I have found if peppers are too small, and the skin feels rough rather than smooth, they are bitter and just not good. Maybe others have different experiences. I have been over run with bell peppers, have a lot in the freezer and have been eating fajitas, stuffed green peppers, etc as much as I can!

I have a lot of hot pepper fans in my life, so I often make pickled hot peppers with whatever vatieties of hot peppers I have. Also - hot pepper jelly is always fun. I roast most of my anaheims, and either make rellenos, or freeze them - for when I need "canned" green chiles during the year. I thought about canning the anaheims this year, but have not gotten around to it yet, and probably wont due to the fact they are so easy to freeze. :)

I've had the same experience as ekgrows. If the peppers are too small, they have had a bitter flavor and they are tough, too. As for small peppers that are mature enough that taste good, I freeze either diced, sliced, or whole (with innards removed). The frozen whole ones are easy and I've used them to make stuffed peppers later, but they do take up considerably more room in the freezer and will break into pieces if you drop the frozen bag on the floor! I've dehydrated them to later grind into powder for seasoning. I haven't had the same luck with using diced dehydrated in cooking as some people have. I did can some, but discovered that we're not big fans of vinegar flavored vegetables. It's not something we eat much of and I still have several jars of pickled pepper rings. I have lots and lots of diced and sliced peppers in the freezer. Great for cooking. I package them in small sizes so I can take out one package and use it. I found that freezing in larger bags and taking out what I needed used less space in the freezer, but also resulted in more ice crystals in the bag, and reduced flavor for the remaining peppers after time.

Jill

Could I pickle them using the Pickled Hot Pepper recipe from NCHFP? Could I add a dried cayenne pepper to spice them up?

Yes.

Should I use the sweet Pickled Bell Peppers recipe? If I do can I leave the little peppers whole?

You can use it but 'should' is your choice. You can leave them whole as long as you core them or cut some slits in them so the brine can get inside.

Do I need to peel them? Some of them are pretty small.

No but it can make them tougher, more 'chewy' if you don't.

My personal preference for all the end of season peppers - regardless of the type - is to just toss them in freezer bags and into the freezer. All sorts of uses over the winter. The larger ones I cut in half or quarters, the small ones I just remove the stem and core them.

Dave

Thanks for the tip about the bitterness. I tried a few and some were definitely bitter. Guess I'll wait and see if I feel like a test batch after I get the other recipes canned.

i'm about to PC bell and frying peppers. DH likes a little zing, but my one habanero plant has just 2" peppers- it got a late start. it's my 1 hot pepper. we don't eat them, but my boss does. so i thought of putting a quarter of a hab into each pint. at that rate i don't think bitterness would show up, but would the heat ? no way i want to overdo it , even jalapenos are too hot for me. ( i know, laugh !)