It depends on one's taste and preference and tolerance to heat level.
I have found out Manzano is best for me. Ripe manzano is meaty, juicy and fruity. Plus its heat level of 20 to 30k is what I can take. Being yellow I can use pineapple as base, with some orange peel to further enhance its flavor. I am not into the sper hots

I still have not tried my hand at straight-pepper jelly, but my favorite pepper for fruit/pepper jams is the brain strain 7pot. I imagine one could make a jam out of a few of those and a bunch of bell peppers.

I'm not sure I'd even like a straight pepper jam. it just sounds... weird. but then again sometimes I like weird. i dunno. but I digress.

Key things to consider:
1. What brand pectin to use (e.g., Certo or Ball) b/c they produce slightly diff. taste when canned
2. Pepper preparation. Meaning are you going to slice the pepper or chop for apperance purposes
3. How much pepper to put into mixture thus resulting in how much goes into each jar (e.g., 1cup vs. 2cup etc.). I have found 2cups (personal pref) to produce best overall results in that each container receives equal parts pepper/pectin

Once you get this into a repeatable process "what pepper" comes down to two things:
1. How hot can I stand taste-wise as flavor becomes intensified due to cooking process (e.g., secretion of oils)
2. How much tolerance due I have for smell while cooking b/c when you cook the peppers the smell (pepper combined with vinergar) is VERY powerful. And as the pepper heat level goes up (e.g., bell vs. ghost) so does smell.

I make three types:
1. Jalapeno
2. Orange Habanero
3. (When crazy) Scorpion/Ghost/Cayenne blend

Enjoy making/experimenting

jtight, I planned to use most of the pepper jelly as gifts for family and friends.
Other than that, I will just follow the recipe.

I do want to buy my jars and pectin early in the year.

One year in November, I had a big harvest of orange habs, but couldn't find any canning supplies.
I recently bought a canner pot with rack and then my MIL gave me hers, so now I have two. Just need pepper now.

I'm overwintering a Jamaican Hot Chocolate Pepper plant.
Would that work for jelly?

This post was edited by ruthz on Sun, Jan 5, 14 at 11:43

Just about any pepper would work you just need 1.5-2cuoa of it chopped/sliced a/ de-seeded

Hi Ruthz.

Pepper jams and jellies are a great way to use your peppers and the end result can be awesome. However, I strongly recommend you use tested and approved recipes. Producing a SAFE product should be the #1 goal. Be sure to pop over to the Harvest forum, do a few searches and find some recipes.

As far as which peppers to use, I would guess the jalapeno and the habanero are the most common, although ANY pepper can be used. IâÂÂd say grow what you like, then make a jelly with them lol.

You can do a pepper blend as well. One of the most popular recipes out there, Habanero Gold, uses a mix of jalapeno and habanero. You can adjust the âÂÂheatâ by changing the ratio of one to the other, as explained in the recipe.

I use lots of varieties, but my personal favorites for jams/jellies are Golden Habanero (which is a little hotter than an Orange Habanero), Red Habanero, Biker Billy Jalapeno and Fatali, both red and yellow.

Another thing to consider is color of the pepper. When I make the Hot âÂÂn Sweet Confetti jelly, I use a combination of red, green and gold peppers, which makes a visually pleasing, as well as tasty, jelly. ItâÂÂs probably the most requested jelly I make.

Now peppers for hot sauces, thatâÂÂs a different thread lol!

Rick

Habanero Gold

Here is a link that might be useful: Harvest Forum

That's beautiful, and congrats, Rick!

I like Caribbean reds and dried apricots.

rdback, that looks great.
Thanks for all the comments.

Do you have a instruction how to do this? I would love to make it

I make two kinds of pepper jelly. One with just the vinegar/sugar/pepper/pectin base and the other using wine instead of vinegar. And I use good wine - I feel that if I wouldn't drink it straight, it will ruin the rest of the ingredients.

I make jellies for each type of pepper and one I call my "christmas mix" because it is all of the peppers from a harvest processed together and the batch is generally red and green in appearance.

I have never had any complaints, just requests for more.

Lori, what is the pH of the wine you use?

Doesn't seem to matter because I can my jellies. I have just been using the water bath method for these jellies, not pressure canning as I do with low acids. Been making my wine/pepper jellies for approximately 14 years now and have never experienced a jar going bad. Well, at least nobody died yet :)

My favorite jelly I have made is the Cranberry Jalapeño
jelly. I do substitute about 8 tabasco peppers for 2 of
the Jalapeno's to make it a little hotter. Otherwise it
is not hot.

I did make an Orange Habanero jelly in 2012, and did
not like it at all. Never again. My sister liked it though.

I use Certo for my jelly.

I love the Habanero Gold that Rick mentions above. I have to say, his sure looks a lot better!

I have made it a few times and it always comes out well. I went on a jelly making binge last fall and made a few different ones that folks might like. The one I like the best and do not give away much is a Black Congo/Blackberry Jelly. It came out great and makes a great spread on toast or home made Ciabatta buns.

The other one that was a little weird but is good for certain occasions is a Lemon Drop pepper jelly with real lemon zest j. Great bright color and really has a lemony taste plus heat.

The Pepperfool web site has a bunch of recipes for jelly that should help get ideas going.

I do agree that one should follow a established recipe very closely, as it does not take much deviation to either get a runny jelly or a very firm one that is tough to spread. (I am experienced at making this mistake)

Bill