Hi patches - how are the skins on them? Many recipes call for roasting peppers first to remove the skins and then can them. See link below.

We prefer to freeze ours. You can freeze them whole or in halves that have been de-seeded. Spread them on a cookie sheet till frozen and then pop them into a ziplock bag or freezer container. Use as desired.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP - Canning Peppers

When I can sweet cherry peppers, I remove the green crowns and stems. Each gets a small hole pierced into them and are pickled in full strength vinegar and salt. The hole to to help the brine enter the seed cavity. I add a little Splenda to mine to cut the acidity taste a bit. They get processed like regular cuke pickles.

I do as Ken does except no Splenda. My DH loves the pickled cherry peppers.

This is great - 3 replies in no time at all! Thanks to you all. My pepper are anywhere from 1 1/2" to a maximum of 2 1/4" so they really are very small so the skins are very tender. I thought all of the peppers would be green but some are turning red. I'm guessing that it's best to leave them on the plant as long as possible whether red or green. It sounds as though I can remove the tough stem, pierce them through the stem area with a skewer, scald in boiling water then add them to sterilized jars in a mixture of vinegar, a bit of sugar or sugar substitute and pickling salt. I thought I'd like to add just a tad of pickling spice too!

I pierce the peppers through the sides. The small holes are just 1/16 inch. and its done with a skewer right through the peppers. I do like to have mine ripen to red before picking as they have a nicer flavor. If they stay too long, however, you can get some spoilage. Cherry pepper plants are high producers like pepperoncini. For 5 pepper plants I just canned 11 quarts of them, and thats just from two pickings. I expect almost the same amount again in about 2 weeks.

ksrogers and all: Thank you again. I will definitely leave mine on the plant so they are red before I pick them. I was surprised to see the smallest one, really a very very small pepper, turn a bright red! I also planted 4 tomato plants and have been surprised at the abundance of fruit from each plant. This was my very first year planting veggies and it has been very rewarding. So nice to go out and pick a tomato to have with my breakfast and the flavor compared to hothouse is remarkable!

Yes, leave them on the plant until they turn red. I don't see any need to scald them before canning.

in a mixture of vinegar, a bit of sugar or sugar substitute and pickling salt.

Are you using an approved recipe? The Ball Blue Book has one that is very good. I don't have that with me so can't post it but will look it up later if you need it.

No I don't actually have a recipe at all. I've just been told by someone else to use caution with canning as botulism is a risk she says especially as I don't have the proper equipment. I was thinking I'd steam the jars, boil the mixture and then add the prepared peppers. But now I'm worried about not doing it properly so I might end up just blanching and freezing for soups, pizzas, etc. They're really too small to roast.

Sometimes tiny ones that turn red have brown seeds inside and are diseased. I had that issue here, and once they were cut open, I could see the insides had a tan color, which is not normal. It only seems to happen on a few of them as the issue occurs while they are still growing and so the plant sends out the different enzymes to get these tiny ones to ripen to red. Knowing what you have as ripe and unripe, usually is meant for most of the larger ones. I add fertilizer in July and that seems to get more production for August. I used full strength 5% vinegar for mine and pour the boiling brine over the cold packed peppers.

Please purchase the Ball Blue Book and read about proper canning methods. Then you can use the recipe in the book for pickled peppers with complete confidence. I really think you would love the pickled peppers, but you need to learn to can properly.

My grape and cherry tomatoes are just now starting to be bright red. I picked about 3 quarts in one day. And most were hiding way down inside the foliage, where you have to be on your knees to get at them. I am amazed that these 4 tomato plants got so heavy they bent all my stiff poles. I had to drive some heavy metal U shaped fencing into the area to help the plants from dropping to the ground. One or two plants are cherry toms and quite sweet with tender skins. The grape type are a bit larger and more elongated like mini plum tomatoes. They have tougher skins however, and don't have that really sweet flavor like the cherry ones. Only issues with the cherry toms is they tend to crack from the stem to the tip, not very appealing.

I also agree that ou would do well to get the Ball Blue Book for home canning. It can save a lot of doubt and aggevation if you want to 'create' your own recipes.

Thanks prairie love and ksrogers for your replies. I only have 4 pepper plants and they are all under 2.5 feet so the output of fruit is not huge. When I planted the tomatoes I thought I'd just enjoy whatever they produced. But when I saw the yield from the pepper plants, I had high hopes! I realize now that I just don't know enough to can safely - at least with respect to the peppers. In the past I've made my own old-fashioned chili sauce (not to be confused with SALSA! which most people assume) but not in huge quantities and just enough to give to friends and keep a few jars for myself in the fridge. It's lovely to go out to my balcony and pick a tomato to have with my breakfast or salad at dinner time. If I am fortunate enough at some point to have a larger area to plant in I'll remember the Ball Blue Book! You have been so kind to reply especially as my "garden" is not as large as some that you all seem to have.

