Hot pepper relish is a way to spice up any meal that calls for pickle relish.
Making hot pepper relish from peppers you grew yourself is both rewarding and tasty. Once you start making a relish recipe you enjoy, it's easy to make a large batch at one time and can the rest for later use. Relish recipes call for large amounts of vinegar, making them acidic and easy to can in a hot water bath. Hot pepper relish will keep for up to a year canned and stored in the pantry, or up to two weeks stored in the refrigerator after opening.
Instructions
1. Make your hot pepper relish according to your preferred recipe. Most are a simple mixture of hot peppers, salt, sugar and vinegar, but you can vary this how ever you like.
2. Fill your water bath canner about half way with water. Place the rack in the canner, if it isn't there already. Place the water bath canner on high heat and have it boiling by the time you are ready to process your relish.
3. Sanitize your canning jars by either running them through the dishwasher on the sanitize cycle or boiling the jars in a kettle of water for at least 10 minutes.
4. Prepare your new canning lids according to the instructions on the box. Wash the canning rings in hot soapy water and rinse. Rings are reusable and do not need to be sterilized because they do not come into contact with food.
5. Pour the hot pepper mixture, still hot from cooking, into the sterilized, hot jars.
6. Leave about a 1/2 inch of headspace between the liquid in the jar and the lid. Place the lid on the jar and then secure it with a canning ring.
7. Place the jars in the canner using a jar lifter. Jars should not touch each other. There should be about an inch of space between them so hot water can circulate around each jar.
8. Add more water to the canner until it covers the jars by at least 1 inch.
9. Start timing the canning process as soon as the water is at a rolling boil, and process the jars for 10 minutes. For relish, 10 minutes is appropriate for both pint and quart-sized jars.
10. Remove the jars from the canner and place them on a thick towel or cooling rack. Do not place the jars on a cold metal or tile surface as the sudden temperature change can cause the jars to crack.
11. Let the jars cool for 24 hours before storing. Check the lids and make sure the center bubble is depressed before storing.
Tags: pepper relish, water bath, about inch, , before storing