We've discussed this before on this forum, if I remember correctly. Although I dislike the papery texture of the peels left on, some others don't peel at all, just chop it all up in the food processor or whatever. It doesn't not affect the pH, but may change the texture.

Happy Canning!

Annie

Thanks Annie. My brain told me that the peels wouldn't change the pH but I never like to deviate from a canning recipe without knowing what I want to do won't kill anyone. I think I should be able to get a good deal of the peels off, but good to know that I won't have to drive myself crazy trying to get every last bit.

I have some heirlooms like that too, I leave them on the counter and let Elery have them for sandwiches, LOL, I don't even TRY to peel them!

I'm pickling biquinho peppers right now, talk about tedious, they are all this size. They have a nice flavor, though, and make a cute little addition to a charcuterie plate and they'll come out of the canner in three more minutes, so I'm just killing time...

Can on!

Annie

So cute!

Perfect timing! My annual search for Annie’s recipe will take place sometime this week. Lol. I have a pitifully small tomato crop this due to repeated visits by Bambi or one of his cute friends.

Luckily I have a generous friend who has canned enough for the season - her husband now growls when she brings more tomatoes inside. She gifted me a pile of Roma tomatoes with an offer for more - I shared with my sister and mother and still have 20 pounds.

That said right now I was wondering how to process a bunch of Biquinho peppers? I also grew some non-hot versions of hot peppers that I thought I might pickle. I was very restrained in my pepper choices this year due to digestive issues. I quite like the non spicy Jalepenos but I am not quite sure what to make of the heatless habaneros. Hopefully they will be good pickled.

Those are the tiniest peppers that I have ever seem! Anxious to hear how they turn out. Sometimes for tedious tasks; shelling nuts, shelling peas... I tell my husband to find a good war documentary on the TV in the family room that can be seen from the kitchen and let him have at 'er!

Annie, as to the peppers: what liquid do you use to pickle your peppers? Brine? Sweet? Sweet/sour?

I pickled peppers in a sweet liquid last year and they ended up leathery and unchewable.

Also, do you pierce the peppers before jarring?

Kate, this is the first year I've done this pepper, so I did half sweet and half without sweetener. The unsweetened batch got garlic, black peppercorns, allspice berries and bay leaf. The sweet ones got pickling spice. I did run a darning needle through each one to be sure the pickling brine could enter the peppers. I learned that trick from Grandma when we canned spiced crabapples, she made me run a darning needle through from the stem to the blossom end so they wouldn't explode.

That's odd about your leathery peppers. I canned a batch of "cowboy candy", which was basically a bread and butter pickle with peppers in place of cucumbers and they came out fine, not tough. No one really liked them, though, the people in the family who like the sweeter pickles don't like hot peppers and vice versa, so I haven't done that again.

These are going to have to be darned good if they are a repeat because they are definitely tedious!

Annie

Thank you, Annie. I actually think that I made "cowboy candy" with the ones last year. They sure didn't come out like I thought they would.

Our local deli has those little peppers for sale on the Olive Bar. They aren't sweet, but more something like one might do with the Italian Peppers.

I kind of like them, they are a great little salad pepper. "Little Beak". Just a peck of heat, but so little that I, the heat wimp, can pull one from the bush and pop it into my mouth.

Tedious to deal with, though, which is why I assume they are expensive to buy, the labor would be costly, I imagine.

I still have a couple of jars of that "cowboy candy" on the shelf, but no one wants it. I suppose it should become chicken feed and I should use the shelf space for something more popular. You never know until you try, though, which is why I learned to make small batches of new things, LOL.

Annie

Salsa turned out great. Only one of my half pint jars didn't seal. I decided that since there are only two of us now I would make some half pints. Thanks again Annie, for all the work you put into developing this recipe. (Ignore all the junk in the background of the photo please!)

That looks perfect! Canning half pints is a good idea, often some of mine gets thrown away because a whole pint doesn't always get eaten. I try to add "leftovers" into pots of chili or enchiladas, etc., but sometimes they get lost in the fridge.

Junk? What junk? Your kitchen and counter is spotless! You should see my kitchen during canning season, LOL.

Annie

Thanks Annie. I always have the best of intentions to throw leftover salsa into chili or soup, then open it and find it has fermented (and not in a good way!) Hopefully the half pints will work better for us.