Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Canning Pickled Banana Peppers

This year I tried something new with canning: pickling peppers. The recipe is from Canning Homemade! and uses a variety of peppers.

I used banana and red peppers and put both types in two pint jars in layers. I'm not sure what the flavor will taste like since they need to sit for a while (kind of like canning homemade pickles).


What I do know is that the texture is much softer than I anticipated. Once the peppers are placed under the broiler so the skin can be peeled, the texture is significantly changed. So, these pickled banana peppers may be better on sandwiches where crunchiness isn't desired.

The recipe calls for 7 pounds of peppers. I had about half that amount on hand and it made two pints. There was quite a bit of brine (vinegar, water, salt, sugar, and garlic leftover) because of having less peppers to pickle.

Pickled Banana Peppers

Ingredients:

4 lbs Hungarian, banana, chile, or jalapeno peppers
3 lbs sweet red and green peppers mixed
5 cups vinegar 5% acidity
1 cup water
4 t. kosher salt (or pickling salt)
2 T. sugar
2 cloves garlic

Directions:

Caution: Wear rubber gloves and do not touch your face while handling or cutting hot peppers. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water before touching your face.

Wash peppers and then quarter them.

Blanch in boiling water or blister skins on tough skinned hot peppers by placing peppers under the broiler for 6 to 8 minutes until skins blister.

After blistering skins, place peppers in a pan and cover with a damp cloth. You can also put them in a zip loc or paper bag. Cool for several minutes and then peel off the skins.

Flatten the small peppers and quarter the large peppers.

Fill hot jars with peppers, leaving ½ inch headspace.

Combine and heat other ingredients to boiling and simmer 10 minutes. Remove garlic. Add hot pickling solution over peppers, leaving ½ inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if needed.

Wipe rims and then place hot lids and rings on them. Process in a water bath for 10 minutes at a full boil.


I'm not sure if I would make this recipe again. I was hoping for a crunchier pepper. However, I'll have to see what the taste is like in a few weeks. 

This has been one of many new recipes that I've tried this year with canning. It is a major project I'm doing in expanding my canning skills by trying different recipes and new processes (including learning how to use a pressure canner). 

As part of project-based homeschooling (one of the many philosophies I've incorporated into our homeschooling curriculum), I believe it's important to model that this philosophy extends well into adulthood. Doing projects isn't something simply reserved for children. Even as adults we should be challenging ourselves to learn new things and expand our skills.

1 comment:

Rita said...

Brave you are! Rubber gloves are a must, I would imagine--LOL! Be interesting to see how these turn out later this winter. :)