New sauce, and first time pickling some peppers

JutsFL · Jul 22, 2014

I've never actually pickled any until today. I used some HHWax peppers of mine, and just kind of winged the rest after looking it up. I boiled vinegar,salt, and some garlic - then poured it over the peppers. Then proceeded to hot water bath. And I added some 'pickle crisp' made by Ball, it's just calcium chloride (apparently it's supposed to keep them crisp) - I guess I'll have to wait and see on that part though.

The other sauce in the pic is a new batch with Fresno, Takunatsume, and garlic. It's nice and thick with a strong garlic and pepper flavor - but very mild. I'd say maybe 2.5 out of ten on heat.

Here's the peppers in the pot:

Any tips for future pickling are appreciated. I'm sure there's something I left out of this round.

PrimeTime · Jul 22, 2014

Nice job. Ive never pickled peppers. I make pickles (cukes) a lot. I have added whole chills in for flavor. One tip i use for cukes that definitely keeps them crisp is to put them in ice water and the whole container into the freezer for an hour before pickling. I notice a big difference. Maybe others can chime in here...

tctenten · Jul 22, 2014

Nice job. I pickled some Jalapeños two weeks ago, and I am looking forward to giving them a try in a couple of weeks. Please let us know how yours turn out for you.

schrade82 · Jul 22, 2014

Nice job! The pickle crisp from ball works like a charm! I've been picking jalapeños, Hungarian wax, and frescos the past few years and always use a 1/2 water 1/2 vinegar mixture to pour over them (takes away some of the vinegar taste I don't care much for). Also, I read somewhere to slice the peppers and soaking the rings in water before putting in the jars and it will prevent your pickled water from being cloudy or turning a color...it basically just rinses the peppers real well. Seems to work.

That Fresno sauce looks pretty good, wouldn't mind giving that a try if you could share your recipe?

Smob · Jul 22, 2014

I just picked my first peppers earlier this month. It was a blast! I added carrots, garlic, and onion to mine. Your peppers look fine but I would say to pack them in the bottles more to get more for your buck, but that's just me. Nice yield on your sauce, great color too.

JutsFL · Jul 23, 2014

schrade82 said:
Nice job! The pickle crisp from ball works like a charm! I've been picking jalapeños, Hungarian wax, and frescos the past few years and always use a 1/2 water 1/2 vinegar mixture to pour over them (takes away some of the vinegar taste I don't care much for). Also, I read somewhere to slice the peppers and soaking the rings in water before putting in the jars and it will prevent your pickled water from being cloudy or turning a color...it basically just rinses the peppers real well. Seems to work.
That Fresno sauce looks pretty good, wouldn't mind giving that a try if you could share your recipe?

Good to hear that the pickle crisp works well. As for the sauce, it was very basic: about 50 fresno's, about 50 or more Takunatsume, 5tbs garlic (minced), 4tbs salt, and white vinegar (not sure on amount for this one, it was just enough to near the top of the peppers - likely in the 4cup range). Boiled all for 20 min. Blended with hand blender, and added 1/2tsp Xanthan gum (while blending). Poured into the mason jars (sanitized), and hot water canned for 15min.

I use a no rinse sanitizer for all the canning supplies:

This sauce came out smooth, yet very thick. It has a heavy chili/garlic flavor - but lacks significant heat. Just a good/basic chili flavor. The vinegar flavor is noticeable, but it will mellow quite nicely after about a month (this is my experience with them).

Smob said:
I just picked my first peppers earlier this month. It was a blast! I added carrots, garlic, and onion to mine. Your peppers look fine but I would say to pack them in the bottles more to get more for your buck, but that's just me. Nice yield on your sauce, great color too.

Yup! Rookie mistake for pickled peppers I suppose. The jars were full before I added liquid, then that happened?! Do you weight down the peppers with something on top, then add the brine (as to fit more in)? Not sure how to go about it, that was just the first idea that came to mind.

