Pickles

Ok, all of you pickling experts, what whole chili(s) do you recommend to add to jarred Persian pickled cucumbers? I’m not interested in chili flakes, chopped chilis, etc; rather, I want to put a whole chili or two in the jar along with the pickles to give them some heat. What do you suggest?
Thanks!

Purely depends on how much heat you want. Anything from a Jalapeno to a ghost pepper. I would split in half before adding.

Ditto on the heat factor. You would be surprised how hot things can get over time with just a couple habanero’s. That being said, when I started making my fermented hot sauces, I went really hot with mostly habanero’s, but now I like to do a mix, with quite a few Fresno’s in the mix because I like their earthy flavor, and while they can be pretty variable in their heat levels, I think it’s a good middle ground. I also throw in a couple of Ghost or Reaper chilis to go extra hot.

Linda, curious, how long were you fermenting your batches for?

Serranos are my favorite for their consistency and level of spice. As much as I like heat, using only habaneros can overwhelm things for me. Jalapenos are just too inconsistent - one might be as hot as a bell pepper and the next might burn your face off.

Luckily I have a place near me that makes all kinds of pickles, including horseradish and hot/spicy. Always buy a quart of each when I go .

Generally about two weeks, but I’ve let a few go to a month. Two weeks seems best for me, though.

Thanks for the help. I took the lazy way out and added jarred sliced hot cherry peppers to jarred Sadaf ‘spicy’(not) pickled cucumbers. After a day, it is pretty close to what I want.

I used Chiles de Arbol, dried. With fresh cinnamon stick and cloves. Worked very well together.

I used Scotch bonnet peppers as part of my watermelon rind pickles and was pleased.

Thanks Linda. That’s what I’m going to try for next. I’ve played around with hot sauce a few times, but I’ve always done either a few days or a month or two. A few days doesn’t leave me with enough funk, and a few months seems to strip out all the freshness. Hoping to find something that has a bit of both!