I have peppers. Many different kinds. I love pepper jelly. I want
to make (and share) pepper jelly. One time I followed (very closely)
a recipe for jalapeno pepper jam and it turned out great! Next I tried
to make pepper jelly from a recipe contained in a box of Ball Fruit
Jell Liquid Pectin. I created yummy pepper syrup. My intention is to
track down what I did wrong. Following is the recipe....and following
that is where I believe I screwed up :

6 large bell peppers.
1 jalapeno.
3/4 cup apple juice.
3/4 cup cider vinegar.
6 cups sugar
2 pouches Fruit Jell liquid pectin.

Core, seed, and puree half of the peppers with half of the apple juice
and half of the vinegar. Repeat. Strain, measure 3 and 1/2 cups
juice. Then, (I assume) proceed with the basic cooked jelly
instructions contained with the Ball Liquid Pectin.

So, throwing caution to the wind, I figured I would get silly and use
six or eight different types of peppers instead of the ones listed in
the recipe. Ha ha.... Here's my thought process:

My impression is that when creating the liquid (juice), the idea was
to end up with 3 and 1/2 cups liquid (pepper juice, apple juice and
vinegar combined). Therefore, into a big measuring cup, I combined
3/4 cup vinegar and 3/4 cup apple juice. Next, I began to puree my
peppers alone, strain them and add this juice to my measuring cup
until I had a total of 3 1/2 cups liquid. After that, I proceeded to
make the jelly as described in the directions, and everything looked
good. I placed the sealed jars in a BWB for 10 minutes. The liquid
just never set up in the jars as I had hoped it would and now I'm
sitting on a lot of lonely crackers.

Is there a way I can test the product to tell what I did wrong? You
know, something like : dangle great-grandmothers wedding band by a
thread over the kettle and watch which way it spins, clockwise for
cooked to long, anti-clockwise for over-ripe fruit? Is there a recipe
that often works regardless of pepper type?

>that often works regardless of pepper type?

We had pepper syrup too. And then we changed from liquid Pectin to
powdered Sur-jell. I'm not knocking products, only sharing results.

sandhills fish farmer wrote:
>


>
> Core, seed, and puree half of the peppers with half of the apple juice
> and half of the vinegar. Repeat. Strain, measure 3 and 1/2 cups
> juice. Then, (I assume) proceed with the basic cooked jelly
> instructions contained with the Ball Liquid Pectin.
>
> So, throwing caution to the wind, I figured I would get silly and use
> six or eight different types of peppers instead of the ones listed in
> the recipe. Ha ha.... Here's my thought process:
>
> My impression is that when creating the liquid (juice), the idea was
> to end up with 3 and 1/2 cups liquid (pepper juice, apple juice and
> vinegar combined). Therefore, into a big measuring cup, I combined
> 3/4 cup vinegar and 3/4 cup apple juice. Next, I began to puree my
> peppers alone, strain them and add this juice to my measuring cup
> until I had a total of 3 1/2 cups liquid. After that, I proceeded to
> make the jelly as described in the directions, and everything looked
> good. I placed the sealed jars in a BWB for 10 minutes. The liquid
> just never set up in the jars as I had hoped it would and now I'm
> sitting on a lot of lonely crackers.
>


Very similar to the recipe I use from the Ball Blue Book--I had one
failure this year as well (using Ball powdered pectin). I use the whole
amount of liquid and "steep" cut up peppers of several types overnight
in the refrigerator (leave in the seed from the hottest type of pepper
for a little zing). I measure the liquid and make it up to a scant 4
cups before adding back in the pepper pieces and cooking as usual. You
might still be able to use your "syrup" if you try remaking it
(directions on USDA website http://www.agen.ufl.edu/~foodsaf/he324.html)
or by just using as-is over cream cheese for an appetizer. It also
makes pork loin tastes great--just bake as normal with the jelly over
it.

PAX!
Greg