canning Hot Peppers?

[Amishway Homesteaders]

Not a lot of posting today so I got thinking..................

I want to can hot peppers this year - something like the Pepperoncini I LOVE to eat. But I think I am tired of paying someone else to can them and then me having to buy them.

 

Now I will tell you the truth................................ I am to stinkin' lazy right now to look recipes up, so -

 

Do you can something hot like that? I have lots of hot peppers to grow again this year but mostly I just eat them or use in sause.

I am looking for anything be it canning whole or cut up - probley do pints as Lori will not even try one.

HELP the lazy can this year!

[margoc]

I'm interested as well. I had a bumper crop of japelenos last year but didn't know any simple easy recipe. I think you just put a vinegar solution on them?

[Ambergris]

When I've helped can peppers, we'd pop a few slivers of thinly sliced onion or half a garlic clove (cut longways) into each bottle or jar. We'd cut the top off each pepper so that the vinegar could get inside, and also cut fatter ones longwise, and put them on top of the onion or garlic. Don't cram the container too full of peppers. Put a thin wedge of pear or a half-teaspoon of sugar in each jar too. Pour boiling-hot vinegar over top and lid up quickly, then do the canning process.

We never used home-made vinegar except when the peppers were pressure-canned, and mostly we just jelly-canned them.

The garlic sometimes turns very strange colors, but the county extension told me this was okay.

[LindaLou]

Here are some pepperocini recipes I found

Pickled Pepperoncini

Yield: 8 pints

 

4 quarts peppers

4 cups vinegar

4 cups water

4 teaspoons salt

olive oil (optional)

 

Wash peppers thoroughly. Remove core, seeds, and stems of large peppers.

Cut as desired, or leave whole after coring. The small, hot peppers may be

left whole with stems intact. Make 2 small slits in whole peppers. Mix

vinegar and water, heat to 150-160F/66-71C about to the simmering point.

Since it is rather volatile, vinegar should not boil a longtime. Pack

peppers rather tightly into jars. Pour hot vinegar and water over the

peppers to 1/2 inch of jar rim. Add salt to taste, seal, and process 15

minutes in hot-water bath. If oil is desired, add vinegar to only 3/4 in of

jar top. Add olive oil to come 1/2 in from top. The peppers will be coated

with oil when they pass through the oil layer as you use them.

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Another common recipe:

 

16-20 green Pepperoncini peppers 2.5 cups white vinegar 1 teaspoon salt Heat

the vinegar and salt in a saucepan. Put the Pepperoncinis in a sterilized

quart jar and pour the hot vinegar over them to within 1/2 inch of the top.

Seal, process 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. I would also add that

adding perhaps a 1/4 teaspoon of mexican oregano (or herb of your choice)

may add some extra favor to your final product. Proper preservation requires

removal of the air to prevent oxidative degradation. Also, one must remove

air to prevent aerobic bacteria from spoiling the food. When I make

"refrigerator pickles" like this, I'm thinking in terms of a 3-4 week

lifetime.

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Another recipe:

 

Take peppers when they are yellow and sometime even red(for color). Make a

brine using either kosher salt or preferably celtic sea salt. Saturate the

pure water with salt. In other words, if there is still some salt in the

bottom of the container of water, it is "saturated". You can water them down

when you put them in the final canning stage later.

I always add salt to taste. There is no sense in going too far. Remember

this is fun and its gonna taste good right? The huge amount of salt acts as

a preserve.

I use a bucket with a lid and keep it Refridgerated.

Next i add white vinegar to the brine to taste. If you over do it, just add

more water! I have tried many types of vinegar(white wine, rice, balsamic),

and I like plain white vinegar personally. I always add fresh crushed

organic garlic to the brine (to taste). It turns blue later on and customers

love them.

Sometimes i will add store bought pickling spice but use it sparingly.

So now you have the brine with water, salt, vinegar. Then add garlic if you

wish. I also add slices of carrot, a dash of onion, sometimes green pepper

juilianned or a couple sliced jalepenos for heat.

** some pepperoncini companies use capsicum to add heat. You can buy this

and use it but i think it gives you tumors or something!

*sometimes my pepperoncinis are not that hot. Some are very hot. Still

workin' on that. Perhaps certian seedlings are hotter than others? Any idea

where i can get heirloom seeds?

Ok, next i Make a tiny incision in the top of the peppers to let the brine

inside. Add the peppers to the brine and refridgerate, stirring daily.

