Canning Advice: Hot peppers

[nicolthepickle]

I have an over abundance of hot banana peppers in my garden and I wondered if there was a "best" way to can them.
I've been surfing the internet and some people say boil them in vinegar for a few minutes, while others say just pour hot vinegar over them as they lose their heat with cooking.

Have you ever canned hot peppers, any tips?

[marstec]

If you want crunchy peppers rather than rubbery ones, then you should try "cold-canning" the peppers. Essentially, it's putting sliced peppers into a vinegar-water brine along with sea salt, peppercorns and minced garlic. You will need to keep the jar in the fridge but they should last for at least a month or two.

I got this recipe from the GardenWeb hot pepper forum (from esox07):

Cold canning Peppers

As many peppers as you want to cold can
As many jars as necessary to hold the peppers (8oz or 16oz)
Minced Garlic (comes in jar already chopped)
Sea Salt
Whole Black Peppercorns
Distilled White Vinegar
Water
I will base this recipe on 8 oz jars. Simply double all measurements for 16oz jars.
First, clean the jars well. Mix the water and vinegar at a 1 to 3 ratio. Mix enough to fill all the jars to about 3/4 full. (ie: For 4 - 8oz jars, mix three cups of vinegar water)
Place the sliced peppers in and lightly pack them down below the top edge of the jars. Place 2 tsp of minced garlic in each jar. Then add 2 tsp of sea salt. Sprinkle in about 2 tsp of peppercorns and then put the vinegar water in until it is right to the rim. Then place the cap on and refrigerate. You can eat them at any time but I suggest waiting at least two days for the vinegar, salt, garlic, peppercorn solution to flavor the peppers.
You can certainly adjust totals of the ingredients or leave out the garlic or peppercorns altogether. Or use ground black pepper or crushed fresh garlic. You might want to add some onion slices. Add/subtract/adjust/change to however you see fit. I would however keep the salt and vinegar/water ratios pretty close to ensure that they keep the peppers fresh while waiting to be eaten.

[DianneS]

Here's a link to what looks like an easy recipe:

http://www.food.com/recipe/sweet-pic...-peppers-17254

and here's a 'fancier' one:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pickled-hot-peppers/

Pickled peppers would make great Christmas gifts. I did red pepper jelly last year for Christmas (did some green jalapeno jelly, too). People love to get home canning....

[Zonny]

Interesting. I think I'm going to have a lot of cherry bombs. I plan to make salsa, but might have extra peppers.

[bgheuchert]

pick a pack of pickled peppers....do them up just like pickles, or YUM hot pepper jelly! soooooo gooood. there is always salsa, for myself I would do hot pickled peppers for sandwiches.

[nicolthepickle]

Thanks for all the comments. I had never thought of cold canning them marstec. I might try that with the next ones.

[blueeyetea]

If I liked hot peppers, I would have tried sherry peppers because it so easy.

http://leitesculinaria.com/77232/rec...er-sherry.html

[nicolthepickle]

After blueeyetea's link I figured out what I'm going to do with them.
I'm going to dry them and put them in a bottle of olive oil and have spicy oil, amazing on pasta or pizza.
THanks!

[DianneS]

Wow....great idea! I may go to the farmer's market and buy some hot banana peppers to do the same thing.

[ginger150]

I would just be careful about following canning recipes from online if you do end up canning them... I can a lot, and have found some pretty dangerous recipes online. Bernardin/Ball is a pretty reputable source for recipes that won't give you food poisoning/botulism.