Spicy Carrots

We had so much fun doing Carrots!

And it was so easy I thought I better share the recipe.

We did a few jars with onions too and they were so good we are going to do it again 

and this time add other veggies.

We used Ball electric canning pot so we followed the directions for the water bath it came with. I love this pot. I got mine from the Ball Canning website.

Spicy Pickled Carrots

Ingredients:
5 pounds of full-sized carrots, peeled and cut

4 jalapenos peppers, with seeds, halved lengthwise down the middle
14 whole cloves
2-1/3 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
7 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed slightly

5 cups distilled white vinegar (5% acidity)
2 cups apple cider vinegar
1-2/3 cups granulated sugar
5 Tbsp. pickling salt

Method:
You will need 7 pint jars (or 3 quarts and 1 pint), preferably wide-mouthed. Into each pint jar, put 1/2 a jalapeno pepper, 2 whole cloves, 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper, and one clove of crushed garlic.

Peel and trim both ends off the carrots. Cut them into carrot sticks that are one inch shorter than the pint jars. Pack the carrots sticks upright in the jars and fairly tightly. Put odd lengths and bits of carrots into one jar so the rest of them are as uniform as possible. (Or, if you have large carrots, you might like them cut into diagonal round slices.)

In a large pot, mix the vinegars, sugar and salt. Heat to boiling, stirring to dissolve sugar and salt. Carefully pour the hot vinegar into the jars over the packed carrots, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. (You might have extra vinegar if you did a nice job packing the carrots tightly.) Wipe the rims of the jars with a damp paper towel. At this point, if you aren’t canning these, add lids and put your refrigerator pickles in the refrigerator. Eat within four months.

For canning: Add lids and rings and process in the boiling water bath for 15 minutes (20 for quarts). Then, turn off the heat and let the jars sit in the bath for an additional 5 minutes before removing to the counter (onto a dish towel). Let sit un-disturbed for 24 hours. Check seals. If any jars failed to seal, store in the fridge. Otherwise, store in a cool, dark place for up at a year.