I was wondering where the 99% figure came from. I wouldn't want to put a number on it, but the pectin I used in 2012 I think expired 2.5 years before that, and I sent it this summer to someone who thinks it's perfectly fine. I'll use the no-sugar pectin I got on sale this summer with an expiration date of Aug 2014 for a couple of years (or longer). But the liquid pectin needs to be used ASAP.

And milk - I find that if you buy it a week or more before the expiration and open it right away, it often goes sour before the expiration date. But if you buy it right before the expiration date, it's good past that if you use it right away. Usually not a problem around here, but when DS was at camp this summer we had milk going bad.

Eggs I keep a month or more - and that's storebought eggs which are already weeks old. I haven't actually kept track of how long fresh backyard eggs will keep (esp. if not washed until right before use), but it's at least 2 months.

I give a lot of produce to food pantries (those that take it) and a soup kitchen in town. I hate throwing out food too, but food pantries can't take anything past expiration. The soup kitchen does take "day old" baked goods though.

I seriously think this thread is gonna reach the 150 cap. because everyone, myself included, loves pepper jams/jellies.

Except for getting really OT talking about milk and eggs LOL.

Not exactly a pepper jam, but I'm making tomato-pineapple again - I didn't have Thai peppers left but I threw in some dried Hinkelhatz - yummmm! I'm not a chilehead, but I really think those peppers are the perfect heat for me. I've got to make some Amish (poetic license) Gold soon!

Target has half pints (not quilted design) for $7.19/dozen. For those of you doing tomatoes, they have quarts for $5.83! Other jars are on sale (roughly 20% off) too until Sat.

This post was edited by ajsmama on Wed, Oct 1, 14 at 12:50

Thursday afternoon the power went out. I still had gas and a little bit of daylight so I made the Hot Strawberry Jam I was planning on - but without a recipe since while one computer has a battery, the modem doesn't.

Here's what I cobbled together from the Certo cooked jam directions and from what I remembered from this thread. Note that I didn't crush the strawberrys or use a food processor because my hand mill is inaccessible.

5+ c. strawberry, sliced 1/4" (2 1lb boxes)
2.5 c. orange habaneros, fine dice
8 c. sugar
juice of 2 limes (about 4T)
1 pack liquid Certo SureSet

Macerated the fruits separately, added lime juice, and had to add about 3/4c water to the habs because they yielded very little juice. Brought the pepper mix up to a boil first to be sure they had a chance to soften, added the strawberries, brought the mess back to the boil. Added a pack of pectin, boiled for a while, then went to the jars. (Didn't do the full canning thing.)

Excellent flavor. There's a slap-the-tongue "Good Morning" burst of heat, then it settles down to a soft background glow. Frankly, I was hoping it would be hotter. Next time I'll add super-hots to the pepper mix.

The stuff *almost" set up, but not quite. Rather than open a new pectin pack, how about adding some gelatin? Would I re-boil? I think it could also use some more lime.

Opinion on the recipe? How close did I get?

Dennis

All out of whack. Too much sugar, not enough lime. All the sugar likely killed your heat.

Do a browser Edit/Find/Search of "Hot Strawberry Jam" on this page to find the recipe.

Then copy and paste it to a fresh Notepad page. Save (and Name) the page to your new Documents/Recipes folder and it will always be handy for viewing and printing, on or offline.

PS Phone lines usually still work when the power goes out. Plug your modem into a Battery Back-ups along with your computer/laptop to stay online.

This post was edited by mecdave on Sat, Oct 4, 14 at 18:47

Yeah, definitely too much sugar. I cut Tim's recipe down to 2lbs strawberries, 5 cups of sugar, 2 tbsp lemon juice, and 2 minced Red Bhuts (seeds and all) 4 1/2- 5 tbsp powdered pectin. Sets up perfectly. Makes exactly seven 1/2 pints every time. Absolutely delicious.

Mike

OMG... I just found this on another forum. I will definitely be making it tomorrow. Thanks to Rocketman...

