Easy Hot Pepper Jelly with Crab-Apples and Jalapeno Peppers

An abundance of crab apples and a peck of you-pick jalapeños equal either hot pepper jelly or cowboy candy. You can actually get both and decrease your food waste. I think you’ll see, it was ingenious. 

Hot Pepper Jelly without Certo®

I’ve actually been buying hot pepper jelly at the Christmas Faire at the Grand Forks Art Gallery for many years, but it is made with Certo®. Even though it tastes great with turkey and stuffing, even better than cranberry sauce, in my opinion, it wasn’t from scratch, not really. Besides the GMO issue, using apple pectin is cheaper if you have an apple tree in your backyard.

This year my two Dolgo crabapple trees are loaded with crabapples. I thought it would be great to try a jalapeno pepper jelly recipe with natural pectin. But it’s what I did with the leftover pulp that will impress you with my zero-waste prowess.

*Some cautions while working with hot peppers.

If you get pepper oils on your skin, near your eyes, or any other mucous membranes, always rinse immediately with milk, sour cream, or yogurt. Then use soap and water. Washing with water alone will drive the hot pepper oils deeper into the tissue. Be safe and wear disposable gloves while handling, or chopping hot peppers. Don’t touch your face or mucous membranes.

Don’t put your face directly over the pot while the crab apples and peppers are simmering. Really, avert your face. The hot pepper fumes can cause coughing fits and make it a bit hard to catch your breath. This stuff is potent while it cooks. Consider opening the windows for ventilation, and if you have pets or babies in the room, it’s a good idea to move them to another room, too. Preferably a room without a direct cross breeze from the kitchen.

Now, here’s my hot pepper jelly recipe made with just 4 ingredients and water.

Hot Pepper Jelly with No Added Pectin

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• Author: Joybilee Farm
• Prep Time: 5 hours
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Total Time: 6 hours
• Yield: 7 cups 1x
• Category: Jam & Jelly
• Method: Canning

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Description

Make hot pepper jelly from jalapenos and crabapples and make cowboy candy fruit leather from the leftovers. Zero-waste never tasted this good.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 18 cups of crab apples (6 pounds)
• 8 cups of water
• 16 medium-size jalapeño peppers (1 to 1 ½ pounds)
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 4 1/2 cups of organic sugar

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Instructions

1. Wash the crab apples. Sort them for any imperfections or bruises. Remove the stem and blossom ends and cut them in half. This extra step helps them cook down faster. Cut out any bruises or bad spots.
2. Add water and apples to an 8-quart pot. Simmer on low heat until the crabapples are soft. About 30 minutes.
3. Wearing disposable gloves*, chop the hot peppers. Cut off the stem end of the hot pepper. No need to core, and seed them. Slice the peppers into rounds. Add them to the pot, including seeds. The seeds have their own heat.
4. Put the prepared hot peppers in the pot with the crab apples. Simmer until the peppers are soft, about 30 minutes. Don’t hold your face directly over the steam. It can be irritating to your lungs.
5. While the peppers and apples are cooking, mash them with a potato masher to release as much juice as possible.
6. Wet a cloth or jelly bag and wring out excess moisture. Line a colander with the wet cloth or use a jelly funnel. (I use a gauze diaper, purchased specifically for kitchen use.)
7. Pour the cooked and mashed crabapples, and peppers through the cloth, catching the juice in a clean bowl.
8. Tie up and suspend the cloth over the bowl to catch the drips. Leave it at least 4 hours or overnight. Don’t squeeze the cloth or your jelly will be cloudy.
9. Reserve the pulp for Spicy Fruit Leather (aka Cowboy Candy).
10. After the waiting period, add at least 6 cups of the strained juice to a large saucepan.
11. Add vinegar and sugar to the saucepan. Bring the juice, vinegar, and sugar to a full rolling boil. Boil for 15 to 18 minutes until the liquid passes the gel test.
12. Remove from the heat. Skim off any foam.
13. Bottling: Pour into 7 — 250 ml/ 1 cup jelly jars. Cap with sterilized lids and rings. Tighten rings until finger tight.

