pickling Pickling Question

Unless you are making sauces do not use a pressure canner for pickled peppers. They get mushy! As mentioned before calcium chloride is the way to go. Last year I made pickled pepperoncini and cooked the vinegar and spices, put the peppers in just a bit to heat them through, put the pickles in a container and into the freezer. That worked and they stayed crisper without calcium chloride, which I didn't have.

Yes you have to add enough vinegar, lime or lemon juice to give the acidity that low-acid foods need. Sauces and concentrates, purees,etc are the only forms of peppers that need pressure canned.
 
AlabamaJack said:
that's why you use vinegar or lime juice or lemon juice, etc. to control the pH of your product. pH around 3.8-4.2 is a good range.
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Will a low ph prevent the possibility of Botulism? I don't have a clue. I'd have to look it up.
 
FloridaSun said:
Unless you're making very small, quickly eaten batches, you may want to invest in a pressure canner.

Here's an excerpt from "Presto's" web page:

"If you're a novice to pressure canning, this outline will give you a basic knowledge of the terminology and instruction of canning.

The key to successful canning is understanding the acidity and spoilage factor of the food you wish to can, as well as the acceptable canning methods to process those foods.

There are two types of food, categorized as low-acid (vegetables, meat, poultry, and seafood) and high-acid (fruits and tomatoes). Both can be successfully canned by pressure canning.
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Tomatoes are actually a borderline food .. with a ph of 4.5 they are barely acidic enough to process on there own in a water bath canner..
Now that there are low acid varieties of tomatoes it is especially important to add an acidifier if you are unsure .. Powdered Citric acid works really well to ensure safety and doesn't change the flavour noticeably
 
LUCKYDOG said:
Ive used pickling lime it works well however I found it changes the taste a wee bit
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Well, you soaked the cucumbers/peppers in fresh water overnight to get the lime out, right? Pickling lime is a process, not an ingredient. You don't wanna eat that stuff.

I don't use pickling lime.
 
When I make my salsa, I usually make 20 lbs or so with a couple cups of 5% acidic vinegar, and keep in the fridge. It can easily last a year in there and still seem fresh made.

There is no cooking or heat involved at all.

HippySeed says he stores peppers in a jar of cold vinegar & salt and doesn't refrigerate - If I understand what his web site is saying.

That's what I do with my peppers, but don't know how long they will last that way because they are eaten before they get real old.

I was somehow under the impression from way back that 5% acidic vinegar would "cold pickle" just fine.

Anyone have anything definitive on that?

Thx, Rick
 
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