BACON JAM

Yields 1 pint
1 pound smoked bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, sliced
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon hot sauce or to suit tolerence
1 cup coffee
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup maple syrup
Black pepper to taste
extra water

In a dutch oven, fry the bacon in batches until lightly browned and beginning to crisp. Remove to paper towel lined plate and set aside. Drain all but 2 tablespoons of bacon grease out of the pan. Fry the onion and garlic in the rendered bacon fat on medium heat until translucent.

Add the bacon to the onions and garlic, and add the rest of the ingredients except for the water. Simmer for 2 hours adding 1/4 of a cup of water every 25-30 minutes or so, and stir regularly.

Jam is done when you cant tell the onions from the bacon. Cool for about 15-20 minutes and then place in a food processor. Pulse for 2-3 seconds so that you leave some texture to the jam. Refrigerate up to two weeks.

Rocketman's getting a free pass straight to Heaven... That man is a Saint. That sounds AWESOME!!!

Modem as in DSL. Phone goes out too. As it turned out, the whole AT&T net was down in the area for 24 hours.

I think the result tastes too sweet, so from that point of view I understand less sugar. The Certo recipe calls out 5 c. strawberry and 7 c. sugar, so I thought I *had* cut it back, but apparently not...

BACON JAM !?!

I'm there.

Forgot to ask: How would you correct the batch now? I'm thinking another lime and a bhut or two. I can't remove the excess sugar, but I would like it to set. Another bag of pectin?

Any thoughts on gelatin instead of pectin?

Dennis

This post was edited by DMForcier on Sun, Oct 5, 14 at 12:28

No idea about gelatin. Since you've essentially doubled the amount of sugar from the original Hot Strawberry Jam recipe, you would need another 2.5lbs of strawberries, 6 more limes, another dose of peppers, and another pouch of pectin.

At the least, I would do more pectin and limes since they help the jam set too.

I don't know if 2 lbs = 2 quarts but NCHFP and Certo use 2 quarts of strawberries to get 4C crushed, 7C sugar and 1 (3oz) pouch of pectin to make strawberry jam. So you're a little heavy on the sugar, but not much esp. considering all the peppers you added.

That concerns me a little - 2.5C is a lot of peppers, esp. if measured after chopping ( you said a fine dice?). In a study they did for salsa, NCHFP found 4Tbsp of lime juice (60ml) would safely acidify a pint (2C) of peppers, but that was 1/4 inch dice. Yeah, you've got the strawberries for acidity, and the sugar to bind free water, but I think pH might be borderline. NSMU has a recipe for raspberry-green chile jam that uses 4C of frozen raspberries and 3C of frozen green chile, but the chile is drained first which decreases the pH and free water. Plus frozen raspberries can be more acidic than fresh strawberries.

But if you want to try to remake this jam, I'd do a test batch with 1 jar following the Certo remake directions I linked to early on in the thread. Depending on the results (if it sets up, fine, just remake without berries), you may want to add more berries. If the test batch doesn't set well, I would add more berries - I'd do it in 2 batches, crush 1 lb of berries, add lime juice (1.5tsp per cup of jam you're adding to the pot), put on low heat to soften them, then add half the jam, pectin as recommended in the remake instructions, boil vigorously and do the saucer test. And do BWB this batch (or 2) in clean jars with new lids.

NCHFP does have a fig jam with strawberry gelatin that's BWBed, I don't understand that since gelatin is an animal product, but since you started with pectin I'd just stick with that.

The strawberries are actually sold by the pound, so 2 lbs sliced -> 5+ c. Maybe a little less if crushed.

So you don't think the amount of sugar was out of line?

Here's the original recipe you posted for Carol's Hot N' Sweet Confetti Jelly

1 cup minced dried apricots (1/8" dice)
1-1/4 c total sweet pepper and red onion
1/4 cup Habanero peppers
1-1/2 cups white vinegar
6 cups sugar
1 3-ounce pouch liquid pectin

That's 2.5 c fruit to 6 cups sugar! My 7-8 c fruit to 8 c sugar doesn't seem like so much in comparison.

