Since there were so many requests for this recipe, I decided to just add it here. I want to remind everyone to please do not forget to use gloves when cutting and handling the cut peppers. If you do not use gloves, you risk getting hot pepper juice in your eye and also on your skin.
I wanted to point out that some of these measurements are estimates. Since I didn’t expect to write up this recipe, and my mother-in-law just basically gave us her notes, I didn’t keep track of everything. These are my best estimates and you may need a little more or less of the vinegar and water mix.
We tried these last weekend and they were delicious! Since we left the seeds in, they’re a little spicy. You will want to experiment to see if you would rather have yours de-seeded or with the seeds left in.
***Added: It has been brought to my attention that some people do not feel comfortable with open kettle canning, which is what this method is, and feel it is unsafe. If you do not feel comfortable using this method and/or feel it’s unsafe, follow the recipe below but after putting on the lids and rings, process the jars of peppers in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. (Many thanks to the reader who pointed this out!)
Enjoy!
Ingredients:
- 8 pint jars, lids and seals
- 8 whole garlic cloves (optional)
- 2 1/2 to 3 lbs. of banana peppers (this is an estimate)
- 4 tsp. salt (you will use 1/2 tsp. per jar)
- 4 tsp. alum (optional – 1/2 tsp. per jar) *see my post about alum
- 7 cups white vinegar (estimate)
- 7 cups water (estimate)
Directions:
- Prepare jars. I chose to just wash my jars in hot soapy water. I turned my oven on to 175 to put the jars in to keep them warm after washing.
- Wash whole banana peppers to remove any dirt. Remove tops from peppers and cut peppers into rings. I cut my rings sort of thick, but you can cut them as thick or thin as you want. Also, de-seed if you choose to de-seed your banana peppers.
- In a large pot, combine 7 cups of water and 7 cups of white vinegar. Heat on high until boiling.
- At the same time, in a small pot, place jar lids and boil.
- Once the jars and lids are boiling, turn on low heat.
- Add 1 clove of garlic to empty jar, then pack banana pepper rings tightly into the jar. Add 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. alum to the peppers. Pour hot vinegar-water mixture over the peppers. Immediately put on lid and ring to seal.
- Repeat with remaining peppers and jars.
Once the jars start to cool, they will seal.
i have a lot of red sweet banana peppers and would like to preserve them. i love to eat them str8 out of the garden when there red like this. can i can them this way. any advice is welcomed.
this recipe is delicious. i add a small amount of basil also. water bath made them mushy, even when i added calcium chloride. i have been warned about open kettle canning..but this produce is so delicious i want to do it again and again. what do i look for in spoilage and safety?
My grandmother used a grape leaf in the top of her pickle jars to keep them crisp. I tried this the best pickles I made yet! There have been many flops!
I have been looking for an easy recipie for banans pepper rings and this sounds like it will fit the bill. Just as a note for some of you. Each year as I put new jars on the shelf I move last years to the front. If you don’t date, you won’t know which year is which. I always wash my jars with soap and water before putting them on the shelf as they will mold and get quite yucky on the shelves. For the burning from hot peppers when cutting them up, that is more from being in an enclosed area and using the hotter varieties. You will have the same problem with horseradish. I either set a small fan up next to me to circulate the air, or do them outside on a windy day and it has solved the problem for me. I doubt it was an allergy, it was probably the variety of pepper she was using or the area she was working in was too small. Horseradish is famous for this and is best done outside on a windy day. I have canned for 45 years and when the children were home did up to 700 jars each year, so have learned a few things just by trial and error. Happy canning to all of you! Susan
Hi Susan,
Thanks so much for your VERY informative comment and tips! Definitely a good idea to write the date on the top of the jar. We do that and I totally forgot to mention it. I don’t think what happened to me was because of working in an enclosed area. Actually, what happened when we canned these first peppers that year was…I had worn gloves during the preparation of the peppers. However, I *thought* was done cleaning up, so I had taken my gloves off. After I took the gloves off, I had somehow picked up just ONE seed on the palm of my hand and within a couple of hours….OUCH!!! It was a deep, throbbing pain in the palm of my hand and it was pretty painful. I tried rinsing my hand with water, milk and then vinegar and NONE of that worked. So I just had to suffer for about 8 hours is all…LOL! I definitely learned my lesson about wearing gloves. Of course maybe I had an allergic reaction? I don’t know.
I have used this recipe to can jalapenos and banana peppers this year, I also made pickles using this recipe and I added some Ball Kosher Dill Pickle mix, to give it a little dill flavor, I added some habanero peppers to some of the jars of pickles to make them zesty. This is a very simple and delicious recipe with lots of possibilities. Thank you for sharing this.
Jennifer one thing I did forget to mention and should have, is I keep a record on a clip board, in my canning room, of what I can and freeze each year. The next year I count what is left over so I know if I need to can or freeze more or less of what ever I have done. Even though I now know pretty much how much to do of everything I process. For those on your site that are new to canning, it will help them know how much to put up.
I made 10 qt of the banana pepper rings and did notice that some of my garlic turned blue….go figure. I did not use alum as I didn’t have any and live 10 miles from the grocery store. They look beautiful on the shelf. Can’t wait to try them, but will wait for a few weeks. Thanks for the information.
Oh, great idea, Susan! And yes, I noticed some of our garlic turned a bit blue as well. I remember being concerned at the time and looking it up. I can’t remember now why it does that, but I do remember it wasn’t something to worry over. I found it interesting the garlic didn’t do that in every jar.
I tried this receipe and some jars turned out to mushie, some were crisp. I don’t think I did anything different. Any suggestions
Hi Bob,
Hmm…that is odd, isn’t it? Sorry to hear that. Just off the top of my head…did you water bath them? It could be they were processed too long. That’s the only thing I can think of right now, but I will definitely ask the canning experts in my life and get back to you.
No, I did’t do the water bath. On second thought , the mushie ones may have been a different batch. I just don’t know. I only marked the month and year on the lid.
Thanks,
Okay, that makes more sense. Sometimes when peppers are a bit overripe, they will become mushy. I will still ask around, though!
Do you have to refrigerate once they are canned or in a dark cool place.
Hi Marlene,
Right after canning, we let them sit overnight on our table or our island. Then we store them in a cupboard, so a cool, dark place. We only refrigerate ours after we’ve opened them/broken the seal.
HTH!