Substitute for Bitter Orange Peel?

"Roger Dubet" wrote in news:xfN5b.3307$I snipped-for-privacy@news20.bellglobal.com:

Just steep the orange peel (with none of the white inners) for the last

You're thinking of sweet oranges. Bitter orange peel is used for, well, bitterness.

---------->Denny

Denny Conn wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@all.com:

ahhhh gotcha...told you i'd be wrong :)

You might want to get a bag or organic oranges. Conventionally grown oranges might have pesticide residue on the peel. This isn't a problem if you just plan on eating the orange, but it will be a problem if you scrape the peel off.

That being said, the standard method is to use something like a cheese grater to take the orange part off, leaving you with a white orange.

Ray Drouillard

success?

I just brewed a whit using regular orange peel. I bought an orange peeled it. Fed the orange to the wife and chopped up all the peel. I threw the peel in with 5 minutes left in the boil. I have to say that my whit is one of my favorite beers ever, but it may not be to style. Never having tried a real whit because I can't find one in my area I can't say it tastes like a whit, but it sure is a very refreshing ale on a hot summer day.

i would assume you need a bitter orange to get bitter orange peel, the native orange to Florida is bitter...it is VERY VERY different from other oranges (anatomy, size, taste, etc)...as far as getting ahold of some...couldn't tell yuh.........

Seville oranges are bitter oranges. I know they aren't too hard to find over here in the UK. Do a google on Seville oranges for more info!

HTH,

Shaun aRe

I made a Witbier that was good enough to win some local county fair competitions (1st place). I didn't have dry bitter orange so did a 2:1 mix of a navel orange and lemon, right from the local store. For a ten gallon batch I had 4oz of Orange and 2oz. of Lemon. Used the smallest side of a grater to just get the zest, used about six oranges and three or so lemons. If I did it again I would include an ounce or so of lime also. I dumped it in just as I killed the flame and dropped in the wort cooler.

I don't know what a Hoegaarden is but the above substitution worked well for a Wit. Had a great aroma.

Rick

Roger Dubet wrote:

The trouble is, they have a very short season: I often miss the end-of-January marmalade-making ritual by a whisker. I think it would work to zest them and then freeze the zest in small packets. I freeze the oranges whole without much detriment to the marmalade even months later.

Kumquats, though, seem to be available for most of the year: their peel might make a good, though less powerful, substitute. I'd even be inclined to try an experimental brew with the peel minced without separating the white pith: after all, it *is* the bitterness we're looking for, and on kumquats the pith is very thin.

Mike.