Proceso de elaboracion de mermelada

Marmalade Making Process

Marmalade making is very similar to jam making but the rind needs much longer cooking so more water is required. The fruit is simmered until the rind is soft and thevolume of liquid has reduced by about half. Jelly marmalades are made in the same way but are also strained through a jelly bag after the fruit has been cooked and rind strips are then added.

Developinga tasty jam is a complex process which requires an optimal balance between sugar concentration, the amount of pectin and acidity.

The ingredients to make marmalade are:

• Fruit: The first thingto consider is the fruit should be as fresh as possible. Often used a mixture of ripe fruit (when fruit ripening has just begun the results are more satisfactory).Overly ripe fruit might notappropriate to prepare marmalades as they do not gel very well.

The most common fruits used in the development of marmalade are: papaya, strawberry, pineapple, apple, raspberry and pear.

• Sugar: Isan essential ingredient. It plays an important role in the gelling of the marmalade when combined with pectin.
It is important to note that the concentration of sugar marmalade should prevent bothfermentation and crystallization.

In general, the best combination for maintain quality and achieve proper gelling and tasty marmalade is usually obtained when 60% of the weight end of the jam comesfrom added sugar. The resulting marmalade will contain a higher sugar percentage because of the natural sugar within the fruit. A lower than 60% sugar percentage may translate in a sooner fermentationof the marmalade, thus in the earlier development of fungi; on the other hand if there is a higher than 68% percentage, sugar will crystallize during storage.

When sugar is cooked in an acidmedium, a process known as the sucrose inversion occurs, splitting it into two carbohydrates (fructose and glucose) that retard or prevent the crystallization of the sucrose in the marmalade, proving to...