I know......have fun and wear rubber gloves!

Can't wait to hear how you do! Enjoy!

I'll send my address if you'll send me some!!
I know!

I need to get my @#%^ in gear and make more too!
I've got everything except the peppers.

Deanna

Have you made it before Shaun?? If you share, be ready for 2 things...the recipe or another canning job!!!

Do you need a taste tester??

LOL, I know too. I just made some of the cheddar thumprints filled with that stuff for the boss's birthday today.

4 dozen and they were gone in less than an hour. And before 9 a.m.!

Annie

Holy carp! You gotta soak the apricots for 4 hours? Shoot! I'm ready to rock and roll man! Here I sit - got everything else all chopped up and ready to go.

I didnt wear rubber gloves but I will next time. One finger is burning! Wonder why just one?

cuz that's the one that has some cracks in it...

I learned that the hard way too..for several days I had been doing some serious soap and water type cleaning..and then cut a jalapeno...I was "Burned" For hours...sticking my fingers in ice water only worked while they were in the ice water!!!!!!

oh and Shaun, just pour boiling water over them and let set 20 minutes or so... just means the apricot bits might be a bit chewy in the jelly. But maybe not.

Shaun, I've been dying to try it myself. Good luck and be prepared for my million questions, lol

Shaun, I've cheated and just soaked them for a couple of hours when I've been in a hurry and I don't notice a huge difference in consistency. A little difference, but nothing substantial.

Go for it, girl!

Annie

I should get off of my butt and make some too! YUMMO!

Nope, not gonna do it. I'm leaving the apricots in there for 4 hours! I'm following the recipe to a T.

Say how long do you think it will take for this HUGE pot to come to a boil? My goodness it's huge! I could bathe Ricky in it.

Well maybe not.......

I have another 2 hrs before the apricots are ready.

Get that Baby out of the pot! LOL

What kind of heat are you putting under it?

Using an electric stove on high, filled 3/4ths full it takes about 45 min. to come to the boil for me. Use the lid...holds the heat in, but you knew that already :0

Oh Shaun. You are brave! I can't wait to see how it turns out and hear about your experience.

I will agree with you... it is quite frustrating be ready to go and have to wait on something. Usually in my case, it's waiting for dough to chill. Ugh!

Glad Ricky is a good sport...

Stick your jars full of water in the pot and put it on about medium while you're cooking the rest.

Dump the water out of the jars, turn up the heat to high while you fill jars and put lids on. You can set them back in there as you fill.
The pot won't take as long that way (well, it takes just as long, but you're doing something else so it doesn't SEEM like it!).

I gotta get some peppers........

Deanna

Man I have so many questions!

I've washed the jars/lids. Not sure how many I"ll need for this recipe; using what came in the kit.

Now do I put them into hot water to wait there until I'm ready to fill them?

Do I put the lids in hot water too?

Won't the rubber seal start to melt?

Do I have to dry the inside of the jars before adding the jelly to it?

Do I put the lids on the jars while their in hot water waiting to be filled?

Am I overthinking this? I could read the book but there is so much to read I'll never get this going!

The big pot is on the store now heating at high. (with the lid on)

Help!

Ricky's looking a little nervous, poor thing.

"hey Mom, My feet are getting kind of hot..."

Deanna thanks.

Ok, I forgot to wipe the rim before putting them into the BWB.

The jars that came with the kit are big so I only got 2 jars of jelly out of this.

Gotta get smaller jars......

Is it normal for the lids to make that ping sound within a minute or two of taking them out of the BWB ? I heard 2 pings.

yes it's fine.
Sometimes they ping right away, and sometimes they don't..more often though they ping very quickly.

Thanks for asking all the questions I'm sure I'd have!

I'm having a hard time accessing the board...everything looks odd. I've restarted my computer and it's still the same.

Anyway, the Habanero Gold is done!

I really need smaller jars. Only got these two. But look how pretty it is!!

Thanks for all the help.

Good job Shaun! Watch for 8oz jars, that's the best size for this.

The site must be having problems tonight. Slow to come on and the headers are messed up. I thought it was my computor as I've been messing with some settings, so I'm glad to hear yours was funny also.

Watch where you put those hot fingers....

Nancy

Those are beautiful!

When's the taste test?

Well I kept about 1/8 cup out of the canning jars for me to taste and taste I did. I brought out some crackers, some cream cheese and the GOLD. O.M.G. *thud* SO good. Hubs said it would taste excellent on pork or grilled chicken. He's not a cream cheese man.

