Raspberry Jalapeño Pepper Jelly

Can't believe it's been 20 days since I've blogged!  The boys got sick, and it lingered longer than it should have, but it's the bug that's been going around. I've been busy working on stuff and taking pictures, but I haven't had the time to do the write-ups.  But I've gotten a-lot of snuggling with little boys and sipping tea done.

On to the experimentation.

Jelly is not as easy as it sounds. Like soap-making, to get a good jelly you need to balance several things:

• Sugar: if you've made fudge or pralines, you know that the heating of sugar helps things gel (and makes it sweet).
• Acid: changes the flavor a bit, but more importantly, it helps the jelly gel and keeps bacteria from forming.  You don't want to spend your time and money making fabulous jelly that goes bad in 2 or 3 months from too little acid. Most fruit has some acid in it, but adding citric acid, lemon juice or vinegar increases the acid content in low acid fruits.
• Pectin: it's a natural substance found in fruit, but oddly enough the more ripe the fruit, the less pectin it has. Sure Jell, Fruit Jell and Certo are a few commercial pectins that you can add when the fruit is naturally low in pectic, like strawberries, or overripe.

When reading up on making jelly (it's been years since I've made jelly in large amounts), I found 2 rules repeated over and over:

1. Never decrease the amount of sugar called for in a recipe
2. Never substitute liquid pectin for powder pectin or  vice/versa.

So I went in search of recipes, and I found recipes that called for the same amount of fruit with the sugar amount either halved or doubled - defying rule #1. Then I found recipes that were identical except for using one or the other kind of pectin. And there went rule #2.

After all is said and done, there is a good deal of forgiveness when making jellies and jams.  If it's too runny, you can always poor it back into a pot and add more of whatever caused the problem. 

Raspberry Jalapeño Pepper Jelly Recipe
(w/ recommendations and explanations)
Yields: roughly 44 to 50 ounces

Technically this is a Jam recipe - I'm using whole fruit and not fruit juice. But locally it's called jelly whether or not it's from juice or fruit. So I'll stick with the local name in case someone googles for it.

• 5 cups Frozen or Fresh Raspberries, whole (about 24 oz frozen)
• Jalapeño Peppers
• For very mild jelly: 1/3 c Jalapeño peppers (~4 small, measured after chopping) and 1/2 tsp of the seeds
• For a little bite, but still mild: 1/2 c Jalapeño peppers (~5 to 6 small, measured after chopping) and 1 tsp of the seeds
• If you want it hotter, increase the amount of peppers. Since I've not yet gone above 1/2 c, I can't say what it will do.
•  1 small to medium Red Bell Pepper (or 1/2 large)
• 1/2 tsp Butter (to prevent foaming)
• 4 1/2 cups White Sugar
• 1/2 c Lemon Juice (to increase acidity)
• 1 Package Powdered Pectin (I used Sure Jell)

A side note on picking peppers: 

• You don't need a peck of pickled peppers (just kidding)
• Pick fresh, crisp peppers. Old peppers make jelly taste bad.
• Cut off and discard any soft or diseased spots.
• Smaller peppers are better - they are less fibrous and less stringy than large peppers.

Directions:

Clean and sterilize the jars:  Place all the jars you'll use in a large pot and cover with warm water. They can be upright or on their sides, but they must be totally covered plus 1/2 to 1 more inch with water.  Bring water to a light boil. Remove jars being very careful not to let the hot water scald you. I use a special jar lifter thing like this one. You can find one anywhere canning stuff is sold. For years I used salad tongs and was just extra careful. Place drained jars upside down on a clean towel to dry.

Sterilize the lids and rings: Place all the lids and rings you'll use in a small pot. Cover with water and bring the water to a simmer.  Leave pot on low heat throughout, adding more water when necessary.

Cutting the peppers: Two words: wear gloves!  The oil from the hot peppers can stay on your skin, despite multiple washings, for a day or two.  And then when you touch any mucus membrane (eyes, nose, mouth, other more interesting places), it will burn. So wear gloves.
Wash and dry the peppers. Remove the seeds and set those aside for later. Remove and discard (i.e. mulch!) the white membrane parts.
I then chopped and placed them in a mini-chopper to make them fairly fine, but not pureed. This actually works better if you add 1/2 the lemon juice to the mine-chopper with the pepper. The liquid helps it chop better.

Do the same to the bell pepper and the other 1/2 of lemon juice, but discard the seeds too.

Simmer some ingredients:  In a large pot , place your raspberries, peppers, lemon juice, butter, sugar, and seeds. Everything but the pectin.  Tip: use a pot about 3 to 4 times deeper than the ingredients because jelly and jam like to bubble up and expand a good deal!
Cook uncovered over med/low heat. The sugar will dissolve and become liquid and the fruit will start to break apart.  Simmer, but don't boil, on low heat for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. The simmering evaporates the excess water which can make your jelly runny. Tip: DO NOT breathe in the fumes. The pepper fumes are strong for some people. Keep your stove fan on high.

To let you know how often I stirred, at this point, my 2 year old had an emotional breakdown because he couldn't find his Captain America toy. So I stirred a little, and then spent a minute looking for the toy. Stirred a little again, and then spent a minute looking for his toy. It did make the 15 minutes go by much quicker.  Also, if the berries don't look like they are breaking down that well, use the back of your spoon to crush them.

Boil Jelly:  After 15 minutes of simmering, add the pectin and turn the heat up to med/high and bring the mixture to a full roiling boil - which means it doesn't stop bubbling when you stir.  Stir constantly (that means don't stop!). Let it stay at a full roiling boil for 2 whole minutes.  Tip: you may want to wear those full length kitchen gloves about now. Roiling boiling jelly sputters (say that 5 times real fast).

Remove from heat and place in jars: After 2 minutes, immediately remove the pot from the heat.  Using a large ladle, ladle the jelly into your sterilized jars, filling them up to 1/4 inch from the top. Tip: I used a razor knife and cut the bottom off a cheap plastic funnel to increase the hole and used that so that the jelly wouldn't spill in the jar's edges. Jelly edges prevents proper sealing of jars.
Screw on the lids.

Water Bath: Place the lidded jars in a large stockpot. Cover the jars with water plus another inch or two. Over med to med/high heat (not high), bring the water to a boil and boil the jars for 15 minutes.  This kills off any bacteria or fungus which may still be present in the mixture or on the jars.

I never used to do the water bath part, and my jellies were fine up to 2 years. But I quantify things now, and the fruit other ingredients are expensive, but, more importantly, my time is expensive. And I don't want to spend 2 to 3 or even 4 hours making preserves that don't persevere. So now I water bath.

Remove the jars from the water bath after 15 minutes - do not let the water cool and then remove them. That's why we have those jar lifter thingies. Place the jars on your kitchen towel to dry and cool.

Once the jars are cool, the lid should not pop back when pressed. If it does make a popping sound, it is not sealed. Either put it in another water bath or open and eat then and there. I usually do the latter.

Voila! Homemade Raspberry Jalapeño Pepper Jam!  The doohickey on the left is my jar lifter, and the one on the right is my magnet wand, which is good for lifting the lids and rings out of the hot water (and for giving to little boys to distract them when you're making the jelly).