Kitchen Trick #3: Orange Peel Candle

This is a pretty cool little craft. I love having candles burning in my apartment. I think they just make everything more cheery... something I really need in this never-ending New York winter. I stumbled upon this on Pinterest and decided to try it out. It took a couple oranges to get a usable half, but it ended up burning for a pretty decent amount of time and, to be honest, it looked awesome.


The hardest part is peeling the orange (or you could use a clementine). I used a knife to cut a line around the equator. I tried to just cut through the rind. I'm not sure if that makes things easier, but I figured it might help to not having juice spraying everywhere.

Now the difficulty comes in removing the rind without tearing it AND pulling out enough "wick" in one piece to make a burn able candle. I used my finger to slowly work the rind away from the flesh of the orange.
When you get a workable half without any holes, fill the bowl with olive oil. I poured it directly onto the wick and let it sit for a few minutes. Light the wick. It took a few times of relighting before it began burning consistently.

I would recommend putting it on a plate or something considering the fact that you are essentially burning an orange peel, but it didn't pose a major fire hazard, and when the olive oil burnt out the flame went out on its own. Just use your head you little pyro you ;)