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Canning Peppers: A Tutorial

canning peppers hot and sweet

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. FOR HOT PEPPERS:
  2. **WARNING** If you are handling hot or even mild chili peppers, wear rubber gloves! I’ve burned my hands even with the milder peppers like poblanos. It hurts and is easily preventable with gloves.
  3. Select only fresh, firm peppers for canning, as limp ones will yield less than desirable results. Wash the peppers, then place in a single layer on a baking sheet and broil for 5-10 minutes to blister the skins. Flip over once to ensure they char on both sides. (It’s important to blister them as evenly as you can, otherwise it’s very difficult to get the skins to come off.)
  4. Remove the charred peppers and place into a Ziploc bag and seal tightly. Allow them to sit for 10 minutes, then remove the peppers from the bag and rub off as much of the peel/skin as possible.
  5. Cut the tops off and scrape out the seeds. Cut the peeled peppers in half or quarters, or you may can smaller ones whole.
  6. Pack pepper pieces into clean pint or half pint jars. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the pint jars or 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the half-pint jars. Fill with boiling water, leaving 1″ headspace.
  7. Affix lids and rings, then process in a pressure canner for 35 minutes. Use 10 pounds of pressure if you are at 0-1000 feet altitude, and 15 pounds of pressure if you are at 1000-10,000 feet altitude.
  8. FOR SWEET/BELL PEPPERS:
  9. The skins of bell peppers or sweet peppers are more tender, so they generally do not need to be blistered and peeled (thank goodness).
  10. Simple quarter or roughly chop bell peppers and cover them with water in a pot.
  11. Boil for 3 minutes, then transfer to pint or half-pint jars. Add 1/4 teaspoon of salt to each jar (if desired), then ladle more boiling water to fill the jar, leaving 1″ of headspace.
  12. Affix lids and rings, then process in a pressure canner for 35 minutes. Use 10 pounds of pressure if you are at 0-1000 feet altitude, and 15 pounds of pressure if you are at 1000-10,000 feet altitude.
  13. Use your canned peppers in soups, stews, and skillet meals. They will be good for a year in storage, and are still edible after that, although their quality will start to degrade over time.