What preparation do you perform on peppers before drying or dehydrating them? Do you wash them in some kind of solution either to flavor them or kill bacteria? Do you remove the seeds?
How long can you store peppers after drying them? Should you store them in the refrigerator? Should you pack them in zip lock bags (open or closed)? Do you freeze them for long term storage?
Ted
I wash them in soapy water to get the dirt off and then (for most peppers) using a very sharp very thin knife (boning knife) I halve and de seed them because I don't need the extra heat, and I think that the membranes add a chemical taste. Then they go into the dehydrator until crisp (over night usually) and then into a freeser ziplock. Once ground they go into a glass jar to preserve the freshness. We have pantry moths and they just love dried peppers so I have to be careful about packaging with ziplocks. If I had more than a year's worth of ground pepper It would go into the freezer.
IMO, flavor is better with faster dehydrating, so my crisp dried bright red anchos taste better to me than dried on the plant leathery-gummy raisin looking anchos from the store.
IMO, flavor is better with faster dehydrating, so my crisp dried bright red anchos taste better to me than dried on the plant leathery-gummy raisin looking anchos from the store.
Some peppers, like the green or yellow banana peppers are simply too bland in taste for me to find useful. I believe they would be as bland or more bland if dehydrated. I am curious if tasteless peppers or even more tasteful peppers can be flavor enhanced by curing them in a brine solution with some honey or molasses or maple syrup and salt before drying and grinding them. Would the process ruin the peppers taste or enhance it?
The reason I love the taste of the habanero pepper is its fruity taste that can't be found in any real fruit. Would a fruit based liquor like an orange or pomegranate liquor in a brine solution impart a hint of its flavor into dried and ground pepper?
Some vegetables like tomatoes and mushrooms seem to have more intense flavors when dried. If they were dried with the peppers and ground into powder with the peppers, would the flavor combinations be good or not so good?
Would peppers dried and ground with herbs like oregano, thyme, basil, or even some Tamarin paste be good? I wouldn't want to over power the pepper flavors with other flavors. I would find it interesting if people tasting the blended flavors would say "I love the taste and I recognize it, but I can't identify it"
Ted
The reason I love the taste of the habanero pepper is its fruity taste that can't be found in any real fruit. Would a fruit based liquor like an orange or pomegranate liquor in a brine solution impart a hint of its flavor into dried and ground pepper?
Some vegetables like tomatoes and mushrooms seem to have more intense flavors when dried. If they were dried with the peppers and ground into powder with the peppers, would the flavor combinations be good or not so good?
Would peppers dried and ground with herbs like oregano, thyme, basil, or even some Tamarin paste be good? I wouldn't want to over power the pepper flavors with other flavors. I would find it interesting if people tasting the blended flavors would say "I love the taste and I recognize it, but I can't identify it"
Ted
Pablanos are unripened Anchos and are very mild in heat - once they turn red they have a nice heat to them.
I rinse, deseed and then dry my peppers. You can add honey or syrup to your foods but, dry the food first and then add the sticky stuff. It will take awhile to do this but if you like, it might be worth your time.
I rinse, deseed and then dry my peppers. You can add honey or syrup to your foods but, dry the food first and then add the sticky stuff. It will take awhile to do this but if you like, it might be worth your time.
Actually, you can dry even bell peppers, but I heard it takes a very long time to do so.
I'm still an armature at drying peppers, but I grew some Thai peppers last year and all I did was take the peppers, put them in a container, and left it up on the fridge. After a while, I checked them out and they were very dry, crumbly, and I could here the seeds rattle in them.
So, they seem to work well for me.
I'm still an armature at drying peppers, but I grew some Thai peppers last year and all I did was take the peppers, put them in a container, and left it up on the fridge. After a while, I checked them out and they were very dry, crumbly, and I could here the seeds rattle in them.
So, they seem to work well for me.
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Spicy Chicken
- Senior Member
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- Location: Wisconsin
You folks who like all these hot peppers are truly blessed with good stomachs. Acid reflux keeps me awake at night. On rare occasions, I like jalapenos with my nachos at the ballpark and I'll order medium-spiced wings at restaurants. I always pay for it.
I dry other foods in the oven with the door slightly open. 125-175 degrees for a few hours does the trick for most veggies and all bacteria is killed at 160 degrees. No problems with mold, etc. You just have to make sure it is completely dry and package it properly.
