Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 pounds (1 k) fresh, blemish-free hot peppers of the kind you prefer (e.g. South Italian Diavolicchio)
- Gloves
- Strong white wine vinegar (fruit vinegar will discolor the peppers) that's 5-6% acetic acid
- Kosher salt, without any additives (e.g. iodine)
- Enough fairly small jars (I prefer 250 ml, or half pint) with lids to contain your peppers, cleaned and sterilized
Preparation:
Begin by putting on your gloves. All peppers, and especially hot peppers, have oils that are extremely irritating, and don't wash off easily. If you don't use gloves, rubbing an eye or going to the bathroom (even hours later) could be excruciating.Gloves on? Wash the peppers, removing any that look blemished, and pat them dry. Next, puncture the skins of the peppers with the tines of a fork to allow the vineagr to penetrate.
Pack the jars with the peppers, adding a sprinkling of salt between layers as well.
Bring your vinegar to a brief boil (2-3 minutes), and use it to fill the jars, tapping them and gently shaking them to dislodge air bubbles.
Put the lids on the jars, and put them on a rack in a sterilizer (or a large pot) with cold water to cover. Bring the pot to a boil and simmer the peppers for 20 minutes to sterilize them. Let the pot cool, and when you can safely dip a hand into the water remove the jars. Check the seals of the lids, and put the jars in a cool dark place. They'll be ready in a couple of weeks, and will keep for a year.
Yield: several jars of pickled hot peppers.
