Preserving Chilli in Brine

As you may have spotted in my 5 Ways to Preserve Fresh Chilli, this simple brine recipe works a treat.

If you have an abundance of chilli in your garden and want to preserve for practical reasons, I’d recommend the ‘chilli chunks in brine’ approach, purely due to the volume it holds.  It is the appliance of science!

It’s super easy. Please bear in mind that my recipe made 2 litres of brine (yes, that’s quite a lot) however I had a huge amount of chillies I wanted to preserve. You may wish to halve the recipe with regards to the liquid – however, keep the spices as per the recipe below. Ideally you want each jar to have an equal quantity of spices within the brine.

You will also note that I briefly saute the chopped chilli before bottling them in brine – a sure proof way to kill any bacteria that may be on the outer skin before preserving them.

Another trick is, once bottled, if the lids don’t pop and invert, you haven’t correctly sealed your jars. This may be due to the ingredients not being hot enough, or the jars/lids not being hot enough, or a combination of both. If you find this happens to you, use the Water Bath method (which I often use when preserving fruit) which entails submerging the filled jars (with lids on) into a large saucepan of water, ensuring the lids are underway too. Bring the whole pot to the boil, turn off the heat, then allow the water to cool and return to room temperature. The lids will seal then!

If you are still pondering on the other ways to preserve your fresh chillies check out my 5 Ways to Preserve Fresh Chillies.

Simple Brine for Preserving Chilli

Ingredients

• 1 ltr white vinegar
• 1 ltr water
• 3 Tbsp salt
• 400g white sugar
• 10 peppercorns
• 4 fresh bay leaves
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• whole garlic, peeled into cloves

Method

1. Heat vinegar, water, salt and sugar in a large saucepan until sugar dissolves. Add in spices and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
2. Quickly saute the chilli chunks in a pan with a little oil to destroy any bacteria on the outer skin. Spoon chilli into sterilised jars, along with bay leaves and garlic cloves.
3. Pour over brine, and using a sterlised knife poke out any air bubbles.
4. Seal and enjoy when the need arises!
5. If required, use the Water Bath Method to ensure that the jars are sealed perfectly.