Pickling Chile Peppers

Chile peppers are usually preserved in salt and vinegar.

Adding sugar or honey produces a more mellow tasting pickle.

Adding spices gives additional flavour.

Hints and tips

Salt: Used to extract moisture from some vegetables, which would otherwise dilute the vinegar and cause the pickle to ferment, and the vegetables to toughen. Use cooking salt rather than table salt; the latter contains a higher iodine content which can discolour the vegetables (it makes them darker).

Vinegar: Use bottled vinegar's (malt, distilled, wine, cider, spiced etc); draught vinegar's are not strong enough. White distilled or cider vinegar's of 5 percent acidity (50 grain) are recommended. Use cold vinegar for crisp vegetables and boiling vinegar for softer ones. The vinegar should cover the vegetables by at least an inch (2.5cm). For a home-made spiced vinegar, boil 1oz (25g) of mixed pickling spice in 1 pint (600ml) of vinegar for 5 minutes. Strain when cold.

Spices: Use whole spices, powdered ones will make the vinegar cloudy. Mixed pickling spice consists of equal amounts of stick cinnamon, allspice berries, cloves, mace and peppercorns. Extras can include root ginger, celery seeds etc.

Pre-cooking: Some recipes require the chile peppers to be blanched before pickling, some don't.

Pans: Use un-chipped enamel, aluminum or stainless steel pans. Copper, brass and iron pans will react with the vinegar, giving an off taste.

Sealing: Jars must be sterilised and well sealed. Metal lids will corrode on contact with the vinegar. Kilner jars, with their rubber sealing rings, are recommended.

Maturing: A minimum of 2 to 4 weeks maturing time is recommended. Crisp pickles will tend to soften after about 3 months.

Some recipes

Garlic Pickled Chile Peppers

500g (1 lb) Cayenne peppers
2 tablespoons salt
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon celery seeds
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
3 cloves of garlic cut in halves
900ml (1 1/2 pints) vinegar (garlic vinegar if available)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
8 peppercorns

Wash the peppers and place into hot sterilised jars. Mix the allspice with the celery and mustard seeds. Pack into the jars. Add the garlic. Place the vinegar, sugar and peppercorns into pan and bring to the boil. Pour over the peppers and seal the jars. Makes about 1.5kg (3 lb)

Pickled Habanero Chiles

To insure the best pickled chiles, choose only the freshest ones and those with no blemishes. Bruised fruits will produce "mushy" chiles. You can also soak the chiles overnight in a brine of 3 cups water and 1 cup pickling salt to crisp them before pickling. Be sure to rinse them well to remove excess salt before processing. Note: This recipe requires advance preparation.

3 dozen fresh habanero chiles or enough to fill the jars
2 sterilized pint jars

Pickling Solution:
3 cups 5 to 6 percent distilled white vinegar
3 cups water
1 ½ teaspoons pickling salt

Poke a couple of small holes in top of each chile and pack them tightly in sterilized jars leaving 1/4-inch head space. Combine the vinegar, water, and salt. Bring the solution to a boil and pour over the chiles. Remove trapped air bubbles by gently tapping on the sides of the jars. Add more of the pickling solution if needed; close the jars. Store for 4 to 6 weeks before serving. Yield: 2 pints Heat Scale: Extremely Hot

Fresh Pickled Jalapenos

Using fresh Jalapenos peppers, blanch for 3 minutes in boiling water. To prevent collapsing, puncture each pepper with a needle. Add the following ingredients to a pint jar packed with the blanched peppers before cooling occurs:

1/4 medium sized Garlic clove
1/4 teaspoon of onion flakes
1 small bay leaf
1/8 teaspoon ground Oregano
1/8 teaspoon Thyme
1/8 teaspoon Marjoram
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Cover with boiling brine solution prepared as follows: mix together;

3 tablespoons sugar
9 tablespoons salt
2 pints water
2 pints 5% vinegar

Close the containers and process for 10 minutes in boiling water, then cool.

Note that the jalapenos must be hot when the brine solution is added.

Easy Pickled Peppers

1 - 1 1/2 lb. fresh hot peppers (any kind you like)
1 good sized handful of cayenne peppers (optional - adds colour to mix)
1 lb package of peeled baby carrots
1 or 2 heads garlic - peel and separate cloves
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup black peppercorns
1/4 cup whole coriander seeds
White vinegar to cover

Put the carrots on to boil in the vinegar. Stab each pepper with a paring knife. After the carrots have cooked for about 10 minutes, add everything else to the pot. Simmer 5 (crisp) to 15 (soft) minutes depending on your taste. Pour mixture into old mayonnaise jars or what ever else large glass jars you have on hand that have a cover. Cover (not too tight) and let cool for an hour or so. Then refrigerate. You can eat these right away but if you way for a few days the vegetables (carrots and garlic) will get hotter.

Grandma's Pickled Banana peppers

Recipe By : Jerry Ziehm

banana peppers
1 tsp. salt
2 tbs. good olive oil in each jar
Brine
3 quarts water
1 qt. white vinegar bring to boil

Place peppers, salt, oil in jars, pour hot brine to the top of jar, seal jars, water bath for about 5 min. (When I water bath I only boil about 2 min). Peppers stay very crisp. Also you can put a clove or two of garlic in each jar if you wish. Recipe yields about 10 quarts.

Pickling Chile Peppers

Hints and tips

Some recipes

Further reading