Pickled Hot Peppers (NCHFP, Canned)

Hungarian, banana, chile or jalapeño peppers with sweet peppers, blistered and peeled, covered with a hot vinegar brine and canned. A tested USDA process.

Untested: not yet made in this kitchen. It is here for the Peppers and Hot Sauce pages and is adapted from the source named in the Notes.

Ingredients

• 4 pounds hot long red, green, or yellow peppers
• 3 pounds sweet red and green peppers, mixed
• 5 cups vinegar (5%)
• 1 cup water
• 4 teaspoons canning or pickling salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 cloves garlic

Directions

1. Wash the peppers. If small peppers are left whole, slash 2 to 4 slits in each; quarter large peppers.
2. Blanch the peppers in boiling water, or blister them, in order to peel them. To blister in the oven or broiler, place the peppers in a hot oven (400 °F) or under the broiler for 6 to 8 minutes, until the skins blister.
3. To blister on the range top instead, cover a hot burner, gas or electric, with heavy wire mesh and place the peppers on it for several minutes until the skins blister. Cool the peppers and peel off the skins.
4. Flatten the small peppers. Fill the jars with peppers, leaving ½-inch headspace.
5. Combine the vinegar, water, salt, sugar and garlic, heat to boiling and simmer 10 minutes, then remove the garlic.
6. Add the hot pickling solution over the peppers, leaving ½-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe the rims and apply two-piece lids.
7. Process half-pints or pints in a boiling-water canner, raw pack: 10 minutes at 0–1,000 feet, 15 minutes at 1,001–6,000 feet, 20 minutes above 6,000 feet.

Notes

Source Adapted from the National Center for Home Food Preservation, “Pickled Hot Peppers (Hungarian, Banana, Chile, Jalapeno),” after the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 539 (revised 2015). It makes about 9 pints; the source gives no per-jar amounts.

A tested process This is a tested process; follow it exactly. Do not change the proportions of vinegar, peppers, vegetables or water, and use only vinegar of 5% acidity.

Two oddities in the source The garlic is simmered in the brine and then removed, so it never reaches the jar. The pack is labelled “raw” even though the peppers are blanched or blistered first; the process times are the raw-pack times as printed.

Processing times by altitude (raw pack, half-pints or pints) 0 to 1,000 feet: 10 minutes 1,001 to 6,000 feet: 15 minutes Above 6,000 feet: 20 minutes

Handling hot peppers NCHFP: “Wear rubber gloves when handling hot peppers or wash hands thoroughly with soap and water before touching your face.”

Storage Shelf-stable once processed and sealed; refrigerate after opening.

The dish The Peppers and Hot Sauce section (/hot-sauce/) covers tested pepper pickles and how the vinegar makes a low-acid pepper safe to can.

The photo The photograph shows a jar of pickled red and orange hot peppers, not this exact recipe.