Pickled Peppers

My husband loves spicy food and I do not! One of our solutions to this problem has been him adding hot peppers to his food. Have you ever bought a jar of pickled peppers at the store? They are ridiculously expensive for a small container!

This is the third summer I have been pickling hot peppers for my hubs. They turn out great, aren't soggy or spongy,  and have great flavor. Plus they are one of the easiest things to can!

Here is the recipe so that you can make your own pickled peppers to enjoy year round.

Ingredients:
4 1/2 pounds fresh hot peppers (I use mostly jalapeno with a few Serrano or habanero tossed in)
4 1/2 cups distilled vinegar (either white or apple cider, they just need to be labeled as being 5% acidity)
4 1/2 cups water
8 Tablespoons Pickling Salt 8 cloves of garlic (optional and can be omitted)

8 pint jars, lids and rings

Wash the peppers. Put on gloves! (Pepper juice burns your skin!) Using either a knife, mandolin, or grater with whole slice option; thinly slice all the peppers into a large bowl. I use a mandolin and it goes very fast. Slice the peppers all the way to the tops but do not include the stems. Keep the seeds in the bowl with the slices.

Get your jars sanitized and the lids and rings ready.

Mix the water and vinegar together in a non-metal or coated pan. Vinegar reacts with metal and turns cloudy. Bring to a boil.

Fill jars with sliced peppers (including seeds), add 1 tablespoon of salt to each jar and one garlic clove. Carefully pour the vinegar mixture over the peppers in the jars leaving 1/2 inch head-space. Add lids and rings.

Place jars in your Canner and cover with water to at least one inch above jar lids. Place lid on canner and process for 10 minutes in water bath. Let jars sit for 5 minutes before removing to your counter-top. Allow jars to sit for 24 hours before removing rings and storing in a cool, dark place.

Yields 8 pints.

Hope that you enjoy these! Do not alter the recipe or you will throw off the acidity balance and make it unsafe. Always follwo safe canning practices to avoid botulism and other bacterial growth in your food!

For more fun and easy recipes, be sure and check out Gluten-Free & DIY Tuesdays page on Allergy Free Alaska's blog!