Definitely needs more lime juice. I'll do 2 more limes maybe more. I'm not going for shelf-stable; refrigerator is fine. How does the acid affect the set?

Does anyone use salt? A little kosher would seem to kick up the flavor a notch.

Dennis

You can't compare a jam recipe with lots of fruit to a jelly recipe - the vinegar acts as "juice" in that one. But yes, the regular pectins take a LOT of sugar.

The regular strawberry jam recipe using liquid pectin uses 4C crushed (they say to buy 2 quarts) of strawberries, 7C of sugar, and 1 pouch of pectin so no, I don't think your 8C is excessive. As I've said before, liquid pectin is a little iffy. I get better results from powdered pectin (preferably no-sugar). It could just need a little time, or a little more boiling. Why don't you take 1 jar and dump it in a small saucepan, boil it for another minute and do the saucer test before deciding whether to remake it?

Acid does aid in the set - some fruits have enough acid, for example the NCHFP strawberry jam with liquid pectin recipe doesn't add ANY acid. See the link I posted about making jam with canned fruit, it explains the relationship between acid, sugar and pectin. Too much acid can cause a jelly to "weep" (separate with liquid on top) after canning, but I am not aware that it can prevent a set. If it does, it would have to be an excessive amount, and you don't have that.

Is your jam just a soft set, or is it like a chunky syrup? Do you have all those jars in the fridge? If they haven't set up in the fridge since Thursday they probably won't, if you want a firmer set you'll have to boil longer and possibly add more pectin (and acid).

I still think that the best strawberry jam is

2 lbs strawberry
4 cups sugar
4 tbsp ball no sugar pectin
2 tsp lemon juice
1 brain strain or moruga

I put my strawberries in the blender, but that's just me. I prefer easy to spread over chunky. and part of why I think one brain does it for that recipe is the heat is well distributed. as we all know, the more it's ground up the more heat you get out of each pepper. it's not quite as pretty of an end result, but my tongue doesn't care.

I do almost the exact same recipe for blueberry. or similarly with 2 large pineapples. all the rest of the ingredients stay the same.

I just recently ran out of jam. looks like I might just have to hit walmart for some frozen strawberries.

I made a mixed berry jam last weekend.
1lb raspberries
1lb blackberries
5 cups sugar
2tbsp lemon juice
2 Red Bhuts (Only superhots I have)
5 tbsp powdered pectin

Yielded six 1/2 pints. Definitely my favorite so far.

Mike

The original batch separated when I filled the large jars. Over a couple days the top half with the chunks of fruit semi-set, while the clear half below remained mostly syrup, so the set wasn't far off.

Dumped everything back into the pot, added 3 more limes (5 total), a caramel bhut and 4 Mako Akokasrade, and another bag of pectin. Boiled the heck out of it. Tried the frozen saucer test without a clear set and decided that whatever I had was good enough.

Ladled into jars (smaller so cooled faster) and this time despite the saucer test it set up like there was gummy bears dissolved in it. Set up so fast the fruit didn't have time to separate.

Initial heat is about the same, but lingers much longer. Perhaps due to the increased acid, the flavor isn't so obviously sweet. Good stuff.

Thanks for the advice.

Dennis

Ajsmama,
I want to try and use the powdered pectin instead of the liquid since my jams have set differently after 3 batches now sine original post on this thread. Do I have to make any alterations to my original recipe to make the switch from liquid to powder. Original recipe per my friend is as follows so you don't have to scroll up lol including your pointer of adding sugar before pectin. I would like to keep consistent with the set firmness.

2 20 oz cans pineapple tidbits drained.
10 habs 2 BMJ peppers
6 oz mango juice
6 cups sugar
1.5 cups vinegar 5% acidity
1 pack of liquid pectin

1) puree pineapple,mango juice,peppers to desired consistency.
2) boil puree and vinegar for 10-15 mins til thickened up
3) add sugar boil 2-5 mins
4) add pectin pack boil 2-5 mins more.
5) jar and process.

Thanks
Rey....

Rey - you might want to try a half batch first and see how it sets up. And use half pint jars, smaller jars set up better than large ones, and smaller batches set up better than larger.

