Hot Carrots
               And other things!

Cold-Pack Hot Carrots - 7 pints

You can put 7-pint jars into a hot-water-bath canning pot.

Make sure to have ALL tools, ingredients, and containers at hand BEFORE starting!

TOOLS:

Pots:

·Canning Pot (Water Bath) – to heat and seal the jars (Hot Steam Bath)

·Cooking pot – a large pot to heat the liquids.

·Lid pan – A saucepan to heat the lids in hot water to activate the seal and you will use this water to add to the canning pot.

Other tools:

·Canning Pot Rack – to keep the jars off the bottom of the canning pot

·Pot or kettle of boiling water (Optional) – This is for adding water to the canning pot once the jars are filled and sealed.

·Hot pads or tongs or jar lifters to remove jars - from the hot water

·Towels – need a few towels, one to place the hot jars on once they are removed from the canning pot, and one to wipe off the lids after canning.

·7-pint jars

·7 – vacuum lids

·7- rings

·Large Glass Bowls – to mix

·Spoons – large for cooking (and small to remove seeds from peppers if you are deheating your peppers.)

·Gloves – to keep the pepper's oil off your hands.

·Knife – for cutting

• Cutting board

• Vegetable Cutter Mandolin Slicer (optional)

• Soda water or liquor (for deheating the peppers)

• Lemon or lime juice – if you are using soda water. (For deheating the peppers)

INGREDIENTS:

Raw:

• 4 lbs. organic carrots (plus ½ lb. for eating now) (Select small carrots, preferably 1 to 1-1/4 inches in diameter. Larger carrots are often too fibrous.)

• 9 - 14 jalapeños average of 1 - 2 per pint (Click here to deheat a pepper.)

• 4 habanero pepper if you are making 5 alarm hot carrots ½ per jar.

  • or to have the flavor but with less heat or more heat, check the pepper list at www.MyBucketGarden.com/canning   

• 1 white onion

• 1 yellow onion

• Cauliflower (optional) Cauliflower makes for a great space saver if you have more jars than carrots.

Items to put in the liquid pot:

• 2 ½ cups apple cider vinegar (must be 5% acid)

• 2 ½ cups white vinegar (must be 5% acid)

• 2 ½ cups water (or juice; apple or white grape is better so as not to tint the pickling juice. If you use juice, don't add sugar.)

• 5 tablespoons pickling salt

• 7 teaspoon granulated sugar - (sugar sweetens everything in the jar and will neutralize the effects of capsaicin [the oil that brings the heat]) (brown sugar, honey or molasses can be used but might tint the juice.) (Do not use if you use a sweet juice.)

Items to place into the jars before adding the vegetables:

• 7 black peppercorns - one per jar

• 7 cloves – one per jar

• 7 cloves garlic – One crushed garlic clove per jar

• 7 bay leaves – one whole leave per jar

• 7 slices ginger – (optional) one slice per jar. If you use a frozen ginger cube (one cube = 1 teaspoon), then maybe a ¼ of a cube.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Make sure to have ALL tools, ingredients, and containers at hand BEFORE starting!

1. Wash the jars - Wash all the jars and rings in hot, soapy water and rinse well.

2. Dry the inside of the jars and place them on a towel.

3. Prepare vegetables and spices before starting

• Carrots - peel and slice on the diagonal (1/4 to ½ inch thick) (If you use frozen, thaw them before using. But they will be very soft.)

• Jalapeños – use gloves to keep the HEAT off your fingers. Glasses will keep any splatter from getting in your eyes.

  • For Hot Carrots:

Cut the crown off.

Slice the peppers into ¼ coins

 

For low or non-hot carrots:

Soaking pepper slices in alcohol, lemon juice, or lime juice will remove the heat.

Cut in half from top to bottom.

Remove the seeds and white pith. A spoon works great.

Use a spoon or rub your thumb around the inside of the pepper to burst the oil blisters. (Gloves keep your fingers clean.)

Rinse the peppers under running water and place them into the bowl.

Pour lemon-lime soda (not diet) into a bowl to cover

Or club soda and two tablespoons of lemon or lime juice.

Soak peppers for 3 to 4 hours to remove almost all heat but keep the basic flavor of the peppers.

• Onion - Both onions, peeled and sliced (slice onion thick or thin; based on your desire.)

• Garlic – Peeled and removed the end, then smash

• Bay leaves – Leave whole

Vacuum Lids – place the lids in a saucepan with water and place them on a med / low burner. DO NOT BOIL!!! Use this hot water to fill the canning pot once the jars are filled.

If you do different heat levels, you will divide the ingredients as needed and place them in separate pots or do the milder carrots first, then the hotter carrots.

• Add both kinds of vinegar, sugar, and salt to a large saucepan or pot. Bring to a boil.

• Add the vegetables to the clean jars. DO NOT FILL TO THE RIM!

  • Layer the vegetables: carrots then jalapenos then onions, repeat.

• Load about ¾ full or ½ inches from the rim. Using a canning funnel helps to keep the juices in the jars and not on the counters.

• Carefully pour the vinegar water into the jars. NOT TO THE RIM but enough to cover the vegetables. Leave at least a ½ gap on top of the jar.

If you need more liquid, add equal parts of water and vinegar (1/2 apple cider and 1/2 white vinegar) before taking all the liquid out of the pot.

 

Note: Make sure to poke the air out of the jar after pouring in the liquid. Top off liquid if needed.

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1. Once your jar is filled, remove the vacuum lid from the hot water and dry it. Place on top of the jar

2. Screw the rim on lightly tight but not cranked down – as the jars are being heated, some of the air from the inside needs to escape.

3. Once all jars are in the canning pot, fill the pot to 2 inches above the jars' top. Use the hot water from the pan with the lids and the kettle.

4. Bring the water to a rapid boil and boil for 18 minutes; this is up to 1,000. Add 5 minutes for every extra 1,000 feet in altitude. (If you are at 5,000 feet, then you would add 20 minutes (four additional 1,000-foot levels) for a total of 38 minutes.)

5. Remove jars from the canning pot and place jars on a towel. DO NOT PLACE HOT GLASS JARS ON A COOL COUNTERTOP! You can add a second set of jars at this time.

6. Labels – Once your jars are cool, you can label them. Either write on top of the vacuum lid with a magic marker (for home use) or print a label (if you are giving them as a gift.) I use water-soluble labels from Avery; they don't leave a sticky residue on the outside of the jar. 

7. After you have enjoyed your carrots, wash the jar and lid, put an X on the vacuum lid to indicate that it has been used, and put it back on the jar to keep the jar clean.

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Red or green Jalapenos is the question. Red jalapenos are riper than green jalapenos. Green jalapenos are milder, but red jalapenos are sweeter. If you are growing your own jalapenos, you can pick some green ones to use and leave a few to ripen to red.

You can eat them in a few hours, but they taste better after a few days and a few weeks is the best!

Refrigerate once the jar is open. It will stay good in the refrigerator for a month.

How to enjoy the fruits of your labor:

• Eat them right out of the jar!

• Add some to a salad.

• Use the juice as a salad dressing.

• Use the juice to add flavor to refired beans,

• Put on:

  • Taco,

  • Burritos,

  • Nachos,

  • Pizza,

  • Ice Cream,

  • Hamburger,

  • Chicken,

  • Any other dish you want to spice up!

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