Pickling A Pack of Peppers

I scored a whole bunch of jalapenos and assorted peppers this week on clearance at my grocery store. I wanted to make sports type jalapenos like you would put on nachos. I made a pickling solution much like I would for pickles minus the dill. What I came with was muy caliente! I wasn't sure what some of these other peppers were and they turned out to be really hot!

Firstly, you will need to have some canning Mason jars with lids. I used the boil method here. I cut up the peppers into rings along with a small onion and a few cloves of garlic. Stuff the jars to the top as the amount you have will shrink as they cook down. In a sauce pan I boiled 3 cups of 5% acidity pickling vinegar along with 2 TBSP sugar and 2 TBSP Kosher salt. You can also use pickling salt found in the grocery store by the canning supplies. I believe Ms. Wages makes one. I also added one TBSP dried basil and two bay leafs to each.

I sterilized both the jars and lids in a huge pot for 15 minutes. I remove them from the pot with sterilized tongs and stuffed them with the pepper rings. Over the pepper rings I placed the vinegar solution and filled each jar equally.
I capped each jar with the lids and and then placed them into the boiling water I had reserved from sterilizing the jars. I usually sterilize the lids in a smaller easy to access pan so I don't have to go digging for them. I covered the jars each with the extra water from the lids and processed them with the lid on the pot for 15 minutes.
The jars were allowed to rest on the counter top until they popped and self sealed. I am keeping them in the fridge although they are now shelf stable. Since they are fridge peppers you can also top off any head space with oil. These will be good in your fridge for up to 6 months or longer with the canning method.