Habanero Jelly

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Shawn White

Sous Chef
Joined
Jan 5, 2005
Messages
791
Location
Calgary, Alberta
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
 
First batch is in the jars. Habanero Pineapple. Used 6 habs, 2 whole orange bell peppers and about 1 bell peppers worth of fresh pineapple by volume. 1 box of powdered pectin (couldn't find liquid Certo).

Skip the cheesecloth step. The stuff is syrup-y before it finishes straining. I only got 5 + 2/3 jars cuz of what the cheesecloth kept out. Next time a quick trip through a strainer to catch any big pieces is all I'll do. This ain't fancy table jelly for the Queen's afternoon tea.

It tastes real good, I'll let you know if it sets and seals.
 
Shawn's first attempt at jelly log, Day 2:

All jars sealed but the jelly didn't set. Damn.

Couple of things. First, if an equivalent can be made I should have used 1.5 boxes of powdered pectin for 9 oz of liquid Certo but the Certo info at Kraft website says liquid and powdered can't necessarily be used interchangeably, it depends on the recipe.

Second, I used Bernardin powdered pectin, I got tired of trying to find Certo liquid. Should have stuck to the recipe.

Third, I messed with the recipe balance by adding pineapple. I just don't know how much of a factor that was.

Neway, I dumped the jars, added another box of the Bernardin and reboiled.

If it doesn't set this time oh well. I'll use it as syrup and baste it on or mix it with BBQ sauce. I didn't want hard jelly anyhow.
 
well, the jelly is set after 5 minutes more boiling and adding another box of pectin crystals. It's got front of the mouth right now heat but not enough to cause tears and it tastes awesome.

Had some with smoked chicken tonight and on ginger cake the Mom brought over. Mighty good stuff.

Next batch is orange habanero tomorrow.
 
Shawn White said:
not for stroking on meat anyway, eh Captain?

geez, why do these topics always go down the sewer.... :LOL:

well, the jelly is set after 5 minutes more boiling and adding another box of pectin crystals. It's got front of the mouth right now heat but not enough to cause tears and it tastes awesome.

Had some with smoked chicken tonight and on ginger cake the Mom brought over. Mighty good stuff.

Next batch is orange habanero tomorrow.

As you can tell ... a lot of hard work.

Check out my site ... http://www.texaspepperjelly.com for a large selections of both Habanero and Jalapeno flavored jelly.
 
Texana I probably would have ordered from Texas Pepper Jelly but on the website checkout it didn't appear your company ships outside of US (I'm in Canada).

I found this recipe and a few days later to my amazement I saw fresh habs at the grocery store. I'm between jobs now so I decided to go for it. It is a bit of work as you said. Today's batch took me about 4 hours including clean up.
 
The orange hab jelly turned out great today. It set right away using three pouches of liquid Certo. I might try only two pouches on my final batch, berry hab jelly.

Like with the pineapple batch, I used 2 orange bell peppers. I added one navel orange and some zest from the peel. I removed as much of the pith as I could, and checked for seeds.

I ran it through a mesh strainer this time and it worked better than the cheesecloth. I got 7 half pints plus a little bit.
 
Shawn White said:
Texana I probably would have ordered from Texas Pepper Jelly but on the website checkout it didn't appear your company ships outside of US (I'm in Canada).

I found this recipe and a few days later to my amazement I saw fresh habs at the grocery store. I'm between jobs now so I decided to go for it. It is a bit of work as you said. Today's batch took me about 4 hours including clean up.

Yep ... I have thought about that but to be honest shipping out of Country is a pain ... if you have any suggestions on how this could be achieved I am all ears ....
 
Yeah, I have a hard time spending double or more on S&H as cost of the product, especially when I can make it (something similar anyway) and I expect to use a lot of it.

Maybe you need a Canadian distributor, or 'Made Under License from Texas Pepper Jelly Co. of USA" partner in each of your target countries. :) . You seem to have the brand well established with your logo.
 
Today's batch took me about 4 hours including clean up
Yesterdays batch was no breaks, 2.5 hours start to finish including clean up.

The Berry Habanero jelly turned out great with a mixture of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries. Two red bell peppers and a bell peppers worth of berries by voume. I only used two Certo packs and I think it's perfect, the orange with three packs of Certo is pretty hard which might make it a pain for brushing on grilled meat.

Now I'm going to do one final batch with pineapple and liquid Certo and I'll post some pics and closing comments.
 
Texana said:
Shawn White said:
Texana I probably would have ordered from Texas Pepper Jelly but on the website checkout it didn't appear your company ships outside of US (I'm in Canada).

I found this recipe and a few days later to my amazement I saw fresh habs at the grocery store. I'm between jobs now so I decided to go for it. It is a bit of work as you said. Today's batch took me about 4 hours including clean up.

Yep ... I have thought about that but to be honest shipping out of Country is a pain ... if you have any suggestions on how this could be achieved I am all ears ....
Bill Cannon and I talked at length about this last summer ~ He has to fill out the long form (Declaration) for each package sent out of the US and drive it down to USPS. Several weeks ago, we exchanged PM's and he mentioned that he still has issues shipping out of the country. It's a shame, it is...
 
You have the handwriting of an engineer! :LOL: :LOL: Pics look great ~ Thanks for sharing! :D
 

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