Yeah, I got a bigass jar of pickled chillis from Makro a few years back. It cracked me up it was so huge and had on the label "Once opened consume within 3 days" - It would have been a monumental taking. I kept it going for about 6 months occasionally eating them just as is. They were lush, only problem I had was I LOVE vinegar, but my teeth are badly eroded so it means everything I really like, if I eat it, it makes my teeth hurt badly for a few days. But it was worth it
I get the impression from what Ive been reading that really the risk of food poisoning comes about from numpties doing it, and as a result many sites over-state the risks to cover their asses.
I mean, Im guessing the cases mostly occur from people:
A: Not looking at the food and making a judgment call to not eat the pickled food which has stuff growing on it
B: Not thinking about what they are pickling, as in do you really think a whole pepper will pickle properly without just going off inside. Its waxy for a reason...
C: Not ensuring everything is covered properly.
I ended up finding an old airtight locking container, washing it out (it had some mouldy garlic in it) and boiling it for 5 mins, twice, as the first time appears to have produced a film of some sort lol. Guessing it was a layer of bacteria that got killed off. Once that was sorted I finely sliced up the peppers and whacked them and some vinegar in. I then realised why did I bother, the bottle the vinegar came in was better for pouring, so I decanted it all back in to that, see below.
Im undecided on whether to leave it for a few days and then strain the peppers out, leaving the vinegar, or to keep it as a relish. Am guessing that removing the peppers might be the safest bet, but I dunno. Its neat vinegar, 5% acid, rather than a 50:50 mix people seem to use, so the only risk is of bubbles forming, which shouldnt happen if I keep stirring it.
If you want an idea which is safe for your excess chillis, dry them.
One year I decided to do a whole packet...needless to say I was overrun with them...
I had 2 chains of them about 18" long each completely brimming. The ones above are all thats left from that crop, maybe 3 years old now! Just pick them with the stalks still on and get a needle and thread and run it through the end and make a chain, and hang them up somewhere dry and warm. I think they went in the airing cupboard for a couple of months and it seemed to do the trick, They do lose a bit of their bite but once dry they either look good, or you can grind them up.
