What to use instead of orange
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
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Sweet acid in a marinade for grilled or braised pork and beef
The juice carries citric acid that loosens the surface of the meat and sugars that caramelise on the grill, which is where carne asada gets its dark edges.
Tangerine or mandarin juiceRan out
1/3 cup per medium orange
Sweeter and less sharp, so the crust darkens faster and can catch. Pull the meat a minute earlier than usual.
Lemon juice cut with water and sugarRan out
2 tbsp lemon juice + 2 tbsp water + 1 tsp sugar per medium orange
Cleaner and sharper on the tongue. Lemon is a full pH point more acidic, so the surface firms up within 20 minutes and the meat should not sit overnight.
Grapefruit juiceRan out
1/3 cup per medium orange
Bitter edge that suits pork fat. The bitterness concentrates as a braise reduces, so keep it to the marinade.
Carton orange juice plus fresh lemon zestRan out
1/3 cup juice + 1 tsp lemon zest per medium orange
Pasteurised juice has lost its top end and tastes flat on its own. The zest puts the aroma back and the acid level stays close.
What doesn't work: Pineapple juice. It reads like a fair trade on sugar and acid, but bromelain digests protein, and after an hour the outside of the meat goes to mush and cooks up pasty.
Sliced fruit steeping in a hot or cold drink
Peel oils leach into the liquid while the flesh gives a soft sweetness and mild acidity, which lands very differently from pouring in juice.
Clementines or mandarins, halvedRan out
2 small per orange
Thinner pith, so the pot picks up less bitterness over an hour on the heat. Sweeter, so cut added sugar by a third.
Lemon wheels plus sugarRan out
1 sliced lemon + 2 tsp sugar per orange
Sharper and more floral. Mulled wine tastes brighter and thinner, and the colour stays paler.
Dried orange slicesRan out
3 slices per fresh orange
Deeper and faintly candied, with a tea-like tannin off the dried pith. No fresh juice, so add 1 tbsp lemon juice to keep the acidity.
Wide peel strips plus a measured splash of juiceRan out
4 strips of peel + 1/4 cup juice per orange
Same result with control over the bitterness. Fish the peel out at 20 minutes and the pot never turns astringent.
What doesn't work: Bottled juice on its own. Almost all the aroma of an orange sits in the peel oil, so juice alone leaves the pot cloudy and sweet-sour with no perfume, and it goes metallic if it boils.