Pickling peppers?

[Dina]

I decided to also pickle my garden peppers, aside from drying them. I mixed in some of my garden carrots and added plain vinegar and salt. Should I add any powdered spices? I wonder if some cloves of garlic and sliced onions would give it some flavor? Any advise?

 

[Andy M.]

During pickling season in the Fall, supermarkets often sell packages of pickling spices. They add a nice pickle flavor to the batch.

Garlic and onions will ad a nice flavor to yor peppers. You could also add some dried hot peppers.

 

[Dina]

Thanks Andy. I'll look out for the spices next Fall. Just roasted some garlic and onion and added them in the pickling jar of peppers.

 

[paxpuella]

I am new to canning and did not realize they sold pickling spices. I grew some pepperoncini last year and canned them for the first time. I will try the packets next year. Thanks.

 

[Dina]

Can the pickled peppers be left outside the fridge? Should I have boiled the cans?

 

[paxpuella]

When I canned my peppers, I bought some of the mason jars and boiled them first. I don't have a canning set, so I just used one of my stock pots and boiled them. Then after they cooled, I put my peppers and brine into the jar and put the lids on. Then I turned them upside down and boiled them for a little while longer. I am sure I probably didn't do some things right, but wanted to be sure they were safe to eat.

As I said though, I am new to canning peppers and this was my first attempt. I am going to try and find a cookbook for canning and then I'm sure I will answer my questions that way. I was surprised at how many peppers my plants had made during the last part of the summer and needed to do something with them before they turned bad.

 

[Michael in FtW]

Can the pickled peppers be left outside the fridge?

I wouldn't, based on your description of what you did.

Should I have boiled the cans?

Yes - you should have steralized the jars first, filled the hot jars with the peppers etc. and covered them with boiling vinegar, then processed for 5-10 minutes in a boiling water canner.

Should I add any powdered spices?

No - use whole spices. Ground spices will make your pickle cloudy.

I wonder if some cloves of garlic and sliced onions would give it some flavor?

Yes - but I probably wouldn't roast them first.

I probably didn't do some things right, but wanted to be sure they were safe to eat.

Humm .... to borrow from an old expression, "Close only counts in horseshoes."

If you packed the peppers in brine (salt water) - they would have to have been processed in a pressure canner before they would be safe. If your "brine" was salt and 5% vinegar - the jars should have been filled with the peppers while they (the jars) were still hot, and the vinegar brought to a boil and poured over the peppers while it was hot - and the other stuff you need to do (proper headspace, removing trapped air bubbles, wiping off the jar mouth, wiping the gasket on the hot lid dry, etc.)

It sounds like you were on the right track when you boiled them some more after filling ... but upside down is NOT the way to do it. Boiling the jars causes the air to expand and some escapes - as the jars cool the air condenses and shrinks - forming a vacuum. Boiling them upside down - the expansion of the air will force liquid out of the jars (instead of air) - which can result in either a failure to form a proper vacuum or greatly increase the chance for seal failure.

You may have seen the upside down jar process used by your Mom or Grandma when you were younger. Normally, it was used for jam, marmalade, jelly when using steralized (boiled) jars. You would remove the steralized jar, fill it with hot jam, lid it and invert for about 10-minutes, then turn right-side-up to finish cooling - they were not boiled again after filling. This technique appears to have been abandoned in "up-to-date" cookbooks somewhere between 1980-1995.

INFORMATION RESOURCES:

The Kerr & Mason Homecanning website (the folks who make the canning jars and other products) is worth visiting for good basic canning information. They also offer what I think should be the first book any new aspiring home canner should aquire - the Ball Blue Book of Preserving - $4.95. You can find the "Blue Book" from other canning websites, and book sellers, but this is the best price I've seen.

Perhaps the best and most informative website is the National Center for Home Food Preservation. Everything is based on the latest research and funded by the USDA. They even offer a free, self-paced, online study course for those wanting to learn more about home canning and preservation called Preserving Food at Home.

For some pepper recipes, from brined to fermented to pickled, you might check out the recipes at Pepperfoot.

