Grapefruit and tangerines can also be made into a citrus blend marmalade, or done seperatly.

I got a recipe for Tangerine Marmalade that I want to try out. I notice the recipe doesn't tell me how much it makes. (actually the recipe doesn't even give any processing information but I'm figuring I can look in the ball complete book when I get it and see what I should do.

Here is the tangerine marmalade recipe I found.

4 lb tangerines
4 lb granulated sugar

peal the skin from the tangerines in large pieces, Set aside. Squeeze juice from pulp, discard pulp. Reserve juice. Simmer peal in water to cover for 10-12 minutes. Drain and cover peal in cold water, soak overnight.

Drain peal and chop medium fine. In heavy saucepan, combine peel, reserved juice and sugar. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently for 25-30 minutes until thick.

No mention of pectin either. It looks like a traditional 5 cup recipe, but with that much sugar might bea little larger. You can substitute any kind of citrus in any recipe for marmalade. Clementine oranges are soon going to be showing up. They sell those in little wooden boxes.

About a year ago I bought a place with a lot of citrus. The lemons and limes are never a problem, since few fruit ripen at once, so we have either limes or lemons all year long, and we use them fresh. If I have a basket that needs to be used I juice and freeze in ice cube containers and put the cubes in zip lock bags. I do not even need to label, lime juice is slightly green...

Oranges, tangerines, mineolas and grapefruits are another story. I did try canning them (slices in syrup) and will not be doing this again. We did not like it at all. I ended up composting the whole lot and saving the canning jars for other uses.

I froze a few slices in zip lock bags, mainly for minneolas. This was very good and I have added them to fruit salads in the summer when there is no citrus. I might do this again but I notice that we do not use so much of it as the frozen juice.

I have one large juice orange tree, one giant minneola, one large tangerine and a medium bitter sour orange with lots of seeds. We juiced most of those and froze the juice in recycled clean plastic bottles (like for Gatorade or soft drinks). Even though this takes some freezer space, it is by far my favorite way to preserve citrus. We were drinking our own orange juice often all the way until August. I will be making more space in the freezer and do more juice freezing.

The other thing we did was marmalade. The bitter oranges are very good for this because they have a lot of seeds. Seeds have the pectin, so you do not have to buy pectin. You need to get little bags collect the seeds, boil with the seeds and take them out the next day. I used all the grapefruits this way (they are not very good grapefruits but were great on the marmalade), the bitter oranges, some sweet oranges (I did not mention I also have navel oranges, but those get eaten fresh mostly), meyers lemons and eureka lemons. It was very good, even though we made two batches and one did not gel. Thus was created the mixed citrus syrup which I actually use more often than the marmalade since it goes well in all sorts of sauces and marinades. In any case, the marmalade also makes nice gifts, I already have requests for more and I love it myself, so I will be making it again. I think I remember what I did differently on the gel and the no gel batches....

The other thing I do is, since I do have a GIANT minneola tree, I take a large brown bag of it weekly and set on a table for my coworkers. I work in a large place, so they get eaten. Any of you in the LA area that might want minneolas in a few weeks? just send me an email.

Another nice citrus is the Ugly fruits. Kind of look like a bad grapefruit, but have a very juicy sweeter taste. My mom made a batch of Ugly marmalade years ago. My dad used to get lots of Cumquats for her to make marmalade too. Here, am lucky enough to just barely grow figs, and peaches/plums and apricots. This past spring we had a late frost, and it damaged many of the early plum blossoms, even though I attempted to cover the whole tree with a plastic fabric. My fig was out in the garden too and had a few frost damaged leaves. There was just 2 plums on the peach/plum/apricot tree.

My citrus at this time of year - mostly lemons and limes, with the mandarins almost gone. I found this combination to be quite reasonable - and except for the abundance of mandarins - we manage to clean up most of the rest - either fresh or frozen, and as you do - in marmalades.

I was curious - because you mention - no citrus in summer ?? My best producing orange tree is a Valencia - which has a thinner skin than the winter orange - Washington navals, with fruit ripening and becoming sweeter as the weather warms up. In this way, we do have citrus all year round without having an enormous abundance at any one time of year. The juice oranges are so sweet - and much preferred over the naval types.