I'd put the peppers and pineapple chunks in the liquid first, simmer for 10 minutes then use immersion blender to puree, or you could buy crushed pineapple. The simmer is to soften the pineapple and also helps acidify the peppers but if you're happy with the "doneness" of the pineapple the way you've been doing then go ahead and puree first.

First boil doesn't have to be vigorous, can be simmer, again you're just trying to acidify the peppers a bit.

Mix 3Tbsp (for 4C of puree) of powdered pectin with about 1/4C sugar just so it doesn't clump, whisk that into the room temperature (or warm, but not hot) puree making sure it's well distributed.

Raise heat to boiling and dump all the sugar in at once (have it measured into a small bowl). If using no-sugar pectin this could be as little as another 1/4C, up to your taste, but if using full-sugar version (yellow Surejel box or red banner Ball canister) it will be more like the 3C (or 2 3/4C since you already put in 1/4C with the pectin).

Boil it for a minute, do the plate test (hard with jams, but try to see if you can get just a few drops of liquid on the plate, no chunks). If it looks like it's going to set (wrinkles when you push at the puddle with your finger), jar it up with 1/4 inch headspace and process 10 minutes. If it runs when you tilt the plate or smears when you touch it, put the pot back on the burner for another minute.

Awesome Thanks Sheila...Will do and let you know how it goes.
Thanks
Rey.....

made another batch of spicy apple pie spice preserve today. I friend has been bugging me for some for the past few weeks, and organic apples were on sale for $1.50/ lb this week, so I figured what the heck, I've got 2 hours to spare on a monday morning.

3 golden delicious apples
3 red delicious apples
1 Jay's peach ghost x scorpion pepper
3/4 cup of water (because every apple recipe seems to call for it)
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp ball NSN pectin
4 cups sugar

yield was 6 half pints and a little extra to snack on.

I peeled and de-cored the apples and threw them and the pepper in the blender, then followed normal jam making procedure. I like to blend up my fruit so it spreads better, but this is the first time doing it in the vitamix, so it liquified it a bit more than I prefer because that thing is a beast. oh well, every batch is a learning experience.

got 6 half pints for my efforts. I'm kind of concerned that it's not setting up right (a problem I rarely have) but then it's only been out of the BWB for about a half hour, but last time it was quite firm by then. I'm sure it'll be fine in a day or two.

edit: it has already started setting, I think It came out quite good. I couldn't resist so I had to open a jar to sample it.

This post was edited by judo_and_peppers on Mon, Oct 13, 14 at 14:43

I made tomato jam for the first time ever, no pectin, just a lot of sugar, 3/12 cups and cooked it down for at least two hours. It called for 5 lbs of tomatoes, ginger, garlic, cinnamon, allspice, lime juice and red chili pepper flakes. I then processed it for twenty minutes in a boiling water bath.
I would love to make a hot pepper jelly without the pectin, so I'll check out the other forums.

Sheila,
Made two batches of my peach/guava/ghost jam tonight with the powered pectin, worked like a champ. Within 15 mins after processing it started firming up a bit. Not all syrupy like it normally is with the liquid pectin.Did the frozen plate thing as well to make sure before jarring. Thank you so much for the help! Tomorrow is a couple batches of the pineapple/mango/hab/bmj jam.
Rey....

Jason, once again, awesome recipe. Just finished my first batch with a few minor tweaks: forgot the lemon juice (doh!), 3 Granny Smith's (I love tart apples) and 3 Red Delicious,subbed apple cider vinegar for the water, and used 5 red Habs instead of a Bhut (I'm DESPERATELY trying to get rid of my red Habs; any more Hab recipes are greatly appreciated!), and added 1 1/2 tbsp of ground cinnamon. It ended up yielding 8 half pints (bigger apples, I'm guessing?). I already gave a half pint to my neighbor.

Delicious.

Thanks again,
Mike

I never thought of adding hot peppers to apple butter - though IIRC, NMSU has an apple and green chile jam.

