I made my first jelly the Summer of 2012. It was a cool and moonlit night when the peach and jalapeno semi-solid union was born. And eventually, hot pepper jelly came to join the family.
I'd like to first and foremost thank my pectin:
The information packet included gives all the needed ratios for different kinds of jams and jellies. I've found them to be quite accurate... for example, I made my hot pepper jelly with far too little of the pectin at first. It didn't gel, so I just reheated it with the pectin it was missing. Presto. Remarkable.
If you can't find this pectin I really don't know how to help you. Got mine at Whole Foods.
For the peppers I raided the late summer farmer's market for a great variety. I think I spent less than 7 dollars on peppers that day and left there feeling sad, like I was ripping them off by stealing these gorgeous peppers. I wish I could remember the amount of chopped up pepper I used... It had to be at least 3 cups of diced peppers. Plus some apple cider vinegar, sugar, etc.
My double boiling led to major water loss (not sure why I didn't add more) and a denser jelly with a good dose of pepper per unit volume. So not mega traditional, but still pretty awesome. The variety of peppers, noticeably delicious. It did lack some heat though. My steadfast deribbing and deseeding was perhaps too much. Paired with some cheese, my hot pepper jelly did not register hot. Luckily, it did register delicious.
