Red Pepper Jelly did not gel!

[bstenehjem]

I made some red (hot) pepper jelly (the kind that you spread over cream cheese for a fast appetizer) a couple of days ago. I followed the directions exactly - it called for 2 1/2 pouches of Certo, 1 1/2 cups of cider vinegar, 3 red bell peppers, 6 1/2 cups of sugar and cayenne. I carefully sterilized my jars/lids. After it all cooled, the mixture inside appears to be "runny" and not congealed like jelly should be. Should I throw this all out and start over? Should I have used 3 pouches of Certo instead of the 2 1/2? Thank you!

[AprilB]

Did you add the certo all at once and boil heavy for 5 minutes?

Jelly is kind of cranky. You might want to try a recipe using pectin next time.

April

[Mezzaluna]

Moving this to a more appropriate forum....

Please come back to the Welcome Forum, bstenehjem, and introduce yourself so we can give you a proper welcome.

Regards,
Mezzaluna

[nowIamone]

Mine never sets up immediately, it takes a week to 10 days. Marmalade does the same thing.

[henry]

I came across an interesting recipe just yesterday for jalapeno cranberry jelly, which uses the natural pectin in apples (granny smith) and cranberries rather than relying on certo or other pectin. And it uses a bit less sugar also.
The link includes pictures and how-to instructions.

I haven't tried it, but thought I'd pass it along on this thread.

http://www.elise.com/recipes/archive...pper_jelly.php

P.S. If you do make it, would you let us know how it turns out?

H.

[Jock]

I've had mixed results in the same batch when making (sweet) red pepper jelly. I was surprised when it didn't set up right away but as nowIamone says it can take days to set up. Some of mine set up nicely after 3 or 4 days but some more - in the same batch - never really set up at all. Go figure!

Jock

[SkylineMt]

I've had the same problem with red pepper jelly, shallot jelly, red wine jelly -- about any kind of jelly that, I assume, is low in natural pectin. While I stuck with Certo I had to practically double the amount called for, until I switched to pectin and usually about 20% extra sugar just for good measure.