Cracked into the "Yellow Fever" Pineapple Ghost Jam last night with my sister and her boyfriend. Toasted some bread to go with the brie and the jam, then indulged. My hottest jam yet - very sweet at first, with that classic slow creeping heat for which the Bhut Jolokia is known. The ribbons of Yellow Ghost were a real joy to encounter :-) Josh

Well, this will probably be the last harvest of any significance.....I have a few pods left on the Peach Ghost, Douglah, Carolina Reaper, and Yellow Brain Strain....and quite a few on my second Red Bhut Jolokia plant. Not sure if the green pods will have time to ripen, but I think I have enough pods as it is. I'm currently dehydrating a large batch of pods. Anyhow, pulled a nice amount of Reapers, Douglah, and Bhut Jolokia. The Douglah has been an incredible performer this whole season, throwing out brutally hot, tasty, and large well-shaped pods. Josh Douglah More Douglah.... Bhut Jolokia.... Carolina Reapers.... More Carolina Reapers.... And all together....

mecdave - are you putting water in a pan and setting oven to 180? Jars are not meant to withstand dry heat - could shatter. And to truly sterilize (not just warm before putting hot food in), you must boil for 10 minutes, lower heat won't do. But no need to sterilize unless processing for less than 10 minutes (as for a delicate jelly, 5 minutes). I just put the jars in the pot I'm BWBing in, fill to the rims, you have to preheat the water and jars anyway before processing. I pour the hot (simmer or so if not sterilizing) water over the lids in a Pyrex bowl, Ball says you don't even have to do that but I like to let them soak/soften while I fill the first jar. If when I take last empty jar out of canner the water is already over tops of filled jars, and I'm afraid pot will boil over, I dump the last jar (and the bowl) in the sink, else I dump them back into the canner. So no extra pot/burner required. Lemon juice is more acidic than vinegar, OJ varies and can be over 4.0 so I wouldn't rely on it to acidify peppers, pineapple juice (if that's what's in the can, as mecdave said, check it!) is more acidic though not as acidic as lemon - remember, pH is logarithmic so 1.0 decrease in pH (say from 3.6 pineapple juice to 2.6 lemon juice) is 10 times more acidic. The lemon pulp in the NMSU recipe also helps to acidify the marmalade. That table is from USDA, so safe to use (provided no typos), I don't generally rely on the pickyourown site. Here's the original (with some humorous misspellings but hopefully no typos in the numbers): Here is a link that might be useful: Official pH values

Thanks Dave and Annie. As you can tell, I'm winging it here :) I'm kinda doing a spinoff of the Ball Orange Marmalade recipe (without the pith/rind), but I'm not sure what type/how much pectin to use. I hope it doesn't come out bitter; I didn't realize that's why citrus freezer jams were more popular, thanks for the tip. Maybe I'll swap out the two lemons for a couple of more clementines, then just add a splash of lemon juice instead. Annie, "don't fear the Reaper!" Hahaha. I use them in my "go to" strawberry pepper jam recipe: Strawberry Pepper Jam •2lbs fresh strawberries •4-5 cups granulated sugar •1 superhot pepper- finely minced (Annie, try 1/2 a Reaper) •1-2 TBSP lemon juice •4 TBSP powdered pectin (Yields roughly seven 1/2 pints) ^This recipe is ALWAYS a hit! Especially around the holidays- even my Grandmother (who's 85!) BEGS me for this stuff! (For a Chocolate version, mix 1/4 cup of cocoa powder into the sugar before adding to the pot. Mmmmmm....) This can go on anything from crackers with cream cheese to vanilla ice cream! I'm going into jam making mode this week, and thought I'd try making a new flavor (Orange). Thanks everyone! Edited to add: pectin suggestions for the Orange Jam? i.e.- powdered vs. liquid?