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pickling help, new to pickle chilli

Hi, i want to try to pickle some chilli. Could i use 7% vinegar?
Is the brine the water, vinegar and salt, but why salt in jar or is brine something else? Do i need to boil the chilli or punch hole in them or could i just wash them and put them in the jar. I should boil the jar first and then put the chilli in and then pour the boiling brine on top? I just need a easy receipt to try to pickle some chilli to see how its done.
 

Grandma's Pickled Banana peppers
Recipe By : Jerry Ziehm
  • banana peppers
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 2 tbs. good olive oil in each jar
  • Brine
  • 3 qts. 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.
 
 
I don't boil my brine. The heat from the brine is enough to cook the peppers and make them mushy. You can cover whole peppers with the brine and let them soak for a month or so, or you can cut them and only let them sit a few days.
 
Either way, I recommend cold packing to avoid cooking the peppers. The brine should give you a low enough pH to prevent harmful bacteria growth.
 
laynlow said:
 
it says cokk 12 hr 45 min, is that correct?
 
 
Buzz said:
I don't boil my brine. The heat from the brine is enough to cook the peppers and make them mushy. You can cover whole peppers with the brine and let them soak for a month or so, or you can cut them and only let them sit a few days.
 
Either way, I recommend cold packing to avoid cooking the peppers. The brine should give you a low enough pH to prevent harmful bacteria growth.
 
Do you have any receip for the cold brine you are using? Do i have to punch hole in the peppers?
 
Here's a pretty good thread about pickling peppers with and without a boiling water bath.  If you choose to do the recipe without a boiling water bath, make sure to follow beerbreath81's detailed recipe!  Skipping steps can make for the possibility of Nasties growing. 
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/46468-canning-peppers-without-a-waterbath/
 
 
 
salsalady
 
If deciding to can whole peppers and using boiling brine I highly reccomend making a slit in the peppers to allow the brine to enter the peppers. I try to avoid canning whole peppers when possible but some like Cherry, pepperoncinis are better when left whole. My recipe is in the link above
 
Heres how I do whole peppers...
I will make a slit in each of the peppers and pack into jar,
fill jar with boiling brine,
cover with a spare lid,
shake the jar, (which will allow brine to get into peppers) its hot so use gloves
Remove lid and top off with more brine
Seal with a new lid, leave on counter till all lids seal---overnight
Store for at least 6 weeks before opening, and enjoy
 
In Buzz method, Im guessing since he is raw packing and using cold brine he places his in the fridge since the canning lid needs heat to seal properly?
 
Nope. No fridge. But then again, I pickle in almost 100% vinegar and salt.... just a touch of water to cut the tartness a bit. I'm all for being careful, but I don't take it over the edge. Granted, I'm not selling my stuff. Mine's for personal use, so there's no risk I assume other than to myself. When I pickle eggs, there's no refrigeration, no sealing the jars. It's just not needed with the low pH. I make a gallon jar full at a time. They usually last a week at work with no problems. They'd last longer if people wouldn't eat them so quickly! lol.
 
Every hot water bath I have tried has resulted in cooked, mushy peppers. Do what you feel safe with, by all means. I know some people are cringing at my methods, but it works fine. 
 
Think about what you do when you make a pepper vinegar or infused vodka. do you boil the vodka/vinegar first, or do you just put your peppers in the bottle and fill it up?
 
Why would this be any different?
 
The McIlhenny family (Tabasco brand) does not cook their sauce at all. Why should I? Pickled peppers are just deconstructed sauce, right? I think maybe people see a sealable lid on a jar and automatically feel like they have to seal it... just because it can.
 
Biggest lesson I learned is metal lid jars are the worst thing to use. The acid in vinegar doesn't take long to start corroding the metal lid, and that rusty metal flavor ends up in your peppers. Glass or plastic is the best to use for flavor purity.
 
using the 3c vin and 3c water, the pickled chillis should last indefinitely in the fridge.
 
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