Smob · Jul 23, 2014

JutsFL said:
Yup! Rookie mistake for pickled peppers I suppose. The jars were full before I added liquid, then that happened?! Do you weight down the peppers with something on top, then add the brine (as to fit more in)? Not sure how to go about it, that was just the first idea that came to mind.

I filled the jar up, smashed the veggies down with a sterile spoon and added more. Just tried to make sure it was a tight fit before I added the brine. I like the non-rinse sanitizer idea. I may try that next time.

Physics202 · Jul 23, 2014

I had my first go at canning peppers and I just ate some of them for the first time yesterday. I noticed that they were quite soggy... I didn't even know there was something to put in the jar to keep them crisp. They were still quite delicious though.

beerbreath81 · Jul 23, 2014

JutsFL said:
Any tips for future pickling are appreciated. I'm sure there's something I left out of this round.

Im willing to bet that based on how thinly you sliced them and amount added to each jar you are going to have mushy peppers.

schrade82 said:
Nice job! The pickle crisp from ball works like a charm! I've been picking jalapeños, Hungarian wax, and frescos the past few years and always use a 1/2 water 1/2 vinegar mixture to pour over them (takes away some of the vinegar taste I don't care much for).

Physics202 said:
I noticed that they were quite soggy

I have been pickling peppers for about 10 years I have found that the waterbath almost always kills the texture of the peppers, thick skinned peppers like jalapenos are the exception to that rule. You can waterbath them and they will turn out....ok. It was very frustrating to me when starting out following the recommended processing instructions and year after year open a jar of peppers that were all mushy. Even using recommended amounts of pickle crisp for me did not work. Now for the 4-5 years I have always processed all my peppers the same----Without a waterbath! and it has given me fantastic crunchy results year after year.

See here....
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/46468-canning-peppers-without-a-waterbath/

There is also a link to National Home Canning Food Preservation at the end of the thread that I found last year. I just use the water and vinegar ratios and some tumeric for color. Results are the closest I have come to store bought brands.

Note....this is just for peppers only

JutsFL · Jul 23, 2014

beerbreath81 said:
Im willing to bet that based on how thinly you sliced them and amount added to each jar you are going to have mushy peppers.

I have been pickling peppers for about 10 years I have found that the waterbath almost always kills the texture of the peppers, thick skinned peppers like jalapenos are the exception to that rule. You can waterbath them and they will turn out....ok. It was very frustrating to me when starting out following the recommended processing instructions and year after year open a jar of peppers that were all mushy. Even using recommended amounts of pickle crisp for me did not work. Now for the 4-5 years I have always processed all my peppers the same----Without a waterbath! and it has given me fantastic crunchy results year after year.

See here....
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/46468-canning-peppers-without-a-waterbath/

There is also a link to National Home Canning Food Preservation at the end of the thread that I found last year. I just use the water and vinegar ratios and some tumeric for color. Results are the closest I have come to store bought brands.

Note....this is just for peppers only

Read the whole attached thread, I'll be doing it different next time now. Appreciate the response, sounds like my peppers will be better for the next round now.

schrade82 · Jul 23, 2014

beerbreath81 said:
Im willing to bet that based on how thinly you sliced them and amount added to each jar you are going to have mushy peppers.

I have been pickling peppers for about 10 years I have found that the waterbath almost always kills the texture of the peppers, thick skinned peppers like jalapenos are the exception to that rule. You can waterbath them and they will turn out....ok. It was very frustrating to me when starting out following the recommended processing instructions and year after year open a jar of peppers that were all mushy. Even using recommended amounts of pickle crisp for me did not work. Now for the 4-5 years I have always processed all my peppers the same----Without a waterbath! and it has given me fantastic crunchy results year after year.

See here....
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/46468-canning-peppers-without-a-waterbath/

There is also a link to National Home Canning Food Preservation at the end of the thread that I found last year. I just use the water and vinegar ratios and some tumeric for color. Results are the closest I have come to store bought brands.

Note....this is just for peppers only

I've never done the water bath when pickling them, just seemed like an extra step that my grandma always said wasn't necessary. Didn't realize that could make them soggy though. Thanks for the tip!