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Experiments in Preserving Oranges
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Completed 6 March 2004, for Baronial Arts & Sciences Championship, Barony of Southron Gaard I chose not to follow a single recipe for this project because each recipe had something that was impossible to do at this time. This ranged from soaking orange peels in water in full sunlight for twelve days (usually not a problem in February, but clearly not an option this year - 2004) to letting the oranges and syrup soak in the embers of a fire overnight (the gentle cooling is unable to be approximated with electric elements, and I do not own a crock pot or rice cooker). Fortunately the recipes all followed the same basic method (given below). However, while the different recipes all followed the same basic method, there were some variations in the suggested cut of the fruit, the time soaking and boiling in water to remove the bitterness in the fruit and the time boiling and soaking in the sugar solution. There were also variations in the sugar syrup with one method using honey, two including rosewater and one suggesting the addition of cinnamon.
The Basic Method The basic method for preserving fruit, based on the comparison of six recipes for preserving oranges (five 16th Century, one 17th Century) and one 20th Century general fruit preserving overview involves the following:
Ingredients There are also various differences between period ingredients and those available today. Our oranges are due to centuries of selective breeding, and our sugar is far more refined that period products (illustrated by the lack of any modern necessity to further refine the sugar syrup with eggwhites as directed in the period manuals). As a result the suggested amounts of sugar and various soaking/boiling times are not necessarily particularly valid with today’s ingredients. Having seen a sample of period style sugar, I was doubtful of the periodness of standard white table sugar. The sugar sample in the Museum of London was of a similar colour to coffee sugar, but of a texture similar to brown sugar when pressure moulded. As a result I ran several experiments with different sugar varieties in the hope of finding a more period end product
The First Experiment - Sugar Types I have chosen to keep the soaking time and the amount of sugar in relation to the amount of fruit constant, and in line with period directions, in order for them to act as a control as I vary the type of sugar for taste comparison. The idea here is to identify which variety of sugar results in the better taste with the oranges, and also to compare the sweetness of the different sugars. In order to avoid the situation of the sugar overwhelming the orange flavour, I will only lightly candy the fruit. The soaking water was changed daily, and the fruit slices were boiled for 15 minutes in the sugar syrup before being allowed to sit overnight in the cooling liquor.
At this point I suspect the majority of the recipes were for simply preserving the oranges for later cooking, not for making candied fruit. As a result, it will be necessary to experiment with recipes too, leaning towards those recipes requiring more sugar and longer soaking times (specifically the recipe ending with instructions to "make it to candy"). Things to alter include:
The Second Experiment - Fruit Shapes In this experiment I have chosen to use alterate shapes of fruit pieces to observe the differences in the final product. The experiment should also show which shapes hold up to the process of sugaring, and which shapes are more convenient for storage and later use. The fruit pieces are boiled in the sugar syrup for 15 minutes.
It appears that fruit needs to be perfect in order to survive the procedure as any bruised or over ripe turns a brown shade of the original and slimy. Also, thin slices survive the process in a better state than wedges and whole oranges. This combined with the fact the process is completed in less time makes the thin slices a better choice for making candied oranges.
The Third Experiement - Fruit One period recipe, and a 17th centry recipe mentioned sugaring lemons as well as oranges. Out of curiosity I tried my preferred recipe using lemons.
Very Tasty. Well worth doing again. The tartness of the lemons is a nice contradiction to the almost overwhelming sweetness of the sugar and rosewater combination. This leads to the question of whether slightly unripe oranges might be a good choice for sugaring in this manner.
The Fourth Experiment - Sugar Concentration Based on discoveries from the first experiment, this trial is designed to see whether increasing the sugar concentration and repeating the sugaring results in candied oranges.
Finally, candied. I will repeat this process for my entry to put in the Baronial Arts and Sciences Championship.
Other Observations After 48 hours soaking the fruit peels were changing colour (to a duller shade of the original), and softening significantly in those areas. This would indicate that further boiling to soften the rind is unnecessary. After 72 hours – some of the more dull areas have gone slightly browner and softer still. Not rotten, so will continue as planned. During boiling – the browner and softer areas disintegrated. With each change of the soaking water, the water was less noticeably scented with the orange or lemon oils. The final orange water discarded was noticeably green instead of the previous orange. The lemon water was still yellow. This technique appears to rely of osmosis – the movement of molecules across a semipermeable membrane in an attempt to equalise the concentrations on either side. The initial soaking to remove the bitter oils from the skin by using pure water, and the later boiling and soaking to encourage as much sugar as possible into the fruit by using a saturated sugar solution. On boiling the rind remains relatively constant, but the flesh expands as the fruit absorbs the additional syrup. This results in a convex fruit slice or a wedge with an almost rectangular cross section.
Results Ideally, I would like to make candied oranges using a saturated solution of Rock Sugar with a dash or two of Rosewater, and boiling the fruit in the sugar syrup several times. However, this is a tad too expensive at this time, right after my experiments. I’ll try the same method with White Table Sugar and Rosewater.
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