[Sca-cooks] candied orange peel

[Johnna Holloway]

Johnnae commented:
Since it's winter and the bitter and blood oranges should be coming into
 the markets, I am getting ready to do up some more candied oranges and 
peels.

>Stefan asked--
>For candied orange peels have you found that using the less common and more expensive bitter and blood oranges makes a differance? Or is this just because you had them around from making the candied oranges? I imagine that using bitter or blood oranges would make a big differance there.
>Stefan
>
To which Master C commented-- I don't remember which ones she brought to 
pinnsic but they were tasty.

Chirhart
----------
Sorry to take so long to be back on the list and reply to this.
Holidays and mundane things like broken water heaters happened this week.

To answer Stefan--
Yes, Bitter oranges have a different quality of peel and are more aromatic.
Blood oranges are smaller and I like them for the contrasting colors that one
finds. They range from pink to pale red to dark purple in terms of fruits,
so they make a colorful display when candied. The peels are a by-product.
Actually there is wide variety of quality in terms of peels depending on
where the fruit is coming from, variety, time or season of year, etc.
Naval oranges and their peels (which is what I brought to Pennsic) can vary widely over
the course of the year. Of course I intensively candy and then dry mine out so that the peel
keeps well through the humid times of a Michigan summer. 
What I have been doing is that every morning I peel an Orange for my
son's lunchbag. I wrap the fruit then in saran or cling wrap and send it to
school with him. The peel gets put in a ziplock plastic bag in the freezer.
I save them up until I get enough to do a batch. It's thrifty and makes use
of what would normally be tossed out. It takes about 6 weeks or 30 oranges before
I will do up a batch. 
(Navals aren't the most historic of fruits, but I can't see not using what is
available.) Thanks Master C. for the endorsement. Glad you liked them

Johnnae llyn Lewis