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.
Have
a question or a comment, please visit Preserved and Pickled on Facebook.