My Favorite Way to Preserve Green Peppers
I planted at least a dozen green pepper plants. I wanted to be drowning in them. The rats ate all but a few off to the ground. The rest they trimmed so aggressively that they were too stunted to produce much more than a few peppers.
Only part of the gardening heartache I have endured this year.
If there is one thing I have learned in gardening, it is that planting a seed does not equal a plant. That plant does not equal food.
If I were a homesteader who had to rely on growing my own food, I’d have starved to death long ago, haha. There is a reason that cowboys and pioneers in the West ate so many beans, salted meats, and sourdough baked goods.
Our growing season is short, only about four months and none of those days are truly safe from frost. To add predation to the difficult climate is just brutal. Success comes in waves and so far is not predictable, even in this day and age where we have all kinds of pest solutions and fancy ways to make cozy growing microclimates with synthetic materials.
Anyway, my mom did grow enough green peppers to bring over a bunch to preserve for the colder months ahead!
Our Method
Green peppers are SO quick and easy to preserve with our system. Clancy assigned our jobs. Nana was in charge of the sharp knife. She rinsed and broke down the peppers so Clancy could wack them through her handy chopper. Then I packaged them into half-pound vacuumed sealed packages. Livi’s job was to nap, but she didn’t quite make it, so she sketched us out by being on the counter.
Peppers do not have to be blanched, so this method works great. I love pulling a frozen package out for frittatas or chilis. I toss in the whole frozen block and let it cook from frozen in the pan.
Tips
Using a vegetable chopper speeds up the process big time. It also is a great job for even the rowdiest toddler. Clancy has been able to operate my mom’s for years now; he is four now and knows this tool very well.
We used a larger chop insert so they would create less juice. This helps when vacuum sealing.
For my vacuum sealer, I press the vacuum button and get the air out, and when I start to see it suck moisture and the package gets hard, I immediately hit the seal button. It can be a little tricky to time it just right.
My mom does not use her vacuum sealer; she puts them in Ziplocs and presses the air out. Peppers aren’t as wet as some veggies and don’t crystalize as easily. We also use our peppers up quickly because it is SO convenient for quicking all winter! That is why I planted 12+ green pepper plants; I was determined not to run out until next summer! Oh well. Moms for the save for life!
Tell me, what is your favorite way to preserve or use green peppers?
