At the farmer’s market this weekend, we shopped at the bulk section. One of the sales people let us taste some pink navel oranges they just trucked in from Florida. They are very sweet, and a little milder than regular oranges. Delicious. The man was selling big boxes – – about 40 pounds – – for $20. A good deal, but seeing that I just also bought 4 pounds of broccoli for a buck, 75 red bell peppers (got those for only $20), and a half box of lemons for $12, and a box of tomatoes for $7, I could not possibly process 40 pounds of oranges before they went bad. Another person eying the oranges offered to split the box with us, so that’s what we did. Twenty pounds of oranges is a lot of fruit, especially considering the six pounds of strawberries I forgot to mention above. I did make some orange bites with them, but frankly my dehydrator is so busy making sun dried tomatoes I needed another solution other than drying. Orange juice maybe? That’s a lot of squeezing. (Note to self – put electric juicer on birthday present list.) Then it hit me – – just section the oranges and can them.
The easiest way to prepare the oranges is to cut all the rind off of the outside, and then cut through the white vein in the middle. 
It’s actually really easy, and doesn’t make too much of a mess if you do it right. The cans of oranges turned out beautifully. I’m so proud! I can’t believe I didn’t try this before. Canning citrus is a great project for the beginner, because citrus is high-acid and isn’t fussy to can. I did have something happen to me that had never happened before – – one of my lids buckled. I looked it up, and apparently I tightened the jar too much. That can will for sure be going in the fridge, but the other four quarts of oranges will go in my pantry.
The process for canning oranges is very easy. I chose to use the lightest fruit syrup, which is 1/3 cup of sugar for each quart. For five quarts of oranges, bring to a boil 2 quarts of water with 2/3 cup of sugar.
Add oranges to each jar. Then, ladle hot syrup into jars over fruit. This step is very important – – run some kind of kitchen tool down the sides of the jar to make sure all of the air has been removed. Wipe down the rims of the jars, place lids and rims on the jars.
Water bath can for 10 minutes, then pull the jars out. Do not disturb the jars until cooled sealed. You will hear a “POP!” Very fun.
I’ll be doing this soon as I have an orange tree which is just coming into fruit. In past years, I would juice the oranges and freeze the juice in ice cube trays. It’s great to have orange juice ready for recipes. Now I will have actual oranges for snacking and salads, etc. How fabulous!
That’s great! We love having them on hand too!
We love having them on our shelf too!
can you can oranges with the rind on them?
There is a Ball recipe where oranges are canned with rinds in a honey lemon mixture so yes!
You can treat these like any canned fruit you get in the store. This recipe uses a light syrup. They are great for eating out of the jar, and if you have a recipe which calls for canned oranges, you can use these.
Can you eat them right out of the jar? Do you use them in recipes? How long will they stay good?