THE 2017 CHILLI THREAD

I am starting to hzrvest reapers, habaneros, scotch bonnet, devil's tongue, scorpions. This plant is just for me. It has no heat, is tasty and I just eat them as I pick them .

 

Just been given this by another allotment bloke.. I only asked him what they were! He thinks they're apache.



Does anyone have a tried and tested chilli jam recipe please?

 

I have several recipes for preserves that incorporate hot peppers. I don't actually make a jam from the peppers. I make a lot of jellies and sauces though. I also have a super recipe for cranberry sauce which is heated up with chillies.

Sorry about not having a jam recipe to share. I hope someone here has one to post for you

 

I make chilli jam and chilli sauce most years using the chillies and the produce that I grow in the garden.

Chew a small bit of one of the chillies to see if it imparts a strong distinctive fruity taste in your mouth before the heat hits. If it does then it will probably make a good tasting jam with just chillies alone.

If the taste is bland then use a fruit (redcurrants work well) as the base and the chillies for the heat. Add a pinch or two of ground black pepper to accentuate the taste.

The basic recipe I use for jams is equal amounts of fruit to equal amounts of jam sugar (or sugar with added pectin). Some people add a small knob of butter during cooking to smoothen the froth and create a shiny seal but I don't, I just keep skimming off the unsightly froth.

 

Just look at what those pesky butterflies in the tropics have done to my augmented Trinidad Moruga Scorpions.



Every time a butterfly flaps its wings a chilli plant dies.

My TMS plants (augmented with extra rootstock from Naga Morich plants through grafting), outdoors since mid-May, were quietly heading towards a bumper crop when tragedy struck four of the five plants.

I secured them to bamboo stakes but the stakes broke during the recent strong winds.

Damn butterflies!

 

@misterQ I'm sorry to see that. Even though my plants are in greenhouses, the blossoms still drop off if I so much as wink at them!

This business of keeping the blossoms from falling off must be the "challenging" part about growing super hots

 

I appreciate the sympathy, CandadianLori. And, I agree, not winking at a super hot is a mighty challenge.

 

Here are a couple of successful chilli jam recipes we've done, and will repeat

Ultimate hot and sweet chilli jam
How to Make My Ultimate Hot and Sweet Chilli Garlic Ginger Jam

Sweet chilli jam
Make your own sweet chilli jam | Make Your Own

Both are really good, and the first one is hot, the second a bit milder - both great!

 

Thank you all, will have a go at one those later @Sian in Belgium and will report back
I try to use a bit less sugar to fruit ratio if im making jam but might have to go full sugar! They do taste kind of fruity at first, then the heat hits!

 

How would you powder them?

I bet I sound like a complete fool

 

Not done it myself @bexy13 but dry the chillies and blitz with a blender/coffee grinder.