Last summer there was a good discussion of pickling peppers in the Harvest forum. Lots of people say the key to like store-bought is a product called pickle crisp.

Using a banana pepper you can cut into rings is more practical than trying to grow a bunch of little peppers for a batch of pickles. Sweet Banana and Hot Hungarian Wax are often used for this, depending on whether you want them sweet or hot. I love pickled peppers, too!

There is no one right variety. The variety used to make the store bought ones all depends on the brand you buy. Some use Tuscan peppers, some use Greek Sweets, some use Italian Sweets, etc.

The most common variety used is probably the Italian Sweet and seeds are available from several sources.

How to best pickle them is a Harvest forum question and as mentioned above, discussed in great detail there.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Italian Pepperoncini seeds

I got 2 pepperoncini plants that are really productive. Mine is a Greek Variety. They start out green then get a subtle yellow, then ripen to red. I also have a Hot Cherry pepper plant that I pick and often mix in with the pepperoncinis. I make a brine something like 3 cups water, 2 cups white vinegar, and a tablespoon of salt. I also simmer this with crushed garlic. My pickles come out a little softer than store bought but the flavor is great.

Thanks for all the replies.
Planatus--I do pickle banana pepper rings, but the taste is nothing like store bought pepperoncinis. Also, please run the recipe you posted by the Harvest forum. I think it's unsafe. My understanding is that for vinegar based pickles to be safe, you must use a minimum of equal amounts of vinegar and water.

Looks like there is a lot of disagreement on which is the "right" pepper to grow.

I got the recipe out of Ball canning book plus I have eaten many pickles with this ratio and never got sick.

Adnorm are those seeds for hot or spicy ones? if so I would love to buy some from you?

I realize this is a very old thread but for any future readers the minimum approved ratio of vinegar to water is 1:1 or 50% vinegar and 50% water. The correct ingredients for the recipe mentioned above is 3 cups vinegar to 2 cups of water not the other way around as listed above.

Dave