A (quarter) peck of pickled peppers

3 pounds of peppers

After weeks of saving up hot wax peppers and mild banana peppers from the farm, I got a bumper crop of some sort of hot pepper.  They were offering an unlimited supply, so I filled a plastic grocery bag, probably close to 3 pounds.  Unfortunately, I don't know what kind these peppers are, but a farmhand told me they were "medium" spicy.  After the poblano-burning-my-hands incident, I figured I'd be safe in considering them on the hot side, but perhaps not a Scotch Bonnet.   

Sliced peppers ready to put into jars

I turned to my trusty Ball canning recipe book, and tried an adjustment for the first time.  Rather than using the peppers suggested, I just used what I had on hand: a mix of hot and mild, and a mix of varieties.  Still, I followed the suggested weights (nearly three pounds total), and ended up with the right volume (11 cups!) of sliced peppers.  This recipe also called for a different kind of packing than I'd done before: rather than cooking the peppers like I did with pickles, tomatoes, and salsa, I added raw sliced peppers to hot jars, and then added hot vinegar, cut with a little water, and boiled with garlic for flavor.  (Vinegar turns garlic blue or green!  Creepy, but harmless.  The garlic gets tossed after infusing the vinegar anyhow...)

I continue to be amazed that this canning process actually works.  The jars have all sealed, and I can't wait to pop open a can and try them.  I think this may call for corning some beef to make a sandwich, but I should probably wait until I get some cabbage and make my own sauerkraut to go with it too.

Pickled peppers, cooling after processing