I don't grow grapefruit in our coastal climate - there just isn't enough high heat to ripen them - and they are much too sour. I prefer to visit my local desert (Anza Borrego) and pick up some of their nice pink/red grapefruit - so sweet and worth the trip.

Just my 2 c's.

Bejay

Bejay, very interesting about the Valencias. I do not know the details about every citrus at either place (the person who could have told me a lot is deceased).

I have a tree that I think is Washington navel, and they are ripening now (yum yum). Small tree and another baby one that is not producing yet. We have no trouble eating them fresh but they all ripen within a month or so. The Meyers lemons seems to produce constantly (flowers and ripe fruit coexist on the tree) all year long. It looks to be a very old tree. I love it. Same for the Eureka lemons. The Key lime has about 7-8 month production, Beers lime not sure yet since they are both still very young trees. OK, I have a keffir lime too, but no one cares about the fruit and it is still a baby anyway (it is just for the leaves that I got it)

However, the juice oranges, the tangerines, minneolas and grapefruit seem to ripen all within a month or so, starting about a couple of weeks ago until maybe march for the minneolas. I would love an orange tree that has staggered continuous production all year long. I have no oranges at all during the summer (I have juice in my freezer though!) You say the Valencias are like this? We also planted a blood orange but it is still a baby, so don't know about this one yet. I hear you on the grapefruits, I have the white type (sour and bitter so it goes into marmalade with good results), the red ones do not do well here, not hot enough.

Here in So Cal -- citrus time is all the time! Heck, even orange time can be all the time. Check out this quote from the link below:
"With a staggered planting of early, midseason and late navels and Valencias, one could expect to harvest oranges almost year-round."

Here is a link that might be useful: DWN: Garden Compass: Tantalizing Citrus

Reporting here from Florida .
Valencias ripen by May/June - fabulous for juice or fresh eating
Persian lime bears in the summer .
Brown turkey fig fruits in July and again in October.
Satsumas ripen early December .
Parson Browns follow .
Navels are ready in January/February .
Honeybells ( Minneola Tangelo ) ripe in January .
By now the Hamlins are coming into a good flavor .
Tangerines best in January/February .
Myers lemons ( actually not a true lemon ) ripen November and stay until the Spring .
Grapefruit begin December and I am still picking them in May/June .
We enjoy fresh fruit from November through August .
That may change as I planted Guavas , Blueberries and a Pomegranate tree recently .

our Grapefruit is some type like Ruby Red or something. I really like it but then again, I like kumquats and Loquats. I do like that the grapefruit can stay on the tree a long time and keep well that way too. I'm actually less likely to eat an orange or tangerine than I am the grapefruit.

Reading this post I can only gnash my teeth. Here in the frozen tundra we call Michigan (waves to Annie) I quietly weep looking at the price of citrus.

Another use for citrus is homemade skin toner. Combine 1 part dried citrus peel and 1 part oatmeal. Whir in a blender until powdered. Mix with a small amount of yogurt and honey until it's a bit like cold cream in texture. Test a small amount on a bit of skin in case you react poorly to it, though most don't. Gently rub into skin and rinse with warm water.

Citrus bath "salts"

1 part dried Orange peel, CS (Cut and Sifted)
1 part dried Orange flowers, WH (Whole)
1 part dried Lemon peel, CS
1 part Comfrey leaves, CS
1 part Camomile, WH
1 part Almond meal (ground almond)

Put a large handful in the toe of an old stocking and close the stocking with a rubber band or twist tie. Drop in bathwater. If you can't find comfrey and camomile you can substitute camomile teabags.

You can also make citrus flavored sugar.

Combine the zest of 3 lemons with 1 cup of sugar in a food processor or blender. Pulse until the zest is finely chopped. Place in a bowl. Add 1 more cup of sugar and mix until well combined. Spread the sugar on a cookie sheet and let dry. Place in a covered jar and put in fridge. You can use orange zest for this as well. (The lemon sugar makes the most amazing ginger cookies you'll ever taste. Well, at least I think so.)

Homemade citrus extract-

zest of one lemon or 1/2 a large orange (in strips not grated)
1/2 cup vodka
1/4 cup water

Chop the zest add to vodka and water in a covered jar. Let flavor develop for at least a week before using.

