A First-Timer’s Guide to Canning & A New Take on Pickled Peppers

I sat looking at all of the canning equipment sitting on my kitchen counter. Boiling-water canner? Check. Canning jars, lids and screw bands? Check. Jar lifter and magnetic lid wand? Check. Plastic spoon? Check. Confidence? Not quite. As a first-time canner, I was apprehensive and, to be honest, a bit scared. When I’m just cooking dinner, I don’t have to worry about potentially poisoning myself or someone else because of botulism. Then, I thought about the advice that my friend, who lent me all the canning equipment and her Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving book, told me, “Don’t be afraid! Remember, man before can.” She successfully canned her first batch of apple butter the week before. So, I sloughed off my fear, put on my apron and got to work.

Step 1: Clean your work area.

Before you begin, clean your work space (especially if you’re like me and live in one of Allston’s charming, mice-infested apartments). Using hot, soapy water and a clean towel, wipe down and dry your counters and stove top. You can also contact professional services, such as maid service Austin, TX., to do all the cleaning for you.

Step 2: Choose a recipe and gather your ingredients.

My fridge was stocked with hot peppers left over from my CSA and a handful of tomatillos. So, I altered the Pickled Green Tomato-Hot Pepper Mix recipe I found in the Ball book, substituting the tomatillos for the green tomatoes. I also adjusted the amount of ingredients to make a smaller batch. Here’s my take on the recipe:

Pickled Tomatillo-Hot Pepper Mix

(Fills 5 half-pint ball jars)

Ingredients:

Peppers and tomatillos
Photo by Ali Carter
  • 1 tbsp pickling spice
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 6-8 tomatillos, cut into fourths
  • 2 cups bell peppers, sliced into 1/2-inch thick rings and seeded
  • 2 cups various hot peppers, sliced 1/2-inch thick rings and seeded or left whole (if they’re extremely small, like habaneros)
  • 1/2 cup pearl onions, peeled
  • 5 small cloves garlic
  • 1/2 tsp canning salt
  • 2 cups white vinegar
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar

Cook’s note: From my calculations, I anticipated that the recipe would make 5 half-pint jars of the pickled peppers. However, the pickled peppers ended up filling only 3 and 3/4 jars. So, I adjusted the recipe for you and added another cup of bell peppers. To avoid burning your hands, wear rubber gloves when cutting or seeding hot peppers. In addition, although you can make your own pickling spice (which I recommend if you’re doing a lot of pickling) most grocery stores sell prepared pickling spice. For the purpose of this recipe, I used prepared pickling spice. Also, another name for canning salt is kosher salt. One way to make sure that you have the right kind of salt is to look at the ingredients. You don’t want salt with iodine and anti-caking additives.

Step 3: Prepare your equipment.

Equipment:

  • Boiling-water canner
  • Canning rack
  • Canning jars, such as Ball jars
  • Jar lids and screw bands, which come with Ball jars
  • Jar lifter
  • Magnetic lid wand
  • N0nmetallic utensil, such as a rubber spatula or a plastic spoon

The jar lifter and magnetic lid wand aren’t essential, but they help in the process. According to the Ball book, jars of high-acid foods are processed in a boiling-water canner, which heats the jar and its contents at 212°F (100°C). High-acid foods include soft spreads (jam, jelly, fruit butter, conserve, preserves, marmalade), fruits and fruit juices, salsa relish, chutney, condiments (ketchup, barbecue sauce, chili sauce, mustard, vinegar), pickles and basic tomatoes. The higher temperatures of a pressure canner are required to deal with microorganisms that thrive in foods with lower acidity. If you’re preserving vegetables, meat, poultry, fish or any combination of these foods, you use a pressure canner instead and follow a different process. I followed the Ball book’s directions to prepare the equipment for my pickled pepper recipe.

  1. Clean the jars and closures. Wash the jars, lids and screw bands in hot, soapy water. Rise well and drain. You don’t need to dry them. If you’re using jars from previous canning projects, carefully examine the jars. Discard any jars that have nicks, crack, uneven rim surfaces or other damage or defects.

    Boiling-water canner
    Photo by Ali Carter

  2. Heat the jars. Place the canning rack in the bottom of your boiling-water canner, and then place the jars on the rack. When using 8-ounce (250 mL) or smaller jars like I am for this recipe, add water to the jars and the canner until it reaches the top of the jars. For recipes that use pint (500 mL) and larger jars, ass water to the jars and the canner until the jars are about two-thirds. full. Cover the canner and bring the water to a simmer (180°F/82°C) over medium heat. Do not boil the jars; boiling the jars, or presterilization, is unnecessary. Heat processing destroys any microoganisms, not only in the food but also in the containers and closures. Keep the jars hot until you’re ready to use them.
  3. Prepare the closures. Set screw bands aside–they do not require heating or sterilizing. You want the screw bands to be at room temperature for easy handling when you apply them to the jars. Place the lids–the flat, round portion of the two-piece closures–in a small saucepan, cover with water and bring to a simmer (180°F/82°C) over medium heat. Do not boil. Keep the lids hot until you’re read to use them.

