Mark IV Pomelo Marmalade

Pomelo (other spellings are available) is a wonderful citrus fruit, but sadly has a brief season. It is only available in New Zealand from December to February, so if you want to enjoy pomelo-ey goodness throughout the year, it must be preserved.

Fortunately, it makes great marmalade, which keeps exceptionally well.

Unfortunately, making marmalade is difficult and time-consuming.

Inspired by the great philosopher, Garfield the cat, and by his paean to idleness being the mother of invention "you can bet that power-steering wasn't invented by a bodybuilder," I offer the fourth iteration of my recipe, optimised to use as little of my time and effort as possible.

The whole process takes several days, but it should only take about twenty minutes of actual time.

Ingredients

3 pomelo
3 pounds of sugar (1.25 kg)

Equipment

Mincing machine
Crock pot
Knife

Details

One pomelo weighs about 800g, (about one pound, twelve ounces)

I like runny marmalade, so I use ordinary granulated sugar. If you prefer a more jelly-like texture, then add some pectin or use jam-making sugar.

The mincer should be set to the coarsest setting. I wish that there were a much coarser one, but making that would be another Instructable.

Ear-plugs!!!!! The mincer is a very good piece of kit, but it is very loud. I use and recommend Moldex Spark-Plugs, with no connection other than as a satisfied customer.

The stalk attachment should be cut out and discarded.

Then chop the fruit into fingers. This is fairly quick as the pieces just need to be small enough to fit into the throat of the mincer.

To make things easier and save time, just put the bowl of the slow-cooker directly under the output of the mincer.

Once things get going max-chat, there will be some spray of juice from the mincer output. A sheet of cooking foil will act as a spray guard and keep all that juicy wonderful-ness from going to waste.

Once the fruit has all been minced, add as much of the sugar as will fit the bowl while allowing the lit to sit on top.

And cook.

and cook some more.

I usually leave this lot for about two days, stirring it every twelve hours or so. The photographs show how the colour changes as time passes.

The mass of fruit will settle as it cooks, so whenever you open the bowl up and give it a stir, add as much of the sugar as will fit until it is all there.

At the end of two days, the contents should be almost pitch black.

This process does take a long time, but it is worth it, and your home will smell _amazing_ while it is happening.

Standard bottling process:-

Thoroughly wash and rinse the jars and lids
Put the jars in a 100C (210F) oven for half an hour to dry and sterilise
Simmer the lids
Handle the hot jars carefully
Handle the hot liquid carefully

Once the jar is filled, wipe the outside clean of any spillage.

Label, and be sure to include the YEAR of manufacture. I am still eating the last jar of my 2014 batch, so it has a decent shelf-life if you take care to be sterile in the bottling.

This is delicious, but it tastes even better after it has matured in the cupboard for a month or two.

To keep you going while you wait, take a teaspoon and scrape the inside of the crock-pot. This should yield a gram or two of the most amazing fruit toffee.

Then put the jars in the cupboard and wait for a couple of months.

Leaving the bowl and implements to soak in hot soapy water makes later clean up a five-minute job.

Good luck, and let me know how you get on.