Pickled Jalapeño Rings (NCHFP, Canned)

Crisp jalapeño rings soaked overnight in pickling lime, rinsed three times, packed with mustard and celery seed under a boiling cider-vinegar brine and canned. A tested UGA 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

• 3 pounds jalapeño peppers
• 1½ cups pickling lime
• 1½ gallons water
• 7½ cups cider vinegar (5%)
• 1¾ cups water
• 2½ tablespoons canning salt
• 3 tablespoons celery seed
• 6 tablespoons mustard seed

Directions

Key ingredients

Mustard

1. Wearing gloves, slice the peppers ¼ inch thick and discard the stem ends. Mix the pickling lime and 1½ gallons water in a stainless steel, glass or food-grade plastic container, avoiding inhaling the lime dust.
2. Soak the pepper slices in the lime water in the refrigerator for 18 hours (12 to 24 hours may be used), stirring occasionally.
3. Drain the lime solution, rinse the rings gently but thoroughly, cover them with fresh cold water and soak 1 hour in the refrigerator, then drain.
4. Repeat the rinsing, soaking and draining two more times, three in all, then drain the rings thoroughly.
5. Wash and rinse pint jars and keep them hot; prepare the lids. Put 1 tablespoon mustard seed and 1½ teaspoons celery seed in each hot pint jar and pack in the pepper rings, leaving ½-inch headspace.
6. Bring the cider vinegar, 1¾ cups water and canning salt to a boil over high heat. Ladle the boiling brine over the rings, leaving ½-inch headspace and making sure the rings are covered.
7. Remove air bubbles, wipe the rims and apply two-piece lids. Process 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.
8. Let the jars cool undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours and check the seals.

Notes

Source Adapted from the National Center for Home Food Preservation, “Pickled Jalapeño Rings” (University of Georgia, Elizabeth L. Andress, released September 2003). It makes about 6 pints.

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. Follow the soaking instructions as written. NCHFP: “Excess lime absorbed by the pepper rings must be removed to make safe pickles.” Lime is alkaline, so skipping a rinse raises the pH of the finished pickle.

Processing times by altitude (raw pack, 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 why the lime must be rinsed out.

The photo The photograph is a stand-in: a commercial jar of sliced pickled jalapeños.