 

[paxpuella]

Well, as I said, I knew I didn't know a lot about canning the peppers and did some things wrong. Sometimes we have to do that in order to learn how to do them right. Thanks for the website, I'll have to read it a little later when I have time. Perhaps I can find a canning pot and the equipment to do it correctly the next time.

 

[BreezyCooking]

Please folks - be VERY CAREFUL when home canning. Make sure you have a CURRENT recipe/instruction book on how to do it & follow it TO THE LETTER.
You can't experiment & "do some things wrong in order to learn how to do them right". Canning, unlike cooking, doesn't work that way.


I had a wonderful cousin who canned all his own produce, & one year presented me with a lovely jar of home-canned jalapeno peppers, since he knew I loved them. I don't can, so didn't realize that the old-fashioned glass/metal-bale top wasn't considered safe anymore.

I added ONE - just ONE - of these lovely peppers to my serving of macaroni salad at a family dinner. Thank GOD no one else followed suit - especially my elderly parents.

A few hours later I was literally curled up on the floor in severe pain with a raging fever. My parents wanted to take me to the hospital, but, genious that I am, I told them I was "too sick to go to the hospital". Go figure - delirium.

Anyway, even though I was somewhat better the following day, I still wasn't fully recovered, so went to my doctor where they did a culture. The doctor frankly told me that if I had taken TWO of those peppers instead of just one, even if I had gone to the hospital it was doubtful that they would have been able to save my life.

I wish I could remember what the bacteria was. It wasn't botulism; something that began with a "C", & that the doctor said was common in home-canned products not properly processed. In any event, I, & others at the table could have died because of a home-pickled product that wasn't done according to current standards.

This is NOT something you can fool around with as far as equipment, processing, cleanliness, or storage.

 

[JMediger]

... did some things wrong. Sometimes we have to do that in order to learn how to do them right ... Perhaps I can find a canning pot and the equipment to do it correctly the next time.

First - Kudos for trying something new and for helping keep something (home canning) alive and appreciated! For us, it not only helps us save money but it is a ritual every year with my mother that I would not trade for the world. And as a teacher, yes, mistakes are a part of learning and again, kudos for trying in the first place - just take caution when you sample your peppers.

As far as formal equipment - if you don't have it and can't really afford it, here are a few things we have used in the past (especially when we were in Oregon and couldn't afford a thing!). I have a wonderful stock pot that I use to process the jars empty and then again filled. It didn't have one of those fancy jar holders so I put a clean flour sack drying towel on the bottom of the pan, filled it with water, got it to a boil (the towel will be floating around in your water) and placed the jars on top of it - they will hold down your towel and the towel will in turn protect them against the hard bottom of the pan. It should also help keep them apart during all the boiling so they don't crack. Do find a good pincher to take them out of the water with though as you don't want to disturb the lid.

As far as jars and an extra, large stock pot - I hit Goodwill. 1 Qt Mason jars go for about $.10 a piece in our neck and I was able to find an extra pot to boil the vinegar or tomatoes in (depending on what I was canning). I knew they were just for canning and always knew they were in good shape.

Just a few suggestions ... Good Luck!

 

[paxpuella]

I appreciate everyone's concerns about how I canned the peppers. Just to let everyone know, I threw out what I had put in there just in case something wasn't right awhile back. Everything sealed fine for me, but I had let the jars cool. We will see how this next years crop turns out. I ordered some different pepper seeds off of the net and just had a bigger area of my backyard tilled up yesterday for a larger supply of veggies.

Happy Canning everyone.

**Happy Easter**

 

[bethzaring]

Clostridium?

A few hours later I was literally curled up on the floor in severe pain with a raging fever. My parents wanted to take me to the hospital, but, genious that I am, I told them I was "too sick to go to the hospital". Go figure - delirium....

I wish I could remember what the bacteria was. It wasn't botulism; something that began with a "C", & that the doctor said was common in home-canned products not properly processed. In any event, I, & others at the table could have died because of a home-pickled product that wasn't done according to current standards.



Was the bacteria Clostridium? What a story!! I am glad you survived this ordeal. And what a lesson to all of us to carefully follow recommended procedures with canning. I have been canning for 30 years and still review the instructions every year before I begin.

 

[BreezyCooking]

That may have been it, although isn't Clostridium a form of botulism?

