Photo credit: derjonas

Jalapenos: They grow like weeds. They’re integral to nachos. They spice up chilis and soups. They even make great holiday presents!

… yeah, you weren’t expecting that last one, were you?

This year my husband and I were burdened with a surfeit of jalapenos. From 10 plants, we harvested 10-15 lbs of jalapenos. There’s only so much fresh salsa and nachos you can live on, so we decided to preserve them in some way.

One of the easiest ways to preserve jalapenos is pickling. Start today, and you could be seeing red and green – peppers, that is – under the Christmas tree.

1. Find a reliable recipe – and stick to it. Preservation of food is tricky business. Unlike other sorts of cooking, it’s a precise science, not an art. In pickling, the quantities of vinegar and pickling salt in the brine determine whether or not the food will grow nasties like botulism or listeria. For that reason, it’s good to stick with a well-tested recipe and stick to it. Here is one from the National Center for Home Food Preparation:

2. Compile the “software.” The three basics of pickling are: vinegar, pickling salt, and whatever you plan to pickle (in this case, jalapenos).

Vinegar should be at least 5% acidity. You can also buy special pickling vinegar, which weighs in as a 7% solution.

Pickling or canning salt is used in place of table salt because it does not contain iodine, which may make the brine cloudy.

Jalapenos. You’ll need a fair amount of them – 3 lbs for the recipe I linked above. You can still find them at some farmer’s markets in my area.

If you are picking them yourself from your garden (in which case I assume you live somewhere warmer than New England), you want to pick the peppers when then start to “cork,” or develop brown lines, etched into the flesh, that run from top to bottom of the fruit.

Some recipes also call for pickling lime, which increases the firmness of pickled products. This is helpful but may not be necessary – check the guidelines surrounding your recipe.

3. Compile the hardware.

You will a large pot (like a lobster pot) in which to process the jarred jalapenos.

Most importantly, you will need jars. The recommended type of jar is one with a self-sealing lid that comes in two parts – a flat lid held in place by a metal band that screws to the top of the jar. You can find these in some supermarkets and most box stores like Target. My husband and I used something like these wide-mouthed platinum jars.

4. Follow the recipe. Have I stressed how important it is to follow the recipe yet? Good.

5. Gift! I’ve even put together a series of labels you can use for these pickles: in Word 2007 (154KB) or PDF (185KB) format. Just fill in your own name under “made with love by” and it’s ready to go.

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