Hot Pepper Rings

This is a recipe for pickled pepper rings.  The Original recipe, in The Homesteading Recipe Book by Patricia Crawford, called for sweet peppers, but we love it with hot peppers.

These are Anaheim peppers, hot but on the mild side of hot...

Be sure to wear your rubber gloves when you handle hot peppers. 

This is a very easy way tp preserve your peppers, if you are set up to do water bath canning.  If you're not, you can make these as a refrigerator pickle. You will need:

6 green peppers

6 red peppers

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 cups vinegar

In a large pan, mix together the vinegar and the sugar. Bring to a boil, and stir and simmer for five minutes.

Remove the tops, membranes, and seeds from the peppers and slice into 1/4 inch wide rings.  (See top photo, not the one with the gloves.)

Place in a large, non-reactive bowl (ceramic, glass, or stainless steel.)  Cover with boiling water and let stand for two minutes.

Drain and pack into hot, sterile jars, preferably straight sided.

Pour the syrup over the peppers to within 1/4 inch of the top of the jar. To remove air bubbles, run a plastic butter knife gently down the inside edges of the jar, and then press toward the center.  You will see the bubbles rush to the top of the jar.

Adjust the amount of liquid, if needed, to have just 1/4 inch of head space.  Seal and process* for 10 minutes for half pints or pints.
                    

*If you have never done water bath canning before, please refer to the Ball Blue Book  guide to home canning and freezing. Canning is not rocket science but neither is it foolproof. There is more to know than I can provide in this blog format so please don't risk spoilage or foodborne illness.

You can also learn about water bath canning at:  http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_home.html.