Candied Orange Peels: Tips

This is pretty much homemade candy. Chris, his dad, and his brother have a love affair with cheap orange slice candy and this was the alternative I found for them. I've been making these for a few years now and learn something new about making them every time. I got the recipe from the one and only Martha Stewart.

My hard-won tips:

• Definitely remove the extra pith. If you have a particularly pithy orange, as I have once had and did not have this foresight, go through and remove the excess so that your slices are a 1/4" all around. See the photo below for an idea of how big that is.
• An easy way to remove pith is to boil your peels once before cutting them. This will soften them enough to easily scoop out your pith.
• I make a big deal about the pith, but also keep in mind that you don't need to remove it all. In fact, the slight bitterness is a nice contrast to the sweetness of the syrup and the richness of the dark chocolate (should you choose to dip them in chocolate later on, and you should, you really should).
• This isn't a "set it and forget it" recipe. Check on it often. I ruined a pot once...
• The reason for the multiple boils is to remove the bitter taste that orange peels have as well as the wax that many oranges have. I boiled my peels three times rather than two.
• Be patient.

 

• Finally, try to use organic oranges so you can avoid the wax and other additives that come with the non-organic variety. On this particular occasion, we were just given a huge bag of oranges off a friend's aunt's tree from Arizona!

And I know I said it before, but dip them in chocolate. It's a classic combination for a reason. Then tell me how awesome it is. And also how awesome making your own candy is.

These orange slices last two weeks, but I've never had them around for that long. They also make a great gift, but this time they're going straight to the Schulte boys' bellies.