8 Easy Ideas And Recipes Using Oranges (2024)

FAQs

Can you freeze oranges? ›

If you find yourself with a bounty of our favorite sweet citrus fruits and you run out of orange desserts to make, you can stash your extra oranges in the freezer to enjoy later.

Pack orange pieces into containers. Cover fruit with cold, heavy syrup (40% sugar, see Table 2 in Canning Oranges section) made with excess fruit juice or water. Keep the orange pieces submerged in the syrup by placing a small piece of crumpled waxed paper on top of the fruit in each container.

Dip a cut orange in coarse, raw sugar and gently scrub your skin with it to exfoliate. “The coarse sugar removes the dead skin and oils and juices from the orange soften the skin,” one Taste of Home editor says. You can try this on your face, hands, and feet.

Are there any risks? Oranges are great for you, but you should enjoy them in moderation, Thornton-Wood said. Eating in large quantities "could give you gastrointestinal symptoms if you are sensitive to the high fiber content, so [it's] best to have no more than one a day," she said.

Oranges will not ripen or get sweeter after picking, so it is important to use fresh, ripe oranges. Smoothies are a popular way of using frozen fruit but frozen citrus can also be used in cakes and baked goods if a recipe calls for puréed oranges. Frozen oranges will stay fresh for 6 months to 1 year.

However, freezing produce can alter the nutritional content. Water-soluble vitamins, like vitamin C and B may leach during the initial blanching process. Additionally, storing produce in the freezer for too long may cause freezer burn during which cell walls rupture.

Citrus is a winter crop, and oranges love the cold — not freezing temperatures, but a definite chill. When the mercury dips into the 30s in the San Joaquin Valley, the cold actually makes oranges sweeter.

Orange peels make a home smell cozy and clean. You can boil orange peels with mulling spices like cinnamon and cloves to send a fresh autumnal aroma through the air. Boiling orange peels with lemon and grapefruit peels create a fresh, vibrant, and energizing aroma that makes your house smell clean and pristine.

You can make a natural cleaner for your home just using old oranges and vinegar. Cut off as much of the white part of the rind as possible, says Nate Masterson, head of natural product development for Maple Holistics. Then put the peels in a jar of vinegar and let it sit for two weeks, shaking the container once a day.

Peels CBD Oil is specially derived from orange peels, making it the purest and safest option for CBD usage on the planet. It is molecularly identical to CBD made from hemp plants. Peels CBD Oil is also free from pesticides, heavy metals, mycotoxins, and bacteria.

What to do with too many oranges? ›

The most obvious way to use up a surplus of oranges is to make orange juice. You can either use a juicer or simply squeeze the oranges by hand. Freshly squeezed orange juice is delicious and healthy, and can be enjoyed any time of day.

To prolong the freshness of this classic citrus fruit, store oranges in your refrigerator. Oranges purchased by the bag will often come in a mesh bag which can be placed directly in the crisper drawer of your fridge. The mesh bag allows air to flow and help maintain oranges' freshness.

But due to its acidity, you must choose the right, acidic-loving plants to use it on. 'Orange peels are a great way to add nutrients to your garden, they can add nutrients to your soil, which aids in the growth and maintenance of your plants,' says Petar Ivanov, gardening expert at Fantastic Gardeners.

Oranges are a vitamin-packed and healthy food, but moderation is key. They have a high concentration of acid, which can be irritating to the stomach, especially if you have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Oranges are high in potassium, so if you're on beta-blockers, eating too many can lead to kidney damage.

Orange slices can be packed in fruit juice or into a syrup depending on your preference. Additional Details can be found here on the National Center for Home Preservation Website. I choose to pack mine in a very light syrup (1/2 C of white sugar to 5 cups water) and this made plenty for the 6 pounds I canned.

You can dehydrate any variety of oranges!

Smaller oranges like mandarins (think clementines and satsumas) are great for co*cktail and drink garnishes. Larger oranges are good for garlands and simmer pots. Depending on your project, it can be fun to have a variety of colors, too!