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Notes

At this point, you can store the jars in the refrigerator and give the jelly as gifts or eat it. It will safely last in cold storage for up to one month. Alternatively, use the water bath canning method below to have shelf stable jelly.

Water Bath Canning Hot Pepper Jelly

After you have bottled the jars. continue to process them in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Remove from the jars from the water and allow them to cool on a tea towel for a few hours or overnight. The jelly will solidify while the jars cool. Sometimes it takes a few days for the jelly to become more solid, so don’t despair. It will still have the excellent taste you are looking for until it thickens. Rest assured, if it passed the gel test in step 10, it will gel when it is cool.

Properly canned jalapeno jelly will last in the pantry for 1 to 2 years.

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Hot Pepper Jelly with Crabapples

Yields 7 – 1 cup (8 oz.) (250ml) jars

Ingredients:

• 18 cups of crab apples (6 pounds)
• 8 cups of water
• 16 medium-size jalapeño peppers (1 to 1 ½ pounds)
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 4 1/2 cups of organic sugar

Directions:

1. Wash the crab apples. Sort them for any imperfections or bruises. Remove the stem and blossom ends and cut them in half. This extra step helps them cook down faster. Cut out any bruises or bad spots.
2. Add water and apples to an 8-quart pot. Simmer on low heat until the crabapples are soft. About 30 minutes.
3. Wearing disposable gloves*, chop the hot peppers. Cut off the stem end of the hot pepper. No need to core, and seed them. Slice the peppers into rounds. Add them to the pot, including seeds. The seeds have their own heat.
4. Put the prepared hot peppers in the pot with the crab apples. Simmer until the peppers are soft, about 30 minutes. Don’t hold your face directly over the steam. It can be irritating to your lungs.
5. While the peppers and apples are cooking, mash them with a potato masher to release as much juice as possible.
6. Wet a cloth or jelly bag and wring out excess moisture. Line a colander with the wet cloth or use a jelly funnel. (I use a gauze diaper, purchased specifically for kitchen use.)
7. Pour the cooked and mashed crabapples, and peppers through the cloth, catching the juice in a clean bowl.
8. Tie up and suspend the cloth over the bowl to catch the drips. Leave it at least 4 hours or overnight. Don’t squeeze the cloth or your jelly will be cloudy.
9. Reserve the pulp for Spicy Fruit Leather (aka Cowboy Candy).
10. After the waiting period, add at least 6 cups of the strained juice to a large saucepan.
11. Add vinegar and sugar to the saucepan. Bring the juice, vinegar, and sugar to a full rolling boil. Boil for 15 to 18 minutes until the liquid passes the gel test.
12. Remove from the heat. Skim off any foam.
13. Bottling: Pour into 7 — 250 ml/ 1 cup jelly jars. Cap with sterilized lids and rings. Tighten rings until finger tight.

At this point, you can store the jars in the refrigerator and give the jelly as gifts or eat it. It will safely last in cold storage for up to one month. Alternatively, use the water bath canning method below to have shelf stable jelly.

Water Bath Canning Hot Pepper Jelly

After you have bottled the jars. continue to process them in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Remove from the jars from the water and allow them to cool on a tea towel for a few hours or overnight. The jelly will solidify while the jars cool. Sometimes it takes a few days for the jelly to become more solid, so don’t despair. It will still have the excellent taste you are looking for until it thickens. Rest assured, if it passed the gel test in step 10, it will gel when it is cool.

Properly canned jalapeno jelly will last in the pantry for 1 to 2 years.

Most canning lid companies certify their seal for 18 months. A storage room with stable temperatures will help that be prolonged. If storing longer than a year, remember to periodically check that the jars are still sealed by tapping the center of the lid (where it pops up if unsealed). As long as the jar seal holds, the jelly will remain good in cool/cold storage.

Back to you:

Next time you make jelly and have all this flavourful pulp leftover, consider making cowboy candy fruit leather from the leftovers. Enjoy this spicy hot pepper jelly, and try turning the pulp into spicy fruit leather if you so wish.