Orange Extract

Can't wait to use this delisciousness!!

With summer coming up, I hope to be able to try out some new and challenging recipes. However, as any good creative worker should know, you have to keep your audience in mind. My audience being the girls, fellow labmates and exceptionally friendly professors/instructors. Being that the girls love oranges, I figured that it would be worth investing some time into making orange extract to satiate their palette.




Although there are many ways to make an extract, the one listed below is how I made mine.

Orange Extract:
1.5 cups vodka (80 proof)
.5 cups water, hot
(5) quarters of orange peel
A little bit of citrus flavored alcohol

Preparing Orange Extract:

1. Sterilize a mason jar and keep sealed. Although it's possible that the alcohol from the extract would sterilize the jar for you, I wouldn't want to risk it. While you're at it, wash your oranges as well.
2. Quarter oranges and remove fruit from the peel. To remove the pith (bitter white fiber) from the peel, run the blade of a knife back and forth over the pith. Do not use a dull blade! It is more prone to slip.
3. As the blade runs back and forth over the pith, you'll notice that you'll start digging down towards the peel. Continue to remove pith until peel is all that remains.
4. Wash peel with cool water to remove microbes that may be lingering around. Place in jar.
5. Boil water for 1 minute to sterilize and give it a little bit of time to cool.
6. Pour hot water into jar and add alcohol. From what I understand, water and alcohol are polar solvents that have different extraction properties and using both helps the flavor.
7. Store for at least a week before use. (I believe that longer storage generates a more pronounced flavor.)

Upper Left: Quarters of orange peel, pithed; Upper Right: Pith removed from orange peel;
Lower Center: Minced orange peel for other uses