Jalapeno Pepper Preserves

Yield: 6 1/2 cups, 3 pints, 6 half pint jelly jars of jam.  Less if making jelly.

 

Ingredients:

 

3 cups minced jalapeno peppers, (inferno – leave in seeds and veins, hot – remove half of the seeds and leave veins, medium – remove all of the seeds and half of the veins, mild – remove seeds and all of the veins)

1 cup minced red sweet bell pepper

1 cup minced green sweet bell pepper

4 – 4 1/2 cups Turbinado sugar 

1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 (soft) – 6 (firm set) tablespoons powdered pectin*

1/4 cup apple cider reduction (optional)

 

 

Directions:

 

Fill water bath processing canner with water. Place jars for canning in the water. Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes to sterilize.  Remove and place on a soft kitchen towel on a counter.

 

Place peppers in a large sauce pot. Add vinegar, sugar, and salt. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.

 

Bring the ingredients to a gentle simmer.  Simmer for 15 minutes.  Do not boil.

 

Combine apple cider reduction and pectin.  Stir until pectin is incorporated and there are not any lumps.  Add apple cider reduction and pectin to pepper preserves.  If not using apple cider reduction, sprinkle pectin over the top of the pepper preserves, one tablespoon at a time, stirring each tablespoon in immediately and thoroughly.

 

Bring the preserves to a roiling boil that cannot be stirred down. This is important as the pectin will not be effective if a high temperature is not reached.  Continue at a roiling boil for 2 minutes.

 

Remove from heat. Remove a spoonful and allow to cool until it can be sampled.  Different brands of pectin have different sweetness levels. Adjust sugar if necessary.  If sugar is added, stir until completely dissolved.  If too sweet, add a teaspoon or two of additional apple cider vinegar and stir in.   

 

Ladle preserves (leave in pepper pieces) or jelly (strain, discard solids and use only the liquid) into sterile jars. Leave 1/4″ headspace.

 

Wipe off any preserves that spill onto the rim or outside of the jars.

 

Drop canning jar lids into boiling water and boil for 5 minutes.

 

Remove lids from boiling water with tongs.  Place a lid on top of each of the cleaned jars.

 

Screw on the thread molded ring** and finger tighten.

 

Place jars back in the hot water bath processing canner, bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes.

 

Remove jars from processing water and place on a soft kitchen towel.

 

As the jars cool, the seals will pop.

 

If the pepper pieces rise to the top of the jar as it cools, wait until the jars can be handled and rotate gently to redistribute the pepper pieces throughout the jam. 

 

Leave the jars on the towel until completely cool, preferably overnight.  Check to see if they need to be rotated again to keep the pepper pieces distributed throughout the jam.

 

Test the seals by removing the jar rings and lifting the jars by the lids slightly off of the towel. The lid should stay in place without moving. If any of the lids move, the jar did not properly seal. Replace the ring, finger tighten, and place in the icebox. Use within two weeks.

 

All jars that are sealed properly can be placed in a cool, dry place for up to six months.

 

 

*It was determined that pectin would serve as a reliable thickening agent in the 1820’s. However, commercially produced pectin did not occur until 1908. Prior to that, jams and jellies were thickened by adding apple juice and then boiling the preserves down until they were sufficiently thick. Praise the determination of your ancestors, but make your life easy by using pectin.