You can use any mix of peppers that you wish since they are all low acid vegetables. It is the amount of vinegar and the ratio of vinegar to water that makes the recipe safe, not the type of peppers used. So you can mix sweet and hot or mix different types of hot or use all of one kind - no problem.

The link below is to the tested and approved recipe for pickling any type of peppers including all the hot ones.

Dave

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

Over the winter I canned a few jars of jalapeno escabeche (pickled jalapeno and carrot slices) which turned out GREAT! You might want to give it a try. (I will also put the link to my blog post about it--and pictures--below.)

Jalapeno Escabeche
(Source: adapted from Michael Gokey via Foodie Mama)
Makes 3 to 5 pint jars , depending on whether you follow the original recipe (3) or my adaptation (5)

1 lb. jalapeño or serrano chile peppers, sliced into rounds of desired thickness (may also be left whole--then you may wish to blister their skins in a hot pan with a trace of oil first)
1 medium white or yellow onion, 1/4 inch thickly sliced (I used TWO yellow onions sliced somewhat thinly)
2 medium carrots, peeled and 1/4 inch thickly sliced (I used a whole pound of carrots, peeled and not as thickly sliced)
1 head garlic, cloves separated and peeled (I used 2 cracked cloves per pint jar)

3 cups apple cider vinegar (could also use white, but I like the subtle sweetness of cider vinegar here)
3 cups water
2 tablespoons pickling salt
1 tablespoon sugar (I used about 2 teaspoons)
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
4-6 sprigs of fresh marjoram or 1/4 teaspoon dried
4-6 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried
20-30 mixed black and red peppercorns (I just used black)
*I added 1/4 teaspoon of ground cumin, too (would have preferred seeds if I had them)

Prepare the pickling brine (you may need to increase the brine by 25% if you follow my version). Add the vinegar, water, salt, dry herbs, and sugar to a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer while you prepare the rest of the vegetables.

Wash your vegetables well with no soap. Now peel and slice to prepare. Add at least one clove of garlic, 3-4 peppercorns, to each of the sterilized jars. If you are using fresh herbs then, pack one sprig each in each of the jars.

Pack the chile vegetable mixture into sterilized jars leaving 1/2" head space. To help reduce bubbles, slowly fill the packed jars slowly with the pickling brine, plucking out the bay leaves. Make sure you use a plastic bubble remover and slide it around the inside of the jar wall.

Seal and process the jars in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes. Store your pickled en escabeche jalapenos for four weeks in a cool, dark place before serving. Once opened, they can keep well for one to two months in the refrigerator.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lindsey's Luscious Escabeche

Sounds good but Joy, that's an awfully lot of low acid ingredients and fresh herbs for just a 50:50 vinegar water ratio. I'd sure increase the amount of vinegar if it were me making it.

Don't know anything about Gokey but many Foodie Mama recipes are not approved as you likely know.

JMO

Dave

I agree. If you are mixing the veggies then you need more vinegar.
Here is an example of something that is safe.
Colorado Mix (Pickled Pepper Vegetable Blend)
2 1/2 pounds peppers, mild or hot as desired
1 pound cucumbers, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
2 to 4 carrots, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1/2 pound cauliflower, cut into 1-inch flowerettes
1 cup peeled pickling onions
7 to 14 garlic cloves, as desired
6 cups vinegar
3 cups water
2 tablespoons pickling salt
2 tablespoons sugar, if desired
Yield: Makes 7 to 8 pints

Procedure: Wash and prepare vegetables. Slit small peppers. Core large peppers and cut into strips. Remove blossom end of cucumbers and cut into chunks. Peel and chunk carrots. Break cauliflower into flowerettes. Pack vegetable medley into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. In 3-quart saucepan, bring vinegar, water, salt and sugar to a boil. Pour hot solution over mix in jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Add liquid to bring headspace to 1/4 inch. Wipe jar rims. Add pretreated lids and process in boiling water bath. For best flavor, store jars five to six weeks before opening.

Raw:
Half-pints or pints 10 min. quarts 15 min.

Please, be sure to use recipes from sites that are USDA safety tested. The others may have some good tasting things, but since they have no food preservation safety training, they may or may not be safe to follow. Same for book. Not all are safe to follow.

I have to ask............