I like the cinnamon version Mike - though I thought you were looking for a jelly not a jam. I've still got some Cran-Apple Jalapeno jelly in the basement from a few years ago, wish I could find my recipe but since cranberries are so acidic I'm sure I didn't add vinegar to that, maybe some lemon juice. Since I never offered that for sale, I didn't make labels so don't even have ingredients for that or the plain apple-juice jalapeno (that I might have added extra lemon juice to).

Rey - see how that jam is in a month - you may have to decrease the amount of powdered pectin. 15 minutes is pretty soon to be setting up, DD made some Red Hot Candy Apple jelly that was setting up in the pan as we were filling the last jars last year, we still have a jar left so I have to see if it's taffy by now. If you eat yours quickly then you don't have to worry about it, but I make so much jam and jelly that I often have jars that are 2-3 years old.

sharonie - unless you mix the peppers with a high-pectin, high-acid juice like cranberry, quince, or homemade apple pectin, you won't be able to get a pectin-free jelly to set up.

Some of you might want to experiment with adding peppers to Paradise Jelly - I think it might be good with habs. Quinces can be hard to find, but we really prefer this jelly to plain old cran-apple.

Here is a link that might be useful: Paradise Jelly

Alright Sheila, if you're going to lay a recipe like that on us, you'll have to supply all of us with Quinces. I've never even heard of them before. ;-)

Sorry, I don't grow them, a neighbor gave me some a couple of years in a row that they got them from their old neighbor, and we picked some one year from a tree I noticed by the road and asked the owner for permission but those were wormy. Haven't gotten any in a couple of years now, I have to look for places to buy some now that we're down to the last few jars.

They kinda look like big fuzzy Golden Delicious apples, and they're really hard - inedible until cooked but delicious in jelly, pies, etc., or even roasted with root vegetables.

Ok, so here I am, a few hours later with an Apple Cinnamon "Jam" vs. Apple Cinnamon "Jelly" update. Just made a different batch. First of all, Sheila, I'd really like to thank you for all of your advice on the Harvest forum. Before this thread; jelly, jam, marmalade, preserves, etc. were "all the same thing" to me. The way I see it, if you can spread it on a bagel, it's "jelly." Now, I can definitely tell the difference! Either way, I'm not picky about food!
This was a little spin on your "Red Hot Candy Apple Jelly" I read about the other day.

APPLE CINNAMON HABANERO JELLY
1qt Granny Smith style apple juice
1 cup 5% acidity apple cider vinegar
5 red Habs or 1 red Bhut
2 tbsp lemon juice
5 cups granulated sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
4 tbsp powdered pectin

Juice, vinegar, peppers, lemon juice in blender. In a sauce pot, add cinnamon sticks to juice mixture, bring to rolling boil. Remove cinnamon sticks, add pectin. Boil 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add sugar. Boil another 10 minutes, stirring constantly. BWB 10 minutes.
Yield: 6 half pints (yes, I already ate the 6th one)

Absolutely perfect for a chilly, fall New England day.

-Mike

P.S. Dave, I'm with you... I'm gonna go Google: Quinces. Haha!

P.P.S. I hope there's a "First stab at Pepper Jelly: Part 2" in our future! Coming up on 150 posts!

Mike, I am thrilled to see people experimenting with my recipes. there's plenty more where that came from. it's just a matter of thinking of them to post them. my blueberry/pineapple jam was a big hit, I'll need to dig up that recipe. pineapples are so freaking expensive now though. when they were $1 each I went on a pineapple jam making spree.

also, fun little thing I learned from my BPCS class, jams and jellies aren't considered an acidified food because they have water activity under 0.85 (thanks to the sugar content) and aren't subject to the same regulations. maybe I need to step up the timeline on making (and selling) pepper jams.

You still want to make sure the pH is below 4.6, most pepper jelly/jam recipes use vinegar or only add a little bit of pepper to an acidic fruit to keep the pH in the safe range. But that's why there's a concern about fig and tomato jams - figs and tomatoes are right around 4.6-4.7 so they need added lemon/lime juice. Melons are even higher pH so I don't touch melon jams/jellies at all.

oh I take my pH very seriously. my HI 99161 is supposed to come in soon (I know it says "dairy" pH tester, but this is the one recommended by the Hanna instruments rep for my needs). I am meticulous about my, ...well, ...pretty much everything.

