I was asked to tell a little bit more about jalapenos. I couldn't find my regular recipe this year, so I asked around some and read several books. Remember to use gloves when handling hot peppers. I was told that if you get the seeds and juice on your hand enough, you have to soak them in milk or something to even soothe them. Also, one of my books said that you should never can peppers in anything larger than a pint jar. They said it is actually unsafe to can them in quarts. Now, I don't know the reason behind that and I am not sure I agree with it, but since our family is so small the smaller jars work better for us. I did the whole jalapenos in pints and the rings in 1/2 pints. Here is what I did.
For the whole jalapenos, I washed them and then cut the stem off. I put them in pint jars and added 1/2 tsp. of salt. I then made a brine of 1 part vinegar and 2 parts water. For the jars you see below (all of them, not just the pints), I used 3 1/2 cups of vinegar and 7 cups of water. I had just a little bit left over. I fill the jars with the brine leaving 1/2 inch of head space.
For the slices I was told you can cut off the end and then stick a skinny knife down in there and scrape the seeds out. I just left the seeds in. I put 1/4 tsp. of salt in each jar. I sliced them and put them in the jars and again added the brine leaving 1/2 inch of head space.
I put on the hot lids and water bathed them for 10 mins. You can add some garlic is you like. One lady even adds dill to hers. Experiment with what you like. I just did ours plain.
By the way, this barely made a dent in the peck of peppers.
** Lady Snow asked what we do with all the jalapenos. We make salsa with them. Michael puts them on his salad. They get crackers and put some cream cheese on them and then a jalapeno slice. Joshua loves them on his pizza. I am sure there are other things they do with them, but that is all that is coming to mind.
For the whole jalapenos, I washed them and then cut the stem off. I put them in pint jars and added 1/2 tsp. of salt. I then made a brine of 1 part vinegar and 2 parts water. For the jars you see below (all of them, not just the pints), I used 3 1/2 cups of vinegar and 7 cups of water. I had just a little bit left over. I fill the jars with the brine leaving 1/2 inch of head space.
For the slices I was told you can cut off the end and then stick a skinny knife down in there and scrape the seeds out. I just left the seeds in. I put 1/4 tsp. of salt in each jar. I sliced them and put them in the jars and again added the brine leaving 1/2 inch of head space.
I put on the hot lids and water bathed them for 10 mins. You can add some garlic is you like. One lady even adds dill to hers. Experiment with what you like. I just did ours plain.
By the way, this barely made a dent in the peck of peppers.
** Lady Snow asked what we do with all the jalapenos. We make salsa with them. Michael puts them on his salad. They get crackers and put some cream cheese on them and then a jalapeno slice. Joshua loves them on his pizza. I am sure there are other things they do with them, but that is all that is coming to mind. 
3 comments:
Marci, what do you use your canned jalapenos for?
Thanks for posting this. I can attest to the fact that too much pepper juice on the fingers is very painful and cannot be soothed. It took 3 days or so to be right again. Anyhow, take care with hot peppers!
I do love jalapenos.
Unfortunately I know first hand what they say about the juice and seeds is true. Earlier this year I was making some jalapeno popper type appetizers-I knew about the need to wear gloves but I didn't have any on hand and didn't want to run to the store just to get some. At first, I kept saying to my dh, "I don't know what they're talking about-these aren't hot at all." Then-about a half an hour after I finished, my hands began to itch-then they began to feel like they were on fire-especially under my wedding rings-and finally, they swelled up. I did try soaking them in milk, rubbing them with rubbing alcohol, and washing repeatedly-nothing helped-at all. It did help slightly to rub ice cubes over my hands-I did that for probably 2 hours. It only made it bearable while I was rubbing them with the ice and as soon as I stopped, the burning returned. After about 2 hours, it was tolerable and I tried to keep busy so I didn't dwell on my burning hands. Even the next day they were a little uncomfortable. I've given birth to five children without the aid of drugs-the burning of my hands was more painful...
So, I hope that if anyone else plans to try out canning jalapenos, that they will invest in a good pair of gloves-I know I'll never try it without them again! :-D
Michelle
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