Not disagreeing at all, but just want to clarify in my own mind because...well, it's a little murky in there! LOL

Dave & Linda:
You both said basically "too many low acid veggies for a 50:50 brine".
How is this combo of veggies different than say all cukes, or dilly beans? Those are all low acid too.
Lots of the approved recipes for these are only a 50:50 brine and are OK. What am I missing here? Is there something different about a 'combination' vs. just one vegetable?

I love pickles of all kinds and want to make sure I don't do something really stupid! I guess in my mind, I've always thought that you could pickle darned near anything in a 50:50 brine as long as the contents aren't packed too tight, no oil/dairy/thickener, etc. I follow approved recipes, so no worries there, but I want to understand why this is different!

Thanks,
Deanna

p.s. Sorry for hijacking your thread compostnewbie. Hopefully the answers will help everyone!! Dave & Linda are helpful and reliable (as well as many others!!)

The difference Deanna, density issues aside, is that the cuke and Dilly Beans recipes were tested and approved for the 50:50 mix and contains only the one low-acid pH vegetable.

Mixed low-acid vegetables recipes need testing and this one hasn't been. Mixed low-acid vegetable recipes can result in a lower overall acid pH than a single vegetable and that pH is further lowered by using fresh rather than dried herbs.

In this case the cauliflower, garlic, carrots, and onions are all typically lower acid than snap beans or cukes and all rank higher on the potential botulism scale than do cukes or green beans.

beans 6.0
cucumbers 5.5-6.0
Cauliflower 6.8-7.0
Carrots 6.3
Onions 6.5-7.0
Garlic 6.0-6.8

Varies per growing conditions of course but you can see how combining them would lower the pH below (make it more alkaline) that of the tested bean and cuke recipes.

Hope this helps.

Dave

I just made these yesterday. This recipe is from the new version of "The Joy of Pickling." I highly recommend this book - the recipes are all wonderful and "do"able - you're sure to find something you like in this book:

Honeyed Jalapeno Rings

24 whole black peppercorns
8 small garlic cloves, sliced
2 Tbl Mixed Pickling Spices
1 quart cider vinegar
2 Tbl honey
2 tsp pickling salt
2 1/4 pounds jalapeno peppers cut into 3/16 rings and if you like, seeded
4 Tbl olive oil

1. Divide the peppercorns and garlic evenly among 8 half-pint mason jars.

2. Tie the spices in a spice bag or scrap of cheesecloth and put it into a saucepan with the vinegar, honey, and salt. Bring the contents to a boil. Add the pepper rings, and bring the contents back to a simmer.

3. Divide the peppers among the jars. and pour the hot liquid over them, leaving a little more than 1/2 inch headspace. Discard the spice bag. Pour about 1 1/2 tsp olive oil into each jar and close the jars with two-piece caps. Process the jars for 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath, or immerse t hem for 30 minutes in water heated to 180-185 degrees F.

4. Store the cooled jars in a cool, dry, dark place for at least 3 weeks before eating the peppers. After opening a jar, store it in the refrigerator.

compostnewbie -

There is a recipe in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving for Pickled Hot Peppers. It calls for a combo of banana, jalapeno, and serrano peppers. I am going to post the condensed version for reference.

6 cups banana pepper
4 cups jalapeno
1 cup serrano
6 cups white vinegar
2 cups water
3 cloves garlic

Mix brine and garlic. Boil 5 minutes to infuse garlic flavor. Discard garlic. Pack jars (peppers in 1/2 inch rings), cover with hot brine. Process 10 minutes, BWB.

I think you want to do the same thing I want to do - just can a few jars of sliced jalapenos. Taking into consideration all that has posted by others and my understanding of pickling - You can use just jalapenos for this recipe as long as you keep the vinegar to water ratio at 3:1 (3 cups vinegar to 1 cup water). I have even considered doing the jalapenos in straight vinegar.

The recipe from the NCHFP calls for a 5:1 ratio, but it has a mix with sweet peppers, sugar, etc. Don't know if that is why there is a difference.

I plan to put mine in small jelly jars and a few half pints this evening. Anyone have any input on the 3:1 vs. 5:1 ratio if just using one type of hot pepper, no other vegetables? Anybody else use straight vinegar, no water? (That's how my MIL does hot peppers, but she also does not process. I will be processing ;-)

Hope this helps us both compostnewbie.

Thanks for your input.