Step 4: Prepare the recipe.

  1. Tie pickling spice and mustard seeds in a square of a cheese cloth (I used a coffee filter), creating a spice bag. Set aside.

    Cooking the vegetables
    Photo by Ali Carter

  2. In a large glass or stainless steel bowl, combine tomatillos, peppers, onions, garlic and salt. Mix well and set aside.
  3. In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine vinegar, water and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add reserved spice bag, reduce heat and boil gently for 10 minutes, until spices have infused the liquid. Add vegetables and boil gently for 10 minutes, until vegetables are heated through and slightly tender. Remove from heat. Discard spice bag.

Step 5: Fill the jars.

  1. Working one jar at a time, remove a jar from the canner using the jar lifter, pouring hot water back into the canner. Place the jar on a heat-protected work surface, such as a wooden cutting board, a towel or a heatproof tray. Pack hot vegetables into hot jars, making sure 1 clove of garlic is added to each jar, leaving 1/2 inch (1 cm) of headspace at the top of the jar. Headspace is the space between the top of the jar and the top of the food. Pickles, tomatoes fruit, relishes, chutneys and condiments require 1/2 inch (1 cm) headspace, while soft spreads and fruit juices require 1/2 inch (.5 cm) headspace. Next, ladle hot pickling liquid into jar to cover vegetables, leaving 1/2 inch (1 cm) headspace.
  2. Slide a nonmetallic utensil down between the food and the inside of the jar two or three times to release the air bubbles. Failure to remove air bubbles can cause seal failure and will influence the color and storage quality of the preserved product. Adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot pickling liquid.
  3. With a clean damp cloth or paper towel, wipe jar rim and threads. Particles of food that remain on the rim of the jar can prevent formation of a vacuum seal.
  4. Using the magnetic lid wand or a nonmetallic utensil, lift a hot lid from the water and place it on the jar, centering the sealing compound on the rim of the jar.
  5. Place a screw band on the jar. With your fingers, screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to finger-tip tight. Do not use a tool or excessive force to tighten the screw bands. Over-tightening screw bands can prevent jars from venting and can lead to seal failure.
  6. Return the jar to the rack in the hot water-filled canner. Repeating filling steps until all jars are filled.

Step 6: Heat-process the filled jars.

  1. When all of the jars are in the canner, adjust the water level in the canner so that is covers the jars by at least 1 inch (2.5 cm). Cover the canner with a lid and bring water to a full rolling boil of high heat. Once the water is boiling hard and continuously, begin counting the processing time specified in the recipe. The rapid boil must continue for the duration of the processing time. For this recipe, the processing time is 15 minutes.
  2. Cool the jars. At the end of the processing time, turn the heat off and remove the canner lid. Let the canner cool for 5 minutes. This short standing time allows the pressure inside the jars to stabilize and reduces the likelihood of liquid loss that could otherwise occur when the jars are moved. After 5 minutes, remove the jars using the jar lifter, lifting them out of the hot water without tilting them. Don’t dry lids or jars at this point. You don’t want to disturb the lids while the seal is being formed. Place jars upright on a towel in a draft-free place and let cool, undisturbed, for 24 hours. If desired, drape a tea towel over the jars; it will prevent drafts from reaching the jars.
  3. When processed jars have cooled for 24 hours, check lids for seal. Remove the screw bands. With your fingers, press down on the center of each lid. Sealed lids will be concave or curve downward and will show no movement when pressed. Jars that have not sealed properly must be refrigerated or reprocessed immediately. Use unsealed refrigerated product within a few days.
Pickled Tomatillo-Hot Pepper Medley
Photo by Ali Carter

Apparently, you can use the mix to make an excellent salsa-style sauce by draining the liquid from the jar and chopping the vegetables coarsely in a food processor. I plan to use it as a marinade for a grilled tofu sandwich. Even though everything didn’t go exactly as planned, I overcame my fear of canning and ended up with three perfectly sealed jars of the Pickled Tomatillo-Hot Pepper Mix. The last jar, as I mentioned earlier, was not completely filled, so I put it in the refrigerator and have been snacking on it all week. Surprisingly, the mix is especially delicious on a piece a toast with crunchy peanut butter! So, try out the recipe for yourself and remember, MAN BEFORE CAN. If I can do it, you can do it!

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