When they taste good, after a week or 2, you can put them in sterilized

jars, water them down a little (to taste) if you want and vacuum seal. I

always keep it refridgerated because I have no pressure cooker and don't

want to deal with it.

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Mildly warm pickled pepperoncini:

 

Harvest yellow-green pods when 2

to 3 inches long, pack in jars, cover with white wine vinegar and let

them set for 1 to 6 months. "The longer they set, the better they get!"

 

Several comments: It helps to slit the peppers before placing in

jars so they fill with vinegar. Otherwise, they tend to float, making it

nearly impossible to fill the jar. Second, I get the sense that the

"shelf life" for these probably shouldn't exceed 6 months or so. I

also did several things to reduce the possibility of spoilage. First, I

sterilized the jars and lids in boiling water, then I used a

FoodSaver to vacuum pack the jars. If you decide to purchase one

of these, be sure it comes with the vacuum packing attachment.

They're available at Walmart, Costco, etc. One last comment:

These don't taste quite the same as commercially produced

pepperoncinis you get at the deli. But they're not bad.

 

And some for jalapenos

 

Pickeled Jalapenos #3

 

6 lb Jalapeno

5 c Vinegar

1 c Water

4 ts Pickling salt

2 tb Sugar

2 Cloves garlic

 

Wash peppers. If small peppers are left whole, slash 2-5 slits in each. Quarter large peppers. Blanch in boiling water. Flatten small peppers. Fill half-pint or pint jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Combine and heat other ingredients to boiling and simmer 10 minutes. Remove garlic. Pour hot pickling solution over peppers leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Adjust lids. Use conventional boiling water canner processing. Process for 10 minutes at below 1000 feet, 15 minutes at 1001 to 6000 feet and 20 minutes above 6000 feet.

 

Pickeled Jalapenos #2 "The Best"

 

In a clean steralized jar place:

1 teaspoon olive oil...

1 teaspoon oregano...

1 toe of garlic that has been sliced in half...

We add baby carrots and onions too...

 

then pack your peppers with the onion and carrots in the jars... to 3/4 full. (peppers expand with the hot water bath) pour your ... boiling brine over the peppers within 1/2 inch of the top... Seal by hot water bath method for 20 minutes. Let the jars sit on... a shelf for at lease 2 weeks for the best flavor...

Brine...

1 1/2 quarts water....(about 6 cups)...

2 cups white vinegar...

1/2 cup pickeling salt...

 

mix above and bring to a boil... HINT: the peppers are easier to pack when you place them in... boiling water for 1 minute... Make sure the peppers are free ... from bruises...Enjoy

 

PICKLED JALAPENO PEPPERS

7 lbs. Jalapeno peppers

5 cups vinegar

1 cup water

3 cloves garlic

2 tbsp. sugar (as you like)

4 tbsp. canning or pickling salt

1 tbsp. celery seed

1 tbsp. mustard seed

 

Heat liquids with spices until boiling. Add whole washed peppers. Pierce peppers in 2 or 3 places with the tip of a thin, sharp knife. If you want to peel the peppers, blanch them in boiling water. Allow to cool and then peel off the skins (wear gloves when handling hot peppers).

 

Put peppers in canning jars and cover with hot liquid, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Process both pint and quart jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

 

Yield: about 9 pints

 

Happy canning

[margoc]

wow thanks!!! I have a bhut jalokia and I havn't mustered up the nerve to try one yet! I think I should can them then I can use them in recipes. I don't get many peppers a year, the most I've gotten was 5. The first year I only got 2.

 

At 800,000 scoville units, they should last a long time.

[hippioflov]

I get kind of lazy too, especially when there's a bushel of peppers looking me in the eye. My mom and I use Mrs. Wages pickling mixes - kosher dill and bread and butter. We thinly slice the peppers into rings, leaving the seeds, and pack them into pint jars. I mean really pack hard. Then we add the pickling brine of our choice and process according to the package. Jalopenos are especially taste in the kosher dill brine.

[zophiel]

Awe, geez . . . last season I pickled up a ton of hot peppers, but can't rember the exxact recipie I used. I'm sure I pickled them, though, so there was vinegar, water, salt and a bit of sugar involved, I'm sure. . . I'll try to remember to look it up this evening for you. . .

[Amishway Homesteaders]

= = = hint= = = =

IF you are not used to handling them do as I did .........................

I wore rubber gloves to prosess them. But still managed to rub my eye once - OUCH!