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Pickled garlic with peppers

Siv

Siv

A few years ago at the Houston hot sauce festival I came across this Silverleaf product - Marinated Garlic with Ghost Peppers. It is probably one of the tastiest treats I have had in my life and I left with a case!
 
Now that I'm out of Houston for a while, I was thinking how I can get a similar tasting pickle - does anyone have any ideas? In Trinidad there are plenty of peppers available, so I was wondering how to go about pickling garlic with peppers - is it as simple as just filling a jar with garlic, peppers and vinegar? Or is it more complicated - is there cooking involved?
 
Usually it's a "pickle solution" or brine. Many different ratios of vinegar-sat-sugar-seasonings. It's really late for me right now. I'll look up some resources in a few hours and post back,
edit-vinegar SALT- sugar
 
Thanks for the links - I should have thought to google. Looks like both recipes ask for boiling the garlic for 5 mins. I wonder why there so much sugar added?
 
Last night, I bunged a bunch of garlic in a jar with Habaneros and apple cider vinegar. My thought is that the vinegar will kill any baddies but it may take quite some time for the garlic to pickle. Is it safe?
 
Siv said:
Thanks for the links - I should have thought to google. Looks like both recipes ask for boiling the garlic for 5 mins. I wonder why there so much sugar added?
 
Last night, I bunged a bunch of garlic in a jar with Habaneros and apple cider vinegar. My thought is that the vinegar will kill any baddies but it may take quite some time for the garlic to pickle. Is it safe?
Click to expand...
 
I don't know about garlic, but when I pickle peppers or cucumbers I usually boil a vinegar/water solution and then pack the (sanitized) jars and pour the brine over them, put the (sanitized) lids on and then boil the sealed jars in a canner (hot water bath...google is your friend sometimes, botulism never is). 
 
Also, when making pickles I tend to throw a lot of stuff in the jar with them before adding the brine including lots of garlic, fresh dill, and hot peppers to spice them up.  Sometimes the garlic turns green or blue.  It's not a problem but depending on what garlic you're planning on pickling it might turn colors.  Some people might find that unappealing even though it will still taste the same.
 
Also WTF IT MUST BE NICE FOR A CHILE HEAD TO BE IN TRINIDAD! :onfire:
 
I checked the Silverleaf website and they don't list ingredients.  If you happen to have one of the old jars around check the ingredients and then follow one of the recipes from -
http://www.freshpreserving.com/home.aspx
 
This one for green beans sound like it would work for garlic.  Green beans are similar in size, consistency, etc to garlic cloves.  As long as you keep the ratios of vinegar/water/sugar/salt as listed, you can adjust the herb seasonings to your tastes, add chiles, etc.   
http://www.freshpreserving.com/recipe.aspx?r=143
 
 
Regarding your garlic/habaneros, yes, the vinegar will kill all the nasties.  You'll probably end up with some very tart tasting garlic. 
 
I believe garlic will turn color and the brine will get cloudy if using iodized table salt.  Canning/pickling salt does not contain iodine and product won't change color and the brine will stay clear.  Sugar is added to offset the tart taste of straight vinegar.  The approved recipes on the Ball canning site use a vinegar and water mix. 
 
Have Fun, post pics if you can! 
 
Thanks for the tips! Yes, being in Trinidad is a chilehead's dream - there are so many sauces available although most are just regular habanero. I have found a couple that are really great - one is a straight vinegar based one and another is made with roasted hab. There are some scorpion sauces but they are not tasty, probably meant for tourists.
 
Here's my first go. I need to find some caning jars but they will be hard to get hold of here. Small island means not much in the stores. I like tart food so am keen to see how this tastes. Any idea how long I should leave it?
 

 
Next step will be to try boiling some. I'm sure that will take out the raw taste and effectively pickle the garlic faster.
 
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