Can Jam January: Citrus - Meyer Lemon Marmalade

I love pickles, I love kraut, I love chutneys, I love jam and I love to can. I am a reader of Tigress in a Jam and Tigress in a Pickle blogs and I recently came across her Can Jam challenge. Unfortunately, I was in a work coma during November and December and I missed the sign up for this challenge. Darn. But I am still trying to participate. Of course, I am now posting my January entry for this challenge. (You all must be thinking… this girl really needs to get it together.) I think it is the effort that counts in the end. I really never thought I would ever be canning anything in January… I should start a can of the month club to distribute these goodies. Anyway, here it is. Meyer Lemon Marmalade… ta-da

Meyer Lemon Marmalade
Adapted from Joy of Cooking

Makes 4-6 8-oz jars of marmalade

3 pounds Meyer Lemons, washed and dried
2 cups water
4 Meyer lemons, juiced and strained
2-3 cups sugar

Scrub and clean the lemons. Peel the Lemons removing as much as the zest as possible while leaving behind as much of the pith as possible. Chop the remaining zest. Peel remaining pith from each lemon. Cut the lemons in half; remove the seeds; and crush/juice them. Combine zest, pulp and 1 cup of water in a bowl and refrigerate overnight.

Combine 2 cups of sugar, pulp/zest, water and the juice of two lemons in a pot and boil until and cook until the marmalade reaches a temperature (as measured by a candy thermometer) of 220 – 222° Fahrenheit. Taste and stir marmalade occasionally during the cooking process and add sugar as needed “to taste”. I sweeten just over my “taste preference because at the end of cooking I add some more juice to “freshen” the lemon flavor. I usually am not a fan of commercial jams and marmalades because I think the use too much sugar and much of the fruit flavor is lost. So like all good cook I am constantly tasting and adding sugar (or other ingredients depending on the recipe) to taste. During this process wash your jars, lids and rings and then place in a pot of boiling water for 15 minutes.

Once you have reached 220 on your thermometer turn off the heat and add the juice of the other two lemons. Ladle marmalade into sterilized jars, leaving ¼ inch head room. Run a knife around the inside of the jars to remove air bubbles; wipe rims of jars to remove any marmalade that got on the top of jars because any residual marmalade will break the seal. Put rings and lids on the jars and tighten. Put jars upright in large pot of boiling water and make sure they are covered. Boil water and process for 15 minutes. Remove jars and leave on the counters, listening for the “pop” sound indicating that the jars are sealed. Once cooled check and make sure that lids have sealed and tighten the rings.

*I have not tried this recipe out since Joy of Cooking suggests letting the marmalade sit for two weeks before opening to allow the zest to soften. I will update this entry once I have tried the marmalade.

I have been pouring over canning books to make my February selection.  Here is a link to the rest of the participants results!