This post was edited by judo_and_peppers on Sat, Oct 18, 14 at 22:43

I just didn't want anyone reading this thread in the future to think that any jam or jelly was automatically safe. Yeah, no-pectin jams are made from fruit with high enough pectin and low pH to form a gel with copious amounts of sugar, and "traditional" or "classic" pectin requires even more so the Aw is .8-.85 and the pH is also usually down in the 3's to get a good set. But the no-sugar-required pectins like Pomona and my favorite Ball product can set with much higher Aw and pH, so you have to be really careful when using those types of pectin and low-acid fruits or veggies (I know, technically peppers are a fruit).

I have a bad habit of forgetting that people like to misinterpret things. I never said they were safe and risk free. mold likes to grow in poorly processed or opened jams. mold raises the pH. a raised pH allows for botulism to grow.

what I meant to say was that with all the hoops I've already jumped through, I can make and sell pepper jams with minimal additional hoop jumping, and probably avoiding the process authority (the most expensive part) because a basic jam recipe (with the addition of 1-2 peppers per batch) technically isn't considered an acidified food because the water activity is below .85. the fact that the pH is gonna be low anyway is just one more reason botulism can't grow, especially with how meticulous I am about cleanliness and sterilization when making anything.

what I need to figure out is how to make more than a few jars at a time without over or under cooking the pectin ending up with soup. I tried once, it didn't go well. I got a big batch of hot pineapple "glaze" instead of a jam, when the same recipe scaled down (2 blended pineapples, 2 peppers, 4c sugar, 4 tbsp ball NSN pectin, 4 tbsp lemon or lime juice) set perfectly.

Mike, BTW that pineapple recipe up there is a good one to use to clear out some of your habs. I'd just use 5-10 habs instead. put the pineapples and the peppers in the blender and blend hard, til you barely see any chunks of hab, then cook with normal jam procedure.

Try Pomona's - I hear you can make big batches with that, and you can order it in bulk on their website.

Edit: Pomona's is probably the easiest to get, but if you want to look into pectin for commercial production (might only be available in HUGE amounts), you might want to search for slow-set pectin (I think that would be better than rapid-set, since with a big batch on a stovetop the center will be a lower temperature than the liquid touching the pan, and you want to keep the heat low so you don't scorch it). HTH

Here is a link that might be useful: All about pectin

This post was edited by ajsmama on Sun, Oct 19, 14 at 9:37

Wow! What a thread, what a thread... lots of recipes.

I make mine very simple:.. as if I was going to make jam: Just add hot pepper . That is all there is to it.

Because I will use yellow peppers (Lemon Drop and Manzano) i'll use pineapple, to maintain the gold color. It is very much like what Tim has made , but with different fruits. I will also add some lemon juice at the end for flavor not for the acidity. Sugar itself is preservative. Plus, what ever I make I refrigerate. I also add some spice just for aroma, like the things I use in pies. (ginger, cumin, all spice....). So what I am going to make will be just hot pepper flavored jam. I call it spicy jam. I might even try to make some with kumquat or orange pill. I like that heat with all that sweetness.

Sheila, you're right and I think I'll stick with the pectin for now. This is one of the best threads going! Sheila, you're a wealth of knowledge!
Mecdave, you mentioned tweaking the Gold recipe. Could you post your exact quantities? I made a batch and only sampled the small amount that was left over and I had concerns about it being chewy and maybe too much red onion.
Mike, I had to laugh because when I decided to start making the hot pepper jelly, I kept fipping back and forth between recipes and drove myself crazy. And Sheila's right, never make this stuff when you are tired!
Thanks everybody for the great recipes and all the encouragement! Making jams and jellies is a whole new experience for me and I love it!
The apple cinnamon habanero jelly looks yummy.
I have a general question as a newbie to making jelly. Where I live in Montreal, we have Bernadin pectin and Certo. I haven't seen Pomona or Ball. And I've only used the liquid. I didn't realize there were such variations in pectin.

