Pickled whole peppers, missing brine

10 years ago

I'm not really confused on where it went (I cut holes in the peppers and they were kind of on the hollow side) last night it was fine, but today there's about an inch or so worth of pepper above the brine level. Been sitting on the counter for about 16 hours at this point.

My question is, is this okay? Or should I open the jar and level it off with vinegar/water and treat the jar as if it didn't seal (put in the fridge and consume immediately)? Would that even be safe since it's been sitting out over night?

For the record I used a 50/50 mix of water to (5%) vinegar (and 2 tbsp pickling salt for 4 cups liquid). I poured the boiling brine over the uncooked peppers packed in the jar, used the poking stick to get out air (obviously didn't do enough) sealed the jars and processed them in a BWB for 10 minutes.

This post was edited by IAmSupernova on Thu, Jun 20, 13 at 16:00

Comments (7)

myfamilysfarm
10 years ago
Are they floating? could you turn the jars over to help? I think the peppers that are sticking out wouldn't taste as good and maybe get wrinkly.
digdirt2
10 years ago
Normally it isn't recommended to open jars and "top off" the liquid. The food above the liquid tends to darken and discolor but is still considered safe to eat.

But then the approved recipes also call for much more vinegar than you used too - 4:1 or even 5:1 vinegar to water. While a 1:1 mix is the bare minimum allowed in pickling, the pH quickly rises due to the water in the peppers diluting the vinegar even more so long term shelf storage isn't recommended.

In this case, unless you are talking about many jars, I'd be inclined to to open the jar, top it off with more vinegar, and store in the fridge.

JMO. Your choice.

Dave
Related Professionals
Grand Haven Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Milwaukee Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Americus Landscape Contractors · Fuquay-Varina Landscape Contractors · Hawaii Landscape Contractors · Hickory Hills Landscape Contractors · Lorain Landscape Contractors · Manhattan Landscape Contractors · Newberg Landscape Contractors · Post Falls Landscape Contractors · Royal Oak Landscape Contractors · Queens Roofing & Gutters · Westfield Roofing & Gutters · Cincinnati Driveway Installation & Maintenance · Roy Driveway Installation & Maintenance
IAmSupernova
Original Author
10 years ago
Nope just the 1 jar like that. It was my test jar, I got a bunch of peppers coming soon though.

I topped it off and will eat 'em up quick.

I tried finding a recipe for them on Ball's website but didn't see one. So I had to resort to google which gives you very mixed results. Everything from 50/50 to practically all vinegar. I'll make sure to use more vinegar in the future though.

EDIT: And yeah they were floating, but if I flip them upside down, they're still floating there was too much air in the jar. I also thought you couldn't store sealed jars upside down or on it's side? Or at least I read never to do that.

This post was edited by IAmSupernova on Fri, Jun 21, 13 at 16:29
digdirt2
10 years ago
NCHFP has the instructions for pickled peppers whole or in rings, mixed, sweet, or hot, roasted or plain. Or if you put 'pickled peppers' in this forum search you'll find several other recipe links too.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Pickled hot peppers - NCHFP
IAmSupernova
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks I'll use that next time I go to make them.
malna
10 years ago
Another thing you might try - this is what we did when pickled pepperoncini last year - is slit/poke the peppers and soak them in a bowl of vinegar overnight. Put a plate on top and weigh it down just enough to help press the air out and let the vinegar infuse the pepper cavity.

Then continue with the recipe. Helped with our "floating" peppers.
IAmSupernova
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely be using it as it bugs me to no end when there's food floating above the liquid.