Edit: I made some small adjustments to the ingredients amounts. 2 oranges, 2 ghosts and a slide modification to the process. See below for changes.

 

Having two ghost pepper plants that have produced about 50-100 peppers a plant has proposed a few challenges, namely: what do you do with so many peppers?!

Today I decided to do a pepper jelly.

First off, if you’re not familiar with ghost peppers, they are one of the hottest peppers in the world. I got two little seedlings from a friend and figured I’d give it a shot growing them. Turns out they love the sun and weather here! The ghost pepper, or Bhut Jolokia, reaches about one million on the Scoville Heat Units scale. In comparison, the habanero is around three hundred thousand at its hottest. When working with a ghost pepper it is always important to wear gloves, have a well ventilated area, and in some cases a mask and eye protection is a good idea. I can’t stress how important the gloves are.

To start the pepper jelly I needed a few things, first was a recipe. I always start my cooking with a base recipe. This is a recipe that doesn’t have a lot of flare or uniqueness. The reason is that I want to try to add my own personality to the recipe, if it succeeds. After some Googling, I found a pepper jelly recipe from Paula Dean which was very basic and specific. From this recipe and from my own adjustments, these are the things I needed.

  • 3 – 8oz (1/2 pint) canning jars with lids and tops
  • 3  2 ghost peppers, the redder the hotter
  • 1 2 medium, fist sized, orange
  • 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 2 ounces pectin
  • small food processor. I used the magic bullet which had a real nice small top for this kind of processing
  • rubber gloves, medical latex or non-latex gloves work best.

All of these ingredients were obtainable from Grauls, the local super market near me in Cape St. Clare.

I started the recipe by getting two large pots out. I filled one with water to a level that would cover the tops of the jars. I removed the lids ( the part with the silicon seal) and the tops of the jars, placing the tops (this is the metal circular piece) and the jars in to the water and turned the water on to boil*.

*Watch the pot through out the process, you want a steady boil, you don’t want it to boil over.

The order of which you do this is important only in respect to clean up and lessening your chance of getting the oils from the peppers on or around you.

  1. Take the orange and slice it in to quarters, remove the skin and save for later.
  2. in a small food processor squeeze the orange, being careful not to get any pulp in it pulp is fine, it should blend out.
  3. next cut the orange peel in to strips as wide or thin as you want to make them. I put one peel in each jar and then put a few in to the pan that we’ll later boil the ingredients in to add flavor.
  4. Next, carefully cut your peppers down the middle and remove all seeds and/or veins. This is where a lot of the heat is so if you don’t want crazy heat, remove seeds and veins. I removed the seeds and kept the veins.
  5. put the halves in to the food processor along with the squeezed orange juice.
  6. Depending on your food processor, if it doesn’t have a complete seal, put the food processor on blend and cover with a towel. This will prevent the ghost pepper from permeating in to the air and causing any discomfort.
  7. At this time take the apple cider vinegar and the sugar and mix them in to the empty pot, bringing it to a near boil. You want the vinegar and the sugar to become a liquid. Careful of it boiling and bubbling.
  8. When the pepper and juiced orange is fully blended, pour it in to the sugar and vinegar mix, stirring regularly.
    * It’s good to have a fan and a window open if you can as the steam from the mixture, combined with the ghost pepper, can cause discomfort when inhaled.
  9. At this time its recommended to turn the heat down on the jars and lids and remove them, draining them. Put tops in to the water and keep it somewhat boiling, you want to do this for about 5 minutes to sterilize the jars.
  10. Continue to stir the mixture till it looks completely mixed, maybe a few minutes.
  11. Remove the mixture from the heat and immediately combine the mixture with the pectin, stirring it in.
  12. Place the liquid, with either a funnel or through spoon, in to the jars. You can take the orange peel and place it in the jar if you wish. Be careful as the jars should still be very hot.
    *Leave about a quarter in at the top of the jar when filling it
  13. Wipe any excess spill from the tops of the jars
  14. place the tops and lids on to the jars and place them back in to the water and bring the water to a boil
  15. Proceed to boil based on the proper time for your altitude
  16. After the proper time, pull the jars out and place them on the counter to cool. You should hear the lids pop about 10-15min after they’ve been pulled from the water, meaning the seal has been made.

 

This is my first attempt at Ghost Pepper Jelly. I have no idea what the flavor will be like or how hot the jelly will be. I’m

 

going to let the jars sit for a week and then see if I can work up the nerve to try it. I’ll follow up with results!

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