Bernadin and Ball are owned by the same company (Jarden) so I suppose they have similar product lines. You'd have to read the ingredients. Kraft Foods makes Certo (liquid) and Surejell (powdered). You'd have to see if Pomona ships to CA, but just b/c you haven't seen it doesn't mean they don't have a retail distributor - here you can find it in some health food stores. I can order a case of individual boxes from my co-op/buying club but if I wanted to order that many, it would be less expensive to just order bulk from Pomona directly.

Sheila, that was an awesome read. I learned a lot about pectin.

in other news, I finished my BPCS class today. gonna try to get the inspection tomorrow or the next day, and then I can start selling sauces. that's when the real fun begins.

Hi Sharonie. See my post above on Sep 22, 14 at 10:55 for quantities. I actually do use a bit less onion in order to use more peppers, but either way the onion flavor is still an important part of the jam.

The only thing I will try different next time is using Ball no-sugar pectin instead of liquid Certo, as per ajsmama's recommendations.

I tried Ball original dry pectin for the batch last night (Strawberry Ghost). 4T for 4.5c fruit, 2 c sugar, 2 limes. It set up right away, but that seems like a lot of pectin.

How should I add dry pectin? Directions say to combine it with the sugar before adding fruit, but that is for cold-set and I am cooking this. So I wet it and added at the end (return to boil).

How much to use, and when/how?

Dennis

Edit: New name: GhostBerry Jam®

This post was edited by DMForcier on Tue, Oct 21, 14 at 15:05

I'd use 3T for 4-4.5C of fruit, see my Oct 7 post.

We're getting close to 150 so I'm just editing this rather than posting again. Hope you read this Dennis

Try 3T if you think 4 is too much - I generally use 3T for 4C of fruit, I would think classic pectin would be the same though I use the N-S. Yes, it will clump if you add it to liquid, mix a little (I think I recommended 1/4C of sugar) with the 3T pectin before adding it to the pot, bring to a boil per pacakge(canister) directions then dump the rest of the sugar in all at once.

Boil for 2-3 minutes (though the directions say 1). Mike's been lucky, if he leaves the jars on the shelf for months he may find taffy. Something like fruit juice you might be able to get away with long boiling and get a good set, esp. bottled juice that has a lot of water in it, if you didn't boil it away before adding pectin/sugar. But when making a jam, you not only risk ending up with a harder set than you planned on, but also you lose the fresh fruit flavor with long boiling. Maybe you need to let juicy things like tomatoes cook longer (or drain them), but I'd do it before adding the pectin if possible, and I've never tried fresh pineapple but from Jason's and Linda Z's experience it sounds like that needs longer cooking too, but again I'd do it before the pectin and sugar are added since there is a "sweet spot" - too long and you end up with caramelized taffy, even longer and oddly enough you won't get a set b/c *overcooking* the pectin will cause the bonds that are formed earlier to break, which is why it's hard to re-make a jam that's set too stiff. It's better to just stir in water or fruit juice when you open the jar, or melt it and use it as a glaze or something. Maybe I should have asked Mike if his strawberry jam was runny? I've never cooked a jam that long after adding pectin, though I have cooked jams using just fruit and sugar too long and ended up with something you couldn't even scrape off the spoon with your teeth LOL (I believe that was blackberry). My cousin didn't realize how high in pectin gooseberries are added pectin to them and ended up with "gooseberry glue" as she called it!

sharonie - Chop the apricots really fine, and let them sit in the vinegar longer. Though you may have overcooked your Gold a bit too, it's hard to tell. Maybe Annie will jump in, she's got more experience than I do, esp. with making that. But last year I overcooked my Gold a little bit b/c I as trying to get it to set before the fair, it darkened (and I only got a red ribbon) so if your jelly part looked nice and light golden, I'd say it was just the apricots weren't fully hydrated.

