Carolina Reaper Jelly

[pmcgrady]

I decided to make a batch of "Reaper Jelly yesterday... it turned my kitchen
into a nuclear nightmare. First stemming and seeding them, I kept asking myself... I hope these rubber gloves are thick enough. Then boiling the pepper purée, sugar, vinegar formed a toxic cloud in the kitchen even with the hood running full blast.
Then the worst happened, I had a boil over! Super hot sugar napalm everywhere! What a mess to clean up, even cleaning the pans afterwards was scary. I used 8 Reaper peppers and 1 large red bell pepper and ended up with 6 half pints. I dipped a toothpick in a jar this morning and tasted it... not to bad, tastes good actually... then the burn set in, for a half an hour. WOW!


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[Cole_Robbie]

A lot of my super hots have a specific aroma to them, often like fruit. Do you detect any flavor like that in the reapers? Or is it just heat?

[pmcgrady]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

A lot of my super hots have a specific aroma to them, often like fruit. Do you detect any flavor like that in the reapers? Or is it just heat?

They have a lot of flavor, but it's hard to describe... When I was seeding them, the aroma was pleasent also, almost kind of a sweet coffee smell. Then the heat sets in
and pretty much all you can think about as you are sitting there sweating. A little of
this jelly will go along way. I should have put it in smaller jars. I have fresh seeds if you would like some!

[dmforcier]

Bhuts have a berry flavor to me, but I don't recall any from the Reapers. Could be trauma-induced amnesia...

pmcgrady, my hot pepper jellies start off rather .. uhh .. warm, then mellow considerably over time. If you don't find much flavor, next time add a bunch of chopped up fruit. I really like strawberries with BJs. Not sure what would go best with Reapers.

It looks like it set up nicely. What/how much pectin did you use? Nice color, too.

[pmcgrady]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

Bhuts have a berry flavor to me, but I don't recall any from the Reapers. Could be trauma-induced amnesia...

pmcgrady, my hot pepper jellies start off rather .. uhh .. warm, then mellow considerably over time. If you don't find much flavor, next time add a bunch of chopped up fruit. I really like strawberries with BJs. Not sure what would go best with Reapers.

It looks like it set up nicely. What/how much pectin did you use? Nice color, too.

I used a recipe from the Ball Canning Preserving book for jalapeño jelly which called for
3/4# jalopenos ( I used 8 Reapers and 1 sweet red bell pepper)
2 cups vinegar
6 cups sugar
2 packs 3 oz liquid pectin
No food coloring, the color is all from the peppers.

[Cole_Robbie]

I had Reapers and Bhuts two summers ago. I don't remember them having a lot of non-heat flavor, but I dried them whole and didn't cut them up. Observations from this year, based on aroma, is that Naga Viper=cherries, Fatali=citrus, and Kraken Scorpion=Cranberries/Roses.

[imp]

You probably should process outside if possible, and even then, some bigger box fans may help.

I haven't used the super hots as yet so this may not work well, but worked long ago for us in California.

We got hold of some unknown pepper types, thinner walled and just too darn hot, so we made it into pepper jelly. The first couple batches were too too hot still- a straight up run, then one with strawberries and apple; we found ripe mango cubes and juice to work best in , "toning down" is not quite right, but in making it bearable to use in savory dishes and such.

We also used some crushed pineapple with the mango and it was also good, but the pineapple sharpens the taste in another way- really good with cream cheese sparingly.

We also used apple cider vinegar and some really little jars.

The best thing I thought was using the peppers in a sort of chutney; apples finely diced, raisins and golden raisins, some citrus peels - orange, navel orange, mangoes and those infernal peppers and red onion.

My mother was totally pi**ed when she realized the peppers had soaked into her one cutting board that she liked so much.

[Worth1]

You could have so much fun with that jelly.
Like a jelly filled doughnut or pastry.
Glazed ham.
These would be good mixed with cherry jelly.

Worth

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

I really like strawberries with BJs.

Oh, Really! Tee Hee!

[Rajun Gardener]

I just left that one alone!!

[Worth1]

The pepper people the pepper.

Worth

[dmforcier]

Well *some* people on this forum have filthy minds.




Makes we want to hang around and see what happens. [He said with all innocence.]

[guruofgardens]

I would love some seeds from your Carolina reapers if you have a few extra, thank you.

I make hot/warm jams whenever the fresh fruits are in season. One of my faves is Raspberry Blackberry with red bhut jolokias. They can be as hot as one wants, but the straight hot pepper jelly/jam is not for me.

[Salsacharley]

My neighbor at the local growers market was in the ER for a full day last week from inhaling vapors of 7 Pots he was dehydrating. He already had COPD. Unfortunately the vapors didn't cure his COPD, but aggravated it. I made some habanero jelly last year but I put onions in it....bad idea. It was not tasty. Your jelly looks pretty good, but scary. I bet a little of that jelly on a toothpick would leave your lips a tad toasty.

[BigVanVader]

I thought they had good flavor the only time I ate one. Of course by the time I thought that to myself the pain hit. Eating super hots can sometimes feel like a near death experience.