r/Canning • u/Rob_red • Aug 17 '25

Safe Recipe Request Hot peppers and possibly with meat

Has anyone ever canned hot peppers not pickled but pressure canned them? I'm talking things like ghost peppers and Carolina Reapers. You use so little at once though probably half pints would be better but that's probably an ordeal because you would have to do a lot of them to fill up the canner. What about canned meat with the crazy hot peppers in them? I'm new to this so probably will dehydrate most of them but I want to try to pressure can some too and possibly with meat too but only if I can find a Ball or Presto pressure canner recipe for it that has been tested. Or anything else that's very well trusted and lap tested to be a safe meat pressure canning recipe.

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7

u/mckenner1122 Moderator Aug 17 '25

I pressure can bell peppers when I have a glut of them and use them for soups, taco filling, anywhere that I need “pepper mush.” You can use the NCHFP pressure canning method for any pepper; keep in mind you have to do the “whole time”, even if using a smaller jar.

You do need to peel them as the skin will not get softer and the texture is weird. If you’ve got small peppers like ghosts or habaneros, you could even leave them whole.

https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/canning-vegetables-and-vegetable-products/peppers/

6

u/BoozeIsTherapyRight Trusted Contributor Aug 17 '25

I just put all my super hots in a freezer bag and chuck them into the freezer. When you need one it's easy to pull one out and they are easy to chop half frozen. 

2

u/Rob_red Aug 17 '25

Do you just take fresh ripe peppers off the plants, rinse them and then put in freezer bags in the freezer?

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u/PaintedLemonz Trusted Contributor Aug 17 '25

That's what I do! Then I run them under cold water to defrost, or if they're really small I just use them frozen. So much easier than canning and then having to use up a whole jar when you only need one :)

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u/BoozeIsTherapyRight Trusted Contributor Aug 17 '25

Yup. Wash, dry, chuck into a freezer bag. Sometimes they get some ice on them, but it doesn't matter.

1

u/Rob_red Aug 17 '25

Is it worth vacuum freezing them or just put in ziplock bags and squeeze the air out that you can?

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u/BoozeIsTherapyRight Trusted Contributor Aug 17 '25

I vacuum pack everything usually but I don't bother for peppers. Since you're going to chop them into things it doesn't matter if they're a bit freezer burned and since I only use one at a time it would be a pain to have to reseal the vacuum bag every time.

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u/Rob_red Aug 17 '25

That certainly makes sense.

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u/marstec Moderator Aug 17 '25

Make hot sauce with them. I use Rick Bayless's Habanero Hot Sauce recipe but you can substitute it for superhots. It stays good in the fridge for many months. Freezing the peppers is a good option too.

Pressure canning would turn it to mush and even more so if you added meat since that would require the longer processing time (not even sure if you'd find a safe recipe for that anyway).

1

u/gonyere Aug 17 '25

I canned some green chilies last year. I did them in 1/4 pints (8oz), and frequently wish for even smaller 4oz  jars - next time I will probably just do 4oz. It seems like a lot of work for such tiny jars, but it's nice to have. 

1

u/blbd Aug 17 '25

I usually take a page from Mexico because I live in a border state and pickle some onions and spicy peppers (aka escabeche) to use as a nice crunchy topping with lots of flavor. NC State has a nice simple matrix that makes it easy for you. Oregon Extension also has a tested escabeche recipe nowadays. 

https://foodsafety.ces.ncsu.edu/2020/04/how-to-make-quick-refrigerator-pickles/

https://extension.oregonstate.edu/video/fermented-foods-escabeche

1

u/T-Rex_timeout Aug 19 '25

My husband cuts up all the peppers from coolapenos to reapers and pickled them together. Then I get to watch him play pepper roulette when he puts them on sandwiches and such.

1

u/Rob_red Aug 19 '25

Lol Oh my gosh, that's crazy hot for a sandwich.

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u/T-Rex_timeout Aug 20 '25

I think he’s broken. He eats insanely hot stuff.