Candied Orange and Lemon Peel

I was thinking of doing something sweet for Christmas, and i've always liked candied orange, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I did take a photo of the 3 oranges and 2 lemons peeled that I will use in the smoothie maker, so they are sitting in the fridge.

I will let them dry out, they suggest overnight, then may consider dipping an end in chocolate, or just putting in bags.

There is this video:

Which looks pretty straight and simple, I particularly like the use of the syrup for enhancing other things. I can add some to the smoothie maker.
There was this video too, and I thought that double blanching to take the bitterness out was a good idea, especially with the pith:

Although he does recommend 3 blanchings. I actiually did a couple for about 10 minutes each.
 I do like his idea of the oils in the skin, so may consider doing an orange or lemon tincture later
This video shows a great way to get regular skins, I like the idea of it and will try peeling them this way next time.
I also like the idea of maybe being a bit light n the blanching to add a bit of bitterness to them.

These look absolutely cool, although there is a big process to go through for making them over a few days, the instructions are in the description below:

The orange slices dipped in chocolate in this vid is so cool. This is great presentation,

Results

I was  so pleased I went and bought some more oranges. I wanted to do some more.
The sugared ones I need to dry, initially I dried on the baking sheet with a towel over, then transferred to a couple of containers with paper towel under and translucent lid and put in the sun, leaving lid loose to let the moisture out, then finally into a big S/S bowl and left in the sun.

I cut all shapes and sizes so they were not consistant, so I ended up with a lot that were too small to dip in chocolate.

One thing that was really great was the syrup. I sued the orange flavoured syrup on pancakes and it was really, really nice. Definitely worth keeping for using as a condiment. 

 2nd batch

 After making the first batch I want to make a more even size so that I can give them as presents.

I also have 2 types of chocolate, milk and white. So I want to test both of those out, so instead of suger coating put white and milk chocolate either end and package them.
 the pot was a little small for 5 oranges worth of peel, and I boiled twice to take away the bitterness.
I'm also thinking I may try using the air fryer to dry out the peel quicker so can dip earlier.
The chocolate I'm melting in the microwave, that seems to do the trick, and I use a spoon to lift some out so I can dip the peel in it.

I used 2 cups of sugar & 2 of water to simmer the rind in. It broke up a bit but I think I was simmering it for way too long, but I wanted a good infusion.
I ended up with almost 500ml of orange infused syrup this time around. Maybe a present for Zoe, as its Gluten Free.

I'm using the air fryer as an air dryer for the peel. It definitely shrinks the peels. Initially I had it at 120 deg C for 10 mins, but it seems to work better at 140 deg C for 10 minutes (more shrinkage, so better drying). I'll put the peel back in again for another period of dehydration before I dip in choc sauce. I'm on my 4th of 5 batches , I'm only covering the bottom, not heaping the peel in. Maybe 2nd drying batches can be bigger.
The oranges I chose were big, so some had a thick pith to them, that I left. This gives a bit of astringent after taste, so the chocolate coating will help a bit. Maybe I should gift small packets?

End result

Little bags of them, some in freezer and others I think I'll store in fridge. 

3rd Batch 8 jan 20

I decided to have another go as people seem to enjoy them. This time I went with the Japanease video. I started with 8 oranges and peeled into quarters, and left as quarters and boiled for 10 minutes in water. Then plunged the peel into cold water. The inner pulp wasn't quite soft enough but I took a knife to them and filleted them, to remove as much pith as possible.

I then weighed the orange peel at about 550g so put as much sugar in with a little bit of water to cover the peel. That I boiled for about 10 minutes.
I'm trying to make sure I dont overcook them as they fall apart.
I then laid them out on trays and put in the oven to dry (and to keep fly's away as its summer).