This was back in the mid-late 80's, so my memory of it - except for the extreme pain - is a bit foggy.

All I recall was that it started within a couple of hours, there was no nausea or "runs", just an outrageous intense pain in my stomach & abdomen. Sharp & cutting, & accompanied by a fever of 104. I've never felt so sick in my life. Like I said, days later I was still weak from the experience, & the doctors were still - days later - able to find the bacteria in the culture. And this from one, just one, jalapeno pepper.

Aside from the use of the old-fashioned glass-top/metal bale closure jar, I also found out later that the recipe had contained a substantial amount of olive oil along with the vinegar, which also may have had something to do with the bacterial growth.

 

[Diane1415]

I still use the glass topped wire bail jars with no problem. I check fro cracks and any chips that would prevent a proper seal and I pressure can everything.
Should I really stop using them? They're so nastalgic.
oil on raw onions will allow the botulism to proliferate. so it may be something like thaton the peppers.

 

[BreezyCooking]

I'm not a canner, so can't give a definitive answer. However, I did read several years ago that those types of jars were no longer considered safe for preserving anything except the most basic refrigerator pickles &/or certain jams/jellies.

Perhaps some of the expert canners here can weigh in better on this.

 

[groundhog]

I want to try and can some sweet cherry peppers--do I have to seed them?
Can I leave the stem on too.
I want to leave the seeds in like the one in the jars I buy at the store.

 

[Michael in FtW]

I want to try and can some sweet cherry peppers--do I have to seed them? Can I leave the stem on too. I want to leave the seeds in like the one in the jars I buy at the store.

The Making Pickled Peppers at Home publication from the Colorado State University Cooperative Extension program has some info that should answer all of your questions.

Pay special attention to the information under Quick Facts and Ingredients - then you can skip down to Pickled Peppers and just substitute the Hungarian or banana peppers and sweet peppers with all cherry peppers (see the note in the recipe) if you wish.

 

[DinaFine]

Safe Canning

What a frightening episode. I always make sure to follow directions exactly, and check to make sure the jars are sealed. Food usually goes hot into the pre sterilized jars, and after closing tightly with sterilized tops and rings are placed in a boiling water bath deeper than the jars for however long the food calls for, and there are recipes that can tell you because each type of food requires a different length of time. After removing the jars, while they are cooling, the tops will pop inward for the seal. You can actually hear them do this. You can check for a seal, by pressing the top. If it gives, you do not have a good seal. You have to refrigerate the jar then, and consume in a couple of weeks.

I have an excellent recipe for bread and butter pickes, and am hoping for a bumper crop of cukes this summer. Also, last summer, for the first time, i tried dills. You can do this directly in the jar over a matter of weeks, the cukes will pickle in brine without doing much to them except watching. Pickling spices are not hard to come by, and you can make your own by just combining whole spices.

Good luck to all
Dina

 

[DinaFine]

I want to try and can some sweet cherry peppers--do I have to seed them? Can I leave the stem on too. I want to leave the seeds in like the one in the jars I buy at the store.

You would need to find a pickling recipe for making the correct brine. i never did cherry peppers, but I would think that it would be similar to other peppers, you pour hot brine over them, close and seal in boiling water bath. Make sure to sterilize everything first in boiling hot water.

 

[karadekoolaid]

I bottle ("Can" in North America) chutneys, hot sauces, pickles, etc. as part of my business.
Firstly, I always sterilise the jars AND the lids before I bottle the ingredients.
Secondly, I avoid Mason Jars, because my products will spend time on the shelves.
Thirdly, I always use small-ish jars (200cc, 300 cc) with twist-off caps. The caps are NEVER re-used; the safety seal may get damaged , so I always have a double supply of caps.
Fourthly, I boil the filled bottles in hot water "up to their necks" for 20 minutes. The bottles are then removed to cool. The caps will become concave once the air inside turns to a vacuum. If the cap is NOT concave, throw it out.

I think you may have been a little unlucky with the Jalapeños; still, I wouldn't want to suffer that either.
I use pure vinegar to pickle my peppers. Same process as above.
IF, when I open the bottle, there is a "PHSSTT!!!" noise - they go straight into the rubbish bin. "PHSSTT!!!" means gas means fermentation means damage means NOT edible.