We love jalapeños. They seem to thrive in the Maui heat. Apparently hot climates produce hot peppers! The red peppers are the fully mature stage of the jalapeño and add beautiful color mixed with the younger green jalapeños.
We now have 10 jalapeño plants in the garden. We make both pickled nacho rings and jalapeño hot sauce .
Pickled Jalapeños
Makes 4 pint jars
Ingredients
2 pounds fresh jalapeño peppers
2 1/2 cups white vinegar
2 1/2 cups water (distilled or filtered)
5 teaspoons pickling salt
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/4 teaspoons calcium chloride (Ball brand Pickle Crisp)
4 2-inch sprigs fresh Mexican oregano (optional)
Preparation
Wash jalapeños and slice into 1/4 to 1/3 inch rings. It’s a good idea to wear disposable gloves when cutting peppers. Divide sliced peppers into 4 equal portions.
Wash jars and place them in boiling-water canner. Fill the jars and canner with water to the top of the jars. Cover and bring water to a simmer over medium heat, do not boil. Prepare the two-piece closures. Wash lids and place in a small saucepan and cover with water. Heat to just a simmer but do not boil. Do not heat screw bands.
In a medium-sized saucepan add remaining ingredients except oregano sprigs. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes on low heat.
Lift the canner jar rack and fix into place on the rim of the canner. Remove one jar at a time and empty hot water back into the canner. Place jar on a cutting board. Place a canning funnel in the jar. Add 1 oregano sprig to the jar, pack jar with portioned jalapeño rings. Ladle hot brine into jar leaving 1/2-inch head space. Remove air bubbles (with a chopstick or similar utensil) and adjust head space, if necessary, by adding more brine. Wipe jar rim. Using a magnetic utensil, lift hot lid from water, center it on the jar and place screw band on jar. Tighten screw band evenly and firmly just until resistance is met. Then increase to fingertip tight. Do not over tighten. Return jar to canner rack. Continue filling jars individually until all jars are filled, lower rack into canner and ensure that all jars are covered by 1 inch of water. Cover canner and bring water to a full boil over high heat. Process for 10 minutes, starting timer only when water reaches a full boil. Turn off the heat, let jars sit in pot for 5 minutes.
Remove jars from water, and let stand, undisturbed, at room temperature 24 hours. To check seals, remove the bands, and press down on the center of each lid. If the lid doesn’t move, the jar is sealed. If the lid depresses and pops up again, the jar is not sealed. In the event that a jar does not seal, simply refrigerate it. Store properly sealed jars in a cool, dark place up to 1 year (date your jars on the bottom with a Sharpie pen) Refrigerate after opening.
Kiyo, I learned so much from pickling on this post. Thank you! We are also big jalapeño fans around here! Greg is so funny… he will put huge mounds of them on anything. At work, he pilfers them from the salad bar and piles them on burgers, sandwiches, tacos – whatever he is eating. They make everything taste better for him! 🙂 Ten plants… wowsers! I loved your photos; so pretty, vibrant and colorful with nice focus. Best, Shanna
Shanna I hope you have planted some jalapeño plants in your new garden. If you haven’t done so already, there’s still time! They do so well in warm weather and you will be rewarded with gorgeous jalapeños ready for nacho rings, hot sauce, or just eating fresh off the plant.
I live on Kauai, and am not having good luck with my Jalapeno plants. Maybe too much water? I’m going to change the soil to much sandier type, and raise the pot for more drainage. Hoping that helps. I love Jalapenos and was hoping to pick my own, but have
n’t had much luck, any tips?
Hi Jeanie! We grow our jalapeños in raised beds (rather than pots) with lots of compost so the soil is well drained and rich. Additionally we grow ours from seed purchased from: http://www.tomatogrowers.com
Two types we have had good success with are Mucho Nacho and Jalafuego. They produce large and consistently hot peppers. All peppers seem to be magnets for white flies and aphids so we spray under the leaves regularly with neem oil or insecticidal soap (both approved for organic gardening). We water daily but we are in a dry area (Kihei). Hope this helps!