The pepper harvest was better than expected and now you don't know what to do with all the pods? No problem! Here are 4 ways to preserve peppers.
If you grow peppers in the garden and fertilize them properly, you can usually count on a rich harvest (reading tip: Harvesting peppers - timing & tips for harvesting presented). That in and of itself is of course a great thing. After all, what could be tastier than freshly harvested peppers from your own garden? Unfortunately, it can sometimes happen that you harvest more peppers than you can eat. Then it is useful to know how to process the peppers and how to preserve them.
And here's the catch: unfortunately, many don't know how to do it, and so their beautiful peppers rot. So that this doesn't happen to you, we present 4 different ways of preserving the vegetables.
How to preserve peppers
Option 1 - pickle peppers:
By putting the peppers in mason jars, for example, you can store the fruit in the cellar for a long time. It is best to soak the peppers in vinegar. Below we briefly explain how this is done.
You need:
- 5 mason jars (1 liter capacity each)
- 4 kilograms of peppers
- 4 liters of water
- 2 cups of white wine vinegar
- 15 garlic cloves
- 25 Peppercorns
- 5 bay leaves
- 6 tablespoons s alt
- Dill
How to do it:
To prepare four kilograms of peppers, you need to dissolve six tablespoons of s alt in four liters of water by briefly bringing the water to a boil. Then remove the pot from the heat and pour two cups of the vinegar into the water.
Put the washed, seeded and thickly sliced peppers in five jars. Then put five peppercorns, three halved cloves of garlic, one bay leaf and some dill in each of the glasses.
Pour the water with the vinegar and s alt into the five glasses. There should be about half a centimeter of space at the edge.Then close the mason jars properly and place them in a water bath for two hours.
After the jars have cooled sufficiently, you should store them in a cool place. Here the peppers have to steep for at least two weeks before you can enjoy them.
Option 2 - Dry peppers:
Not only can you pickle peppers, you can also dry them. You can do this in two ways.
➥ air dry:
You should never dry the fruit in the sun, because the UV radiation destroys a large part of the vitamins. You can only dry the pods in the shade if it is nice and warm and airy. Then simply thread it onto a string with the help of a needle and hang the chain outside.
➥ dry in the oven:
However, the quickest and easiest way is to use your oven to dry. To do this, simply split the pods, remove the seeds and, if you wish, also peel off the skin. You can then dry the washed and dabbed dry peppers in the oven at a temperature of 50 degrees and then store them in screw-top jars. They keep like this for about half a year and you can then grind them to use them as a spice. You can also put the pods in oil after drying and use them to make antipasti.
Option 3 - make your own pepper chutney:
A chutney is a sweet and spicy jam that goes particularly well with hearty meat dishes such as grilled meat. It can consist of both fruits and vegetables. Chutneys are also a great way to preserve fruit. In our case, however, we would like to show you how you can make a very simple paprika chutney yourself.
You need:
- 300 grams of sugar
- 2 teaspoons s alt
- 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 50 milliliters of red wine vinegar
- 500 grams diced peppers
- 100 grams of diced onion
How to do it:
Melt the sugar in the saucepan and add the peppers and diced onions. Let everything simmer for 10 minutes and then add the remaining ingredients. Let everything simmer again for 10 minutes and then fill it into glasses.
Depending on which type of pepper you use to make the chutney, it can be a bit sweeter, hotter or savorytaste.
Option 4 - Freeze peppers:
If you can't use fresh peppers right away, you can of course freeze them. It is up to you whether you chop them up or freeze the whole pods. The only important thing beforehand is that you wash the pods thoroughly.
Frozen peppers can usually be stored in the freezer for up to 10 months. But then you have to reckon with the fact that they won't be as crunchy when you thaw them. Incidentally, you can preserve almost all types of vegetables and herbs in this way.