I only have 4 pepproncini plants this year and have picked about 4 gallons of peppers so far, to pickle. My four tomato plants are now reaching ripening stage and I picked about a gallom of small cherry and grape tomatoes in just a couple of days. No cherry peppers for this year. I do expect to see a cantaloupe, but have now noticed that there are several missing, chewed off leaves on some vines. I need to go out and spray some rabbit repeller out there tomorrow. Also to protect them at night, I put out a motion detector flood lamp setup with an ultrasonic sound blaster to repel the buggers that chew at night. It goes on for 10 minutes when it senses motion and then resets, to wait for more movement. Works great every year.

I wanted to post back to update people who so kindly replied to me and wanted to attach a picture here but I don't think I can in this particular forum. Anyway so much for peppers, pickled or otherwise! I only got one large bowlful of beautiful red cherry peppers. I guess I'll can them anyway since I won't be using them before they'll spoil. So my concern was for nothing. I found a recipe and I just have to figure out the correct amount now for what looks to be about 2 quarts! http://kalofagas.blogspot.com/2007/09/pickled-red-cherry-peppers.html

If this is the recipe you are using (from link above) then you need to find another one - one that would be SAFE - as this one sure isn't.

Pickled Red Cherry Peppers

1 large pot
1 dozen medium-sized mason jars (with lids and seals)
1 bushel of sweet or hot red cherry peppers
5 cups of white wine vinegar
3/4 cup of pickling salt
15 cups of water
1 heaping Tbsp. of whole black peppercorns
1/4 cup of vegetable oil

1. Sterilize your mason jars. Click here for a easy to understand run-down.
2. Cut/trim the the stems of the peppers and soak and rinse the peppers. Allow the water the drip dry in a large basin sink.
3. Into your large pot, add all the ingredients (except the peppers) and bring to a boil.
4. Add the peppers in batches. As soon as you see a rolling boil, start a 4 minutes count and then remove the peppers for jarring. Repeat with remaining batches until the peppers are all boiled. Contents of the jar should just reach the neck. Pickled jars need what's called "head space".
5. You may try and stuff as many peppers as you can into each jar. Pour pickling juice into each jar of peppers. When done, have a look at each jar to see if more pickling juice needs to be poured in. Sometimes the peppers absorb the juice. Each jar should should have submerged peppers in pickling juice.
6. Using paper towel, wipe the rim of the jar of any excess liquid. Place seals on all the jars and tighten the metal screw bands.
7. Within a 1/2 hour, press your finger on each lid to see if a seal has been created. If a seal has not been created, read this and review your process and try again with a new seal on the jar.

5 cups of wine vinegar to 15 cups of water and no processing? Sorry, this is NOT a safe canning recipe.

Dave

THANK YOU. I've been reading other posts here I see that the ratio of vinegar to water should be at least 1.5 or 2 to 1!

I'll look further for something simple, but SAFE.

Why not just use one of the tested and approved recipes for them. There are recipes in the Ball Blue Book for bot sweet and ones and online those same recipes are available at NCHFP.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP - Pickled recipes

THE VERY PREPOTIOUS NCHFP AGAIN!! Hey people, repitition is one thing, but here it seems that the mention of that site has had a 1000% increase compared to last year. Give it a rest already!!

You can use PHOTOBUCKET to add pictures here just like the ones below, whicb is how I make my very delicate pickled pepperoncini peppers. You simply copy and paste the HTML code that is shown on your photo gallery at Photo Bucket site..

{{gwi:920618}}

The end result for peppers, but the pickled garlic was done in a steam canner:

{{gwi:920620}}

Wow. This is quite an impressive setup. My little bit of balcony gardening is nothing compared to the work you all are putting into canning. I've learned quite a bit about canning here and it really brought home the importance of safe canning. And so . . . in the end this is what happened to Patches' Pickled Peppers!

I sterilized two jars, made up correct ratios of salt and vinegar and poured it over the contents of two (yeah, only TWO) jars. I'll keep them in the refrigerator and make sure they are used quickly and not kept for months.

Then I washed, trimmed, steamed lightly and scooped out the seeds and stuffed the centers of a lot with cheese. We sat out in mid afternoon with the scent of moonflowers all around and pigged out with a glass of rose and the cherry "poppers". It was a fast and satisfying way to use up the lovely peppers. If I grow these next year I'll probably just freeze them.
And thanks for that reminder on inserting from photobucket which I had quite forgotten about!

If you plan to stuff with cheese they wil be unsafe to can. As mentioned before if you freeze them, they will get very soft once thawed. If you plan to freeze, then thaw and make a pickled hot pepper it will be even more mushy after canning.

I am looking for a recipe for stuffed (with feta cheese) mini peppers that you can put in a spiced brine in a jar for a month or more to marinate. I was told by one person who I didn't really know that he makes these at Thanksgiving and serves them at Christmas. They had vinegar and maybe oil and lots of garlic in the marinade. can anyone help? he said his Italian Grandmother taught him to make these'