Shawn White
Sous Chef
I found this recipe here and made three variations of it with fruit. I thought some of the members who like Texas Pepper Jelly might be interested as well.
Habanero Jelly
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Yields: 7 half-pint jars
Ingredients:
3 large fleshy orange bell peppers
5 to 10 ripe habanero peppers
1 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar
7 cups sugar
9 fl oz liquid fruit pectin (Certo or equivalent)
Remove stems, seeds and membranes from all peppers (use gloves when
handling the habaneros...yes... seriously... USE GLOVES!). Put peppers
and the vinegar in a blender and process until smooth. Combine
pepper-vinegar puree and all the sugar in a non-corrosive pan. Bring
to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for twenty (20) minutes.
Remove from heat and strain through cheesecloth into another pan. Add
pectin and bring to a full rolling boil while stirring. Boil about one
minute, remove from heat and ladle into sterile jars.
Shawn W Comments:
I didn't like using the cheesecloth, it took too long and held too much out. Instead liquify by leaving in the blender a little longer, then gently force it through a metal sieve with a spatula after the cooking step. In this manner, only a couple of tablespoons of the thickest pulp was withheld. I lost more than a jar worth using the cheesecloth.
When prepping the habs I picked the seeds out with the point of a paring knife and left as much of the membrane in as possible. A bit tedious but I believe this is where much of the heat resides in the pepper.
My first batch was pineapple variation but I hadn't found liquid Certo so I used Bernardin powder. It didn't set. Info on the Certo website says to use the brand recommended by the recipe and that even Certo brand powdered and liquid can't necessarily be used interchangeably. I wondered if fresh pineapple caused it not to set but found out it shouldn't have been an issue because it was cooked. A subsequent pineapple batch using liquid Certo worked fine.
I suggest using two pouches of liquid Certo. The first batch I did using liquid Certo I used three pouches as per recipe and found the jelly pretty hard. I would much rather this stuff is softer for brushing on grilled meats.
Consider using a fruit and veggie wash. The one I used is biodegradable, non-toxic and removes pesticides, wax, bacteria and dirt. Peppers from the grocery store have a lot of crap on them.
I stirred it nearly constantly thinking this would help make sure the hot stuff (which I understand to be an oil) stays in the jelly. But if it's not stirred the scum on top will firm up and not pass through the sieve making the jelly a bit more clear. Like wise, running it through a jelly bag or cheesecloth will make it more clear as well.
Skim any scum off the top after filling jars.
I found similar recipes and all but this one had an additional process in water bath for 10 minutes step that this one does not have. I'm not sure if it's really needed for safety or not.
I'm really happy with the results and proud to have done it myself. Another benefit of doing it yourself is that you can customize to your taste. Change or combine hot peppers and fruit. I used 6 habs in all batches and I think the heat level is perfect. It's right now front of the mouth heat as opposed to back of the throat and not painfully hot.
Fruit Variations:
********************
Use bell peppers your color of choice. Omit one bell pepper and add an equivalent amount of desired fruit.
Pineapple Habanero: I used fresh pineapple and orange bell peppers, next time I will use yellow
Orange Habanero: I used orange bell peppers and 1 navel orange plus zest from half of the peel, I checked for seeds and removed as much pith as possible
Berry Habanero: I used red bell peppers and a 4 fruit mix of strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and blackberry
Habanero Jelly
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yields: 7 half-pint jars
Ingredients:
3 large fleshy orange bell peppers
5 to 10 ripe habanero peppers
1 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar
7 cups sugar
9 fl oz liquid fruit pectin (Certo or equivalent)
Remove stems, seeds and membranes from all peppers (use gloves when
handling the habaneros...yes... seriously... USE GLOVES!). Put peppers
and the vinegar in a blender and process until smooth. Combine
pepper-vinegar puree and all the sugar in a non-corrosive pan. Bring
to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for twenty (20) minutes.
Remove from heat and strain through cheesecloth into another pan. Add
pectin and bring to a full rolling boil while stirring. Boil about one
minute, remove from heat and ladle into sterile jars.
Shawn W Comments:
I didn't like using the cheesecloth, it took too long and held too much out. Instead liquify by leaving in the blender a little longer, then gently force it through a metal sieve with a spatula after the cooking step. In this manner, only a couple of tablespoons of the thickest pulp was withheld. I lost more than a jar worth using the cheesecloth.
When prepping the habs I picked the seeds out with the point of a paring knife and left as much of the membrane in as possible. A bit tedious but I believe this is where much of the heat resides in the pepper.
My first batch was pineapple variation but I hadn't found liquid Certo so I used Bernardin powder. It didn't set. Info on the Certo website says to use the brand recommended by the recipe and that even Certo brand powdered and liquid can't necessarily be used interchangeably. I wondered if fresh pineapple caused it not to set but found out it shouldn't have been an issue because it was cooked. A subsequent pineapple batch using liquid Certo worked fine.
I suggest using two pouches of liquid Certo. The first batch I did using liquid Certo I used three pouches as per recipe and found the jelly pretty hard. I would much rather this stuff is softer for brushing on grilled meats.
Consider using a fruit and veggie wash. The one I used is biodegradable, non-toxic and removes pesticides, wax, bacteria and dirt. Peppers from the grocery store have a lot of crap on them.
I stirred it nearly constantly thinking this would help make sure the hot stuff (which I understand to be an oil) stays in the jelly. But if it's not stirred the scum on top will firm up and not pass through the sieve making the jelly a bit more clear. Like wise, running it through a jelly bag or cheesecloth will make it more clear as well.
Skim any scum off the top after filling jars.
I found similar recipes and all but this one had an additional process in water bath for 10 minutes step that this one does not have. I'm not sure if it's really needed for safety or not.
I'm really happy with the results and proud to have done it myself. Another benefit of doing it yourself is that you can customize to your taste. Change or combine hot peppers and fruit. I used 6 habs in all batches and I think the heat level is perfect. It's right now front of the mouth heat as opposed to back of the throat and not painfully hot.
Fruit Variations:
********************
Use bell peppers your color of choice. Omit one bell pepper and add an equivalent amount of desired fruit.
Pineapple Habanero: I used fresh pineapple and orange bell peppers, next time I will use yellow
Orange Habanero: I used orange bell peppers and 1 navel orange plus zest from half of the peel, I checked for seeds and removed as much pith as possible
Berry Habanero: I used red bell peppers and a 4 fruit mix of strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and blackberry
