This post is for Andrea Jensen.

    Andrea liked Preserved and Pickled’s Facebook page and struck up a conversation. “I have a question: my B.I.L. doesn't like pickled ... well, anything. I usually grow peppers, pickle them, and give them as Christmas gifts. He requested non-pickled peppers. I don't have a pressure cooker, so I feel like there is nothing I can do but roast and freeze some. Is that correct? Aren't peppers (yellow banana in particular) low acidic so have to be pickled or pressure canned?”

   “Are you testing me?” I gleefully typed. I have been struggling with the Rough Draft for a paper concerning the existential philosophies and beliefs of the after-life, a comparison between Buddhism and Christianity. Believe me, I was getting too deep – time to switch gears – Mozart for Edie Brickell; philosophy for Preserved and Pickled - so, let’s talk about preserving peppers.

   Andrea is right, non-pickled peppers should be pressure canned, as should most vegetables. The National Center for Home Food Preservation notes that vegetables cannot be canned in a Hot Water Bath, peppers included.  http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_04/peppers.html. Roasting peppers still leads to freezing or pressure canning; if you are going to make a small batch and use them in a few weeks, they can be refrigerated. And as far as I can tell, all peppers have low-acidity, and acidity is a vital concept when canning. In general, low acidity equals pressure canning, higher acidity equals hot water bath. Click to can vegetables safely.

   Coeli Velky joined the conversation, commenting that dehydrating and making a pepper powder was an option. I haven’t really dehydrated much, except for citrus peels, which I did in the oven, but now that she’s mentioned it, that’s a preservation option I want to explore. In the meantime, if you want to pickle peppers here is how I do it : I combined Italian style preservation with my New England vinegr-ess  http://preservedandpickled.blogspot.com/2012/01/pickled-peppers-in-oil.html . These pickles are cooked in an herb infused brine, packed, and hot water bathed, and if I do say so myself, they taste delicious.

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