Basic Pickling and Pickled Hot Peppers

This takes about an hour or just under an hour to accomplish!

What You Need:

Mason Jars

Pickling salt

White Distilled Vinegar

Water

Tongs

Medium Soup Pot

Large Stock Pot

​Clean towel-for laying out your jars

Knife for slicing your pickling ingredients

End of a knife or spoon to remove air bubbles at the end of the process

Fresh Garlic optional, but a very good additive for flavor 

Cyanne peppers, cucumbers, Jalapenos, Habeneros, or whatever you want to pickle

A very important step in pickling is sterilization of the mason jars, flat lid, the lid ring, and your tongs.

​Start out by taking your large stock pot and filling it a bit more than half way to the top with water. Once the water is boiling, insert the tongs the metal part that you will be using to handle the jars and lids, mason jars, the mason flat lids and the rings into the water. Boil them for 15 minutes. 

​While the boiling is taking place, slice up your vegetables! Get them into a little piles, keep them together or separate. For this pickling, I used habeneros  by themselves sliced thin, whole ghost peppers (bhut jolokia), Cayenne peppers sliced thin, and jalapenos sliced thin. I also added some crushed garlic to the cayenne peppers. 

​Once the water has boiled for 15 minutes, turn the water off and allow it to cool for a bit. Have your towel laid out, and carefully remove your mason jars one at a time  with the tongs from the hot water onto the towel, the opening facing up. Also, remove your mason lid rings and flat pieces. FYI the flat parts are difficult to pick up and sometimes they will stick together so be careful. If you end up with one flat piece less than you started, chances are they are stuck to another flat piece. 

​Now to make the pickling juice! Get your medium sauce pan and fill with 1 cup water, 1/2 vinegar and 2 tablespoons pickling salt.  Boil this together for 15 minutes. 

​Once that is done, take your mason jar and fill enough so there is at least 1/4 inch of heatspace at the top. Now fill the jar with your vegetables! Pack them in good! Then add your flat piece, followed by the ring, twist only a few times because you still need to get the air bubbles out!  Tap around the lid so there are no air bubbles, once that's done tighten the lid down and let the jars cool on the counter before placing them in the fridge!