmalade: What’s the Difference?
Technically, a jam contains only the pulp, while a jam contains the pulp and the rind (skin). They often make jams with citrus fruits like oranges.
You could say that jams are a subset of jams, because all jams are jams, but not all jams are jams.
Some jams are smooth (the skin is mixed with the pulp to form a smooth jelly), while others have chunks.
Our orange marmalade above is a smooth marmalade because we used both the peel and the pulp of the orange and mixed it all together.
Which oranges are best?
In traditional orange marmalade, you must use oranges that are rich in pectin. Seville oranges are the default choice.
These oranges have seeds and white pieces that are incredibly bitter. These are the pieces that contain pectin, which is responsible for creating thick jelly-like jams.
Since we use a different method to thicken the jam with our orange marmalade, you can use any type of orange you have on hand. We advise you to choose a sweet variety and one without seeds.
A sweet orange reduces the amount of sweetener you need to use in our recipe, while a seedless variety is easier to clean up.