I had no idea there was someone testing home recipes. I'm going to get the Ball Blue Book to learn more and be safe.

I did water bath process all the jalapeno jelly I made. The original recipe doesn't call for it, but I've found in the past the jelly didn't always set correctly and had some lid failures; processing in a water bath solved both problems.

When you are developing a new recipe, are there general guidelines you follow? I'm asking because my mom & I have a tendency to experiment with recipes. Right now I'm comparing all the raspberry and cranberry jalapeno jelly recipes I've collected in the past few days. I'm trying to come up with a jalapeno cranberry jam that's thick and a bit chunky like a chutney, but doesn't have the raisins, onion and spices of a chutney. You've really got me thinking about food safety.

Thanks for all the help,

Mori