In reply to Janice Lawandi.

Thank you Janice, adding the extra cup of sugar did the trick and the jam thickened to my liking. I let it sit overnight and then brought it up to boil again before jarring it. The over powering vinegar taste has subsided and it is quite delicious.

Thank you for staying tuned and answering our concerns.

Hi Francisca,
I'm sorry you don't like the flavour of the jam! The flavour of the jam will change after it's cooled and set and it will probably taste less vinegary at that point, but it is definitely a tangy spread. I had a thought though given your comments: is it possible you didn't boil the jam long enough? You mentioned the set was way too loose. The set will be firmer the more you boil it. I've boiled the jam up to 220 °F, which resulted in a firm jelly-like texture even. Boiling to a higher temperature will also mellow out that vinegary taste, by the way, and this could be why you are finding the vinegar so overpowering. It could be that it hasn't boiled off enough. I mentioned in the blog post about the temperatures for boiling and how the set will change, but I failed to add them to the recipe card. I will update it with these notes this week.
The only way I can see changing that is adding more peppers, but this late in the process, it will be tricky because you will have to reheat the mixture and then bring it up to the jam setting point again.

As for the level of spiciness, it could be your peppers just weren't that spicy. Technically the heat is in the membranes of the peppers, not the seeds. So keeping the seeds mostly would have changed the texture, I think. I don't love keeping the seeds, personally.

I hope my comments help! Let me know how it goes!

Hi Janice, I make a sweet pepper jam with habanero peppers that is delicious and very spicy. I tried this recipe because every summer I have more jalapenos than I know what to do with. This jam was disappointing. Couple of things that were a problem one is that it did not set until I added more sugar and the second thing is and really the main complaint I have is that it just tastes like apple cider vinegar. It's almost like it wants to be a chutney but it's not. I haven't jarred it yet and I'm wondering what I can add to it to tame down the cider vinegar taste. Lastly I did not take all the seeds out of the jalapenos and I wish I had not taken any out. The heat from the peppers adds the flavor profile I was going for. Please let me know if you have any suggestions. Thank you

In reply to Janice.

Thank you for the quick reply!

No worries! I'll be making this jam too this week because I grew 3 jalapeño plants and now I have too many jalapeños, lol!

Remove them! I'll add that clarification to the recipe card to make it more clear.
Thanks for your comment and I hope you enjoy this jam as much as I do!

In reply to John.

Sorry... I put the wrong name Janice. lol

Hi Melissa-
What about the lemon seeds? Are those just left in there or are you removing them at some point?

Hi Melissa, I've had another thought: have you let the jam cool down? Because when it's warm, the vinegar might be potent but I think once it's cooled down, it should mellow. The other thought I had is if the jam wasn't boiled long enough, perhaps the vinegar taste is more present... just some ideas of what could have gone wrong with the taste. But this is a vinegar forward jam. It's the type of condiment you would serve on cheese boards or with a holiday roast.

Hi Melissa,
Usually pepper jams and jellies are a combination of spicy, vinegary, and sweet. So it should have a vinegary but sweet taste. Are you sure you added the full amount of sugar? because that is important to balance the acidic flavour of the vinegar. The sugar is key for the set but also the flavour. Hope that helps!