Make sure storage jars are sterilized.
Do not store in sunlight.

The book I got this from says it's good for a year but I confess I've never tried it.

One of my favorite uses for lime and lemon juice - is to make lemon or lime salt. I think I posted this before. Both of these citrus improve food flavors to me, either as a juice added to fruits - such as canning in simple syrups or eaten fresh.

But also - lemon and lime salt can be added to cooked meat, fish, veggies to enhance their flavors as well. We love it.

I squeeze the juice - adding zest - mix with salt to form a stiff paste. Our preference is iodized. It is best to put the lime/lemon/salt mixture into a glass or stainless steel plate. It can be dehydrated in a slow oven, or dehydrator. I usually start it in a low 170 degree oven until it begins to dry quite a bit, then transfer to the dehydrator - to prevent scorching or over-cooking, which would alter the taste.

Sometimes I also use this method to make garlic or onion salt - whenever I have an over-abundance of these at harvest time - or it looks as if they won't make it until the next planting time or use.

I grow my own garlic - so it is re-planted every year and while it keeps quite a long time in a braid dried naturally, sometimes it is best to salvage if it won't keep until the next planting.

Just my 2 c's.

Bejay

Cabrita - your bitter oranges with lots of pips sound a lot like the Seville oranges we get imported in January from Spain. They are not very attractive, often greenish and all shapes and sizes but they are the classic marmalade orange. You've reminded me to place my order soon. The season is very short. We're on the last few jars from last January. Daughter has just returned to Uni with a jar of marmalade and, thanks to this forum, a jar of apple pie jam to help her studies.

The Seville and a cumquat make for a super marmalde. The high pectin content in cumquats helps it set up faster. They even make cans of Seville bitter orange peels with concentrated juice. You simply add a ton of sugar, water, and some pectin and you have marmlade. My dad had bought a couple of these big cans and used one to make the cumquat marmalade which came out really good. If the store bought cans are left unopened for too long the orange color darkens to a brown color.

I like to make a big batch of candied grapefruit skins - you make it the same way you make crystallized ginger or candied ginger. It doesn't require freezer space and it uses up a lot of fruit.

Flora, not sure if they are 100% Seville, I think maybe a cross? They do make great marmalade but I also add some grapefruit and lemon for extra sour-bitterness. I have had what we call Seville oranges here in Florida, they were planted by the first Spanish explorers and grow wild now a days in many areas in the state of Florida. They are so bitter they are not really edible by themselves. Our oranges that I described here can be juiced and I drink the juice as it is (pretty tart but I can drink it), I could not do this with Florida Seville oranges. Who knows though? perhaps the original Seville oranges from Spain evolved in Florida to produce this very bitter and sour fruit but they are still edible in Spain?

First I was not too keen on these oranges mostly because of the bitterness and so many pits (pips) and then last year I found out the pits contain the pectin and they work so well for marmalade. I really like them now. I should be harvesting a whole bunch in a couple of weeks or so. Marmalade should help everybody's studies!

Cabrita - The 'Sevilles' we get sound a lot like the ones you refer to as coming from the Spanish settlers. They are great for marmalade but are far too sour to eat raw or make juice.

I have alot of grapefruit juice in the freeze, and marmalade in the pantry. I also made 4 qts. of sorbet.

I made lemon curd that turned out excellent and frezzes well. Think I'll try the citrus salt.

katykelly -

I think you will like the citrus salt. One word, however, it is quite pungent - so go light when using it.

My GD said I was using too much salt in cooking (she does have diet "ideas" - thinking that "fat" is a nasaty word).

I realized that I had to use a lot less than regular salt anyway, as it does taste more salty - or perhaps because it is fresh.

One idea came to mind also - on working with salts in cooking, such as brines, etc., I found that the finer the salt the saltier it tastes. As a result, when using salt to cure meat/poultry it is best to use coarse salt.

So when you make citrus salt, the juice and salt are dried, and the dried "cake" is ground in the blender so as to pass through a shaker. This, of course, makes the salt very fine, and that might contribute to the salt tasting "saltier."

About lemon curd - if you use limes in that recipe, it would make a "great" lime pie filling - just be sure to add a lot of zest to it.

Just my 2 c's.

Bejay