HTH

This post was edited by ajsmama on Tue, Oct 21, 14 at 7:54

Dennis, the way I've been making it (not sure if it's right, but I haven't had any problems yet after about 20 batches) is get the strawberries and lemon/lime juice to a boil on medium heat, add 4 tbsp powdered pectin, stir continuously for 2 minutes. Add sugar (I've been using 4-5 cups), bring to a rolling boil for 10 minutes, stirring continuously. Remove from heat, ladle into jars and BWB. Haven't had any issues at all with jam setting up. Hope that helps.

Mike

Mike, I hope for your sake you don't get tired of pepper jams. I went on a jam making spree last year around this time. by feb I was sick of them, and couldn't bring myself to eat them for a few months. now I eat them again, but nowhere near the way I did this time last year.

Whoa! 10 minutes after adding the sugar? And you haven't made taffy? You must be using really juicy fruit!

Oh, Dennis, you're not using the "instant" pectin for freezer jam, are you? Ball makes 3 different kinds and they call come in the same canister, just slightly (really slight) different labels.

Yes, the original, non-instant, not-no-sugar (or whatever).

Just sprinkle it right into the boil? That would be easier. In water it turns to glop and wants to lump.

Dennis

Mecdave, thanks, I'll check it out. I did open another Gold and the apricots are way too chewy. Maybe I didn't cut them small enough. I'm a bit disappointed but my other jalapeño jellies were great. I added fresh lemon juice in addition to the cider and it's delicious. Not to mention this particular recipes cooked the peppers in the vinegar for ten minutes at a rolling boil, then added sugar and lemon juice and bring that to a rolling boil over median heat for one minute, then add the liquid pectin for one more minutes, skim foam and ladle into jars. I. Honestly didn't think it was going to set, but it did! It seemed to be in reverse. I've tried so many variations.
But I'm totally addicted to the stuff. I can't stop eating it!

Sheila, haha! Maybe I've just been getting lucky, and not ending up with taffy. I've just been using fresh strawberries from the grocery store (not frozen). I mash them right in the pot with a potato masher, so all the juice stays in the pot. Maybe I'll take it off the burner sooner from now on. How long do you think is enough? I don't wanna push my luck!

Jason, I hope you're right! I really don't want to get sick of this stuff. I seem to have that problem with a lot of my cooking hobbies. Last year it was smoking ribs. I'd make different recipes almost every weekend. All. Summer. Long...

Dennis- I put the pectin right into the boiling strawberries, then whisk for 2-3 minutes. THEN, add the sugar. Been working just fine for me. But, like Sheila said, maybe I won't boil for quite as long after adding the sugar now.

Mike

You guys inspired me! I made my own...this one has a terrific flavor..

Pineapple Reaper Jelly

1 Carolina Reaper pepper
15 Aji Limon peppers
2 Jamaican Yellow Scotch Bonnet peppers
1 small bell, yellow
1 large or 2 small sweet banana peppers, I used one at orange stage for color
5 cups sugar
2 boxes sure-jell
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1 average pineapple, chunked (I used 5 cups)

seed all the hot peppers with gloves. Add hot peppers to 1/2 of the pineapple in the blender and puree till smooth. Pour in 5 qt dutch oven type pan. Finely dice the bell and sweet peppers to get 3/4 cup. Add to pan. Place remaining pineapple with vinegar in blender and coarsely blend it to give it some texture still. Pour into pan.
Bring all of this to a boil over med heat and boil slowly for 10 minutes stirring pretty often. Then add the powdered pectin, stir until smooth, then add the sugar. Turn heat to high and bring to rolling boil, boil 1 minute. Remove from heat and put in sterilized jars and top with boiling hot lids. Process water bath 10 minutes.
This made 16 4 oz jars.
it has a nice front of mouth, then back of throat heat, but next batch I think I want to add 2 reapers as I want it hotter for some of my crazy friends. The original recipe is good to just eat for more normal people that like hot food. I just ate a teaspoonful of it plain and it's got plenty of heat, I think for casual eating.

Here is a link that might be useful:

I use CERTO and have had better luck than with Sure-Jell. The jelly comes out a better consistency, and beautifully transparent. I love pepper jelly made with aji limon.