Seville Oranges

[Odsox]

I just spent some of the morning chopping up 1.5 Kg of Seville oranges and removing about 1.5 zillion pips.
Which of course got me wondering, has anyone on here grown Sevilles from a pip?
I've grown a variety of citrus seedlings from pips over the years and grew a satsuma to fruiting stage but never a Seville orange.
The climate of Seville looks very similar to my polytunnel, so maybe we shall see.

[littlemissrose]

Wow nice challange. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[bonniethomas06]

Sorry not sure Tony, only one way to find out! I wonder if they graft citrus in the same way as other fruit.

What were you doing with all of those oranges - marmalade?

[Odsox]

Yes they do graft citrus fruit, that was why I grew a clemantine from a pip figuring small oranges = small tree. Which turned out to be true and I managed to keep it to about 6 feet tall. If I get a pip to germinate I'll grow it in a pot to "bonsai" it a bit.
I just made 19 x 1 lb jars of marmalade which should last us for 2 years (along with lemon & lime, red grapefruit, sweet orange and lemon & ginger (that one all home grown))

[bonniethomas06]

aaaarghhh amazing! We have a fruit and veg wholesaler down the road, I might see what they have - you have whetted my marmalade whistle. Have never made marmalade before.

[Odsox]

Seville oranges make the best marmalade by far, but they are only available for a week or so in mid January, so now.
But other types make a nice change.

[bonniethomas06]

crikey, better get my skates on then

[ina]

Seville oranges also make a nice aperitif - with sugar, brandy and red wine...

[Weedo]

Rough or smooth Sevilles? Nearly impossible to find or buy a Seville orange tree in Oz and if you can, you need to mortgage your firstborn to be able to afford it

[diggernotdreamer]

I bought 10kg of organic seville oranges last year, they are hard to find I can tell you. I still have a lot in the freezer, made some marmalade the other day and sold the lot the next day, people love the real deal

[Odsox]

I still have a lot in the freezer

Have you made any marmalade with frozen ones yet DnD ?

I tried that and failed miserably.
Last year I divided the prepared oranges into 2 lots, made marmalade with one and froze the other. Got the frozen ones out a few months back and whatever I did it wouldn't set.
I don't normally have problems, I just raise the temperature to between 104.5 & 105 degrees C and get a perfect set each time, but not with the ones out of the freezer.

I don't mind too much as I'm having a little runny marmalade poured over my muesli every morning

[diggernotdreamer]

Yes, I made the marmalade the other day with frozen oranges, I did them in the pressure cooker, you have to increase the quantity of fruit by 10% and the cooking time in the pressure cooker by 5 minutes, so I guess that would be more in a regular pan, I didn't have any lemons, so I added a tablespoon of my home made apple cider vinegar, got it to set point and it was perfect.

[Odsox]

I think I may be under Miss Apprehension with this pressure cooker marmalade.
Am I right in thinking you just cook (soften) the peel in the pressure cooker and then bring to a set with the lid off?
I was assuming that the whole process was done under pressure and couldn't understand how you could judge setting point in a closed pressurised container.

[diggernotdreamer]

yes, sorry, you only cook the oranges in the pressure cookers under pressure, then the lid comes off and you add the sugar and proceed as normal