[quote=JaxFirehart]
The first thing that comes to mind for me is that you might have it set to Explosives = 75 rather than explosives >= 75
[/quote]
looking now, I read the guide on the Beth GECK wiki and thought I did everything right. (this is my first attempt at creating a new recipe)
set the Explosives skill in the dropdown menu, set the skill level in the menu next to it. I did notice if I type in that box my changes didn't take so I'll look again.