Canning Peppers (Hot or Sweet)
Canning plain peppers at home allows you to preserve peppers right on the pantry shelf for quick weeknight meals.
Equipment
Ingredients
- Peppers hot or sweet
- water
- salt optional, 1/2 tsp per pint
Instructions
- Wash peppers before beginning.
- Roast peppers on all sides to blister the skin, using either a grill, stovetop burner or oven broiler for 8-10 minutes. A grill outdoors is my preferred method.
- After roasting, place peppers on a tray under a damp towel for about 15 minutes. This will help the skins slip.
- Remove the towel and slip the skins of the peppers. Be sure to use gloves for hot peppers. Working under running water in the sink helps the skins slip easier.
- Use a sharp paring knife to cut around the stem of each pepper and remove the stem, seed and core of each pepper. For hot peppers, simply cut off the top of each pepper and then remove the seeds. (Again, gloves are important here for hot peppers!)
- Pack the peppers into prepared canning jars, either as whole peppers, slices or dices. For whole peppers, smash the pepper flat before sliding it into the jar (3-4 whole peppers per pint). Be sure to leave 1 inch headspace.
- Prepare a pressure canner according to the manufacturers instructions. This usually means adding 2-3 inches of water to the bottom of the canner and bringing it up to a simmer with the bottom trivet in place.
- Bring a kettle of water to a boil on the stove and fill jars with boiling water, maintaining 1 inch headspace. De-bubble jars, adjust headspace, wipe rims and seal with 2 part canning lids to finger tight. Load into a preheated pressure canner.
- Place the lid on the pressure canner, but do not start bringing it up to pressure. Allow steam to vent for 10 minutes before adding the canning weight and bringing the canner up to pressure (see notes for pressure).
- Once at pressure, process jars for 35 minutes. Canning in pints or half pints is acceptable, but don't use quarts or larger jars. Be sure to maintain pressure for the entire process time, and if the canner drops below pressure, re-start the timer.
- Once the jars have processed at pressure for 35 minutes, turn off the heat and allow the canner to cool completely before removing the jars. (Don't ever attempt to rapid cool a pressure canner.)
- When cool, remove the jars and check seals. Store any unsealed jars in the refrigerator for immediate use. Properly processed and sealed jars should maintain quality on the pantry shelf for 12-18 months.
Notes
Always wear gloves when handling hot peppers. Even "mild" hot peppers can cause problems when working with large batch sizes, and you should avoid getting them on your hands. Obviously, also avoid touching your eyes and other sensitive parts until you've thoroughly washed your hands (even if wearing gloves).
Yield:
A pint jar will hold about 3-4 medium sweet peppers, or roughly 1 pound as purchased/harvested. Hot peppers tend to lose more volume during roasting, skinning and seeding. Diced peppers also pack better into jars. For diced hot peppers, expect to use 2 to 2 1/2 pounds of fresh peppers to fill each pint.
Altitude Adjustments:
The canning time for peppers (35 minutes) remains the same regardless of altitude. The pressure, however, varies based on your altitude and the type of canner you're using.
For a Dial Guage Pressure Canner:
- 0 to 2,000 Feet Elevation use 11 pounds pressure
- 2,001 to 4,000 Feet Elevation use 12 pounds pressure
- 4,0001 to 6,000 Feet Elevation use 13 pounds pressure
- 6,001 to 8,000 Feet Elevation use 14 pounds pressure
- 0 to 1,000 Feet Elevation use 10 pounds pressure
- 1,001 Feet Elevation and above use 15 pounds pressure