I just ordered a doz 8 oz jars from WalMart online.

Wondering, could I use use the Food Processor to chop up all the peppers/onions? Or would that make the pieces too small?

Now do I put them into hot water to wait there until I'm ready to fill them? Jars and lids: yes. Rings: neah. I put my jars in an empty pot, THEN fill with water. I fill a little less because the dumped water will raise the level to where I want it to be (sometimes....)

Do I put the lids in hot water too? Yes

Won't the rubber seal start to melt? You want them in the hot water at least 10 mintues to soften.

Do I have to dry the inside of the jars before adding the jelly to it? Heck no.

Do I put the lids on the jars while their in hot water waiting to be filled? Neah, just make sure you can reach them with regular tongs.

Shaun, I have been making HPJ for many, many years. Yes, I chop everything together in the food processor. Actually, I process until all is 'mush'. I prefer the fine particles throughout the jelly. It is a personal choice. Sometimes the peppers contain a lot of water which can prevent the jelly from jelling. That is an 'unknown' in the making so I always put the chopped peppers, etc. in a strainer, give it a quick shake to drain some of the excess water out and then continue with the recipe. Enjoy!

Ok thanks everyone!

It really is delicious, if I must say so myself.

I wish wish wish I had used smaller jars so I could have shared my first creation.

OH here's another question.

While I'm waiting on my smaller jars to be delivered, since I have enough ingredients (peppers, onions etc) to make another batch...... can I go ahead and chop up the measured ingredients and freeze them until the jars get here or would freezing them compromise the setting process, you know, extra water etc.

Whaddaya think?

I wouldn't freeze it. But if you did, I'd let it thaw and definately strain.

And I actually prefer to use 1/2 pints (4oz) because I've had some crystalize before getting to it all..sure a "warming" fixes that..but I just don't eat it fast enough.

I tried to post last night and the site wouldn't let me.

As Jessica said, the rubber mold on the jar needs to get hot and soften so it creates a good seal. I just put the lids inside the rings and put everything into simmering water because then I can just take my tongs and pull out a lid/ring combo and put in on the jar.

I also never heat the jars. If they are washed and you process them 10 minutes, they don't need to be sterilized. Of course, right after I told Jessica I almost never get a broken jar, I put some dilled green beans into the canner and got a broken jar, LOL, she's a jinx!! I've not had a broken jar since. I just wash the jars, put them on the counter on a towel and when the jelly is ready, ladle the hot jelly into the jars. It heats the jars enough to avoid thermal shock and the resulting breakage.

And yes, Shaun, you can chop everything in the food processor, unless you want all the pieces to be alike. Just chop them coarsely if you want those bits floating in the amber jelly, or else your jelly will be more "muddy" and have little pieces. It won't hurt anything but it would look different. And I've always frozen the chopped habaneros and used them because I can't grow them year round so I get a bunch when they're in season and chop them up and freeze them. No reason why you couldn't freeze the rest of the stuff too, it cooks in the jelly anyway so it's already softened.

Annie

Alrightie then! I'm gonna get out my food processor and course chop the peppers/onions and stick them in the freezer. The jars should be here by Jan 26th; unless I go out tomorrow and find some in the store. I already know Walmart doesnt have any; I asked last week and was told they had maybe a box of lids in the back but that was it.

My daughter is coming over tomorrow, maybe I'll get her in there to help me make some Salsa!

Ok, off to read the Salsa recipe and see what all I'll need! Thanks again for the help.

Shaun, I chop the onions and hot peppers for the salsa in the food processor too, but I do the tomatoes and sweet peppers by hand because I like big chunks of those and can't get that with a food processor.

If you don't want the salsa as thick and chunky as I do, you could do it all in the food processor too.

Annie

Shaun....try the thrift stores for jelly jars......they often have boxes of them, donated when cleaning out Grandma's house.
Linda C

that looks beautiful Shaun! Wish I still had some in the cupboard...

Our tomatoes are just not good in the stores. There are some produce stands around out here, do you think those tomatoes would be better than the ones in the grocery store? Or do *they* pick them too early too?

shaun, I'd at least try the produce stands, they've got to be at least as good as the grocery store stuff. Can you just buy one and take a big bite out of it, then if it's good buy some more?

Annie

check hardware stores..most of grocery stores also carry some canning jars...sometimes they are a bit more expensive..