How To Pickle Chillies
Preserving your chillies is a great way to ensure that none of your harvest goes to waste and you can pickle almost any type of chilli. Pickling is a traditional way of preserving food using vinegar to make your chillies resistant to bacteria.
Things You Will Need
Vinegar
You can use any type of vinegar when it comes to pickling but make sure that it it is at least 5% acidity or higher. At this level you’ll be ensuring that the pH level is low enough to preserve the Chillies as well as retaining their texture and crunch. Try to avoid flavoured vinegar as this will be typically less than 5% acidity. If you do want to have flavoured vinegar you can do this by adding herbs or other subtle flavours to the vinegar during the pickling process.
Salt
Unlike the vinegar, you can’t just use any salt. It’s recommended that you use pickling salt. It is finely grained and manufactured without the iodised property that you’ll generally find in table sale. This means that when the chillies are pickling, the salt won’t create lumps. Iodised salt can sometimes affect the flavour of the chillies and leave a bitter aftertaste.
Jars
Pickled chillies are best stored in glass jars with a lid and it’s recommended to use new jars. You need to clean and sterilise the jars in boiling water along with the lids. Leave the jars to soak in the boiling water but the lids only need to be submerged for a few minutes.
Pickling Your Chillies
Step 1. Once you have harvested your chillies, wash them thoroughly in salty water and then set them to one side to dry.
Step 2. Heat 1 litre of white wine and add 5 tablespoons of cider vinegar.
Step 3. Add 3 teaspoons of sugar and wait for the mixture to boil.
Step 4. Make a small pin hole in each chilli with a steralised needle.
Step 5. Add a few bay leaves to the boiling water and turn off the heat.
Step 6. Add the chillies and mix for a short wile before pouring into the jars and allowing the mixture to cool.
Step 7. Once cooled, seal the lid and place the jars in the refrigerator. Leave at least 2 weeks before consuming.
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