~ Tracy

Thanks Dave, that DOES help. I just hadn't stopped to look up all the different pH values for all the veggies.

Makes sense that combining various ones 'could' easily put you beyond the safety margin. No point in going there!

The fresh herb part made sense to me, especially with the very flexible quantity of "4-6 sprigs". Sheesh! What constitutes "a sprig"? That, alone, could be an entire discussion...LOL!

Thanks for taking the time to clarify for me!
Like I said, I use tested recipes, but the "murky stuff" hangs out in my brain sometimes! It helps for me to understand so I can be aware when it's a good idea to question the recipe/source!

Deanna

Joy (Unspeakable) - I made the pickled hot peppers from the Ball Book. I really thought they were a big too vinegary at the time I canned them. I think I would add 1-2 tbsp. of sugar just to take off the vinegar bite if I make them again. I have not actually popped open a jar - I might feel different after tasting them once they have cured.

I did not use exactly what the recipe called for in terms of the peppers - it was 7 cups of various peppers including some poblano's from my garden.

Thanks for all the input, guys. I believe I'll go with a 2 to 1 or even 3 to 1 ratio of vinegar to water the next time I make the jalapeno escabeche, just to be SAFE!

I agree that the ball recipe tasted to much like vinigar I will try some suger in some tomorrow

I know this is an old thread, but I am looking for a good recipe for mixed vegetable escabeche. I find this thread confusing because Linda Zeidrich has two mixed vegetable pickles page 99 (jardiniere) and 100 (giardiniera-which even includes oil, 12 cloves of garlic, and only slightly more vinegar than water!). Both recipes say you can use a mix of vegetable of your choice. This makes me feel less concerned about lower acid vegetables.

I made a version of the giardiniera with apple cider vinegar, carrots, onion, pink turnip, and zucchini. See below! I left out the oil because it just did not feel right. However, I stuck with Linda's proportions (3 quarts of vegetables) and the rest of the recipe exactly.

Now I want to make a Mexican version! I plan to stick with the giardiniera recipe from page 100, omit the oil, substitute some jalapeños for some of the sweet peppers, green beans for the celery, and swap out the herbs/spices for other dry ones (not sure which yet, but possibly those from the recipe above).

Please let me know if this raises any concerns. I could up the vinegar, but from her recipe which includes oil, it does not seem necessary.

Food_lover, are those pints or half pints? Note that Linda Ziedrich's recipe calls for half pints. Makes a BIG difference.

Both recipes call for pints. See photo below of pages 100-101 showing the end of each recipe. Both recipes very clearly state pints in two places. Also, I think it would be very hard to fit 3 quarts of vegetables into 6 half pints.

It boils down to your comfort level. In general I am very comfortable with Linda's recipes but some of them ride too close to the edge of safety for me. This is one of them.

Given the disparity in the pH in so many low-acid vegetables I can't go along with "varying the vegetables as you wish" with what is basically a 1:1 vinegar to water brine. To me those instructions are mutually exclusive. I either want specific vegetables OR more vinegar and less water OR at least a stronger vinegar. She calls for white wine vinegar and it comes in a range of percentages.

So if using only 5% vinegar then I would cut the water to 2 cups and increase the vinegar to 3 cups. JMO

Dave

PS: I also use smaller pieces than shows in your photo. It would take a long time for the brine to penetrate such large pieces. Linda does include some piece size recommendations.

Dave, thank you so much! I really appreciate your thoughts on this!

I used your suggestions with zucchini, onions, jalapeños, green beans, and carrots! They look good! I had to make a bit more brine because the recipe made 7 jars again, but I kept the same proportions. Algebra is useful in real life!

the wife just made a pickled mix of jalapenos and habaneros and some garlic in a 1:1 vinegar/water ratio. Got it from allrecipes.com.. Should I be concerned?

"the wife just made a pickled mix of jalapenos and habaneros and some garlic in a 1:1 vinegar/water ratio. Got it from allrecipes.com.. Should I be concerned?"

As often discussed here that site is definitely not a good source for canning recipes as far too many unsafe recipes are posted there. In this specific case the 1:1 ratio is the absolute MINIMUM amount of vinegar required when pickling anything. The approved recipe for Pickled Hot Peppers calls for 5 cups of vinegar to 1 cup of water so draw your own conclusion.

Pickled Hot Peppers recipe

Dave

thank you