I also use a mortar and pestle regularly. I searched the riverbed for years to find the perfect rocks. (I do alot of fishing). They call it a manos metate in Mexico.
I dry other foods in the oven with the door slightly open. 125-175 degrees for a few hours does the trick for most veggies and all bacteria is killed at 160 degrees. No problems with mold, etc. You just have to make sure it is completely dry and package it properly.
I also use a mortar and pestle regularly. I searched the riverbed for years to find the perfect rocks. (I do alot of fishing). They call it a manos metate in Mexico.
Last edited by orgoveg on Thu May 19, 2011 7:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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stella1751
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I would like to know more about this manos metate, Orgoveg. It doesn't sound like the standard mortar and pestle, and that interests me. One day, I would like to try to grind my own corn for meal, just for fun, and I'm betting this is what was used, way back when.orgoveg wrote: I also use a mortar and pestle regularly. I searched the riverbed for years to find the perfect rocks. (I do alot of fishing). They call it a manos metate in Mexico.
I use a stone mortar and pestle to crush my chilis on an almost daily basis for cooking. when dried peppers are freshly crushed thats when you get the best flavors.I also use a mortar and pestle regularly. I searched the riverbed for years to find the perfect rocks. (I do alot of fishing). They call it a manos metate in Mexico.
I also like hot peppers because they are just good for your body, so many health benefits.
Spicy, that's quite a list you have there!
I see you grow quite a few of the hot ones. In you opinion, is the bhut jolokia the hottest, or do some of the others taste hotter?
I know that the bhut jolokia ranks as the official "world's hottest," but I've heard lately that there are others with many folks consider hotter. Since you seem to be a connoisseur of peppers, I'd figure you could give me a good opinion.
Sorry if I'm taking this thread off topic.
I see you grow quite a few of the hot ones. In you opinion, is the bhut jolokia the hottest, or do some of the others taste hotter?
I know that the bhut jolokia ranks as the official "world's hottest," but I've heard lately that there are others with many folks consider hotter. Since you seem to be a connoisseur of peppers, I'd figure you could give me a good opinion.
Sorry if I'm taking this thread off topic.
I suppose a standard mortar and pestle would be like the pharmacists use (about the size of a coffee cup). When I think of a manos metate, it's a concave rock as big as a dinner plate (or bigger) and a stone about the size of a softball is used for grinding. Try Google or Bing images.stella1751 wrote:I would like to know more about this manos metate, Orgoveg. It doesn't sound like the standard mortar and pestle, and that interests me. One day, I would like to try to grind my own corn for meal, just for fun, and I'm betting this is what was used, way back when.orgoveg wrote: I also use a mortar and pestle regularly. I searched the riverbed for years to find the perfect rocks. (I do alot of fishing). They call it a manos metate in Mexico.
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sixshooter
- Senior Member
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- Location: Davison Mi
Last year I dried some cayenne and serranos by slicing them up and backing them in the oven for a night and part of the day at a low heat 170ish. Worked just fine. I've hand dried peppers in the past but it was alot of work and they got kind of nasty with cobwebbs and what appeared to be some mildew. If you keep them in a real sunny window in a dry part of the house you should be good.
if your home/environment is not very humid you can just string them up and dry them. I do this with about 80% of my peppers until fall rolls around and there's more humidity in the air. it works great for the thin walled peppers, the thicker ones not as much, or at least not when its cool. in the summer its no problem.
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wiscopeppers
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- Location: Madison, WI
this thread is relevant to my interests. 
spicey, I like the looks of the powders you have on your site, you obviously do a lot of drying, do you use a large commercial type dehydrator or some other method?
I'm thinking counter top dehydrator of some kind for my purposes. I hope to be able to make some ghost pepper powder. I'd like to be able to make (or acquire) a keychain sized container, much like the type you'd keep heart medicine in on a necklace, to carry around with me to sprinkle on everything.
spicey, I like the looks of the powders you have on your site, you obviously do a lot of drying, do you use a large commercial type dehydrator or some other method?
I'm thinking counter top dehydrator of some kind for my purposes. I hope to be able to make some ghost pepper powder. I'd like to be able to make (or acquire) a keychain sized container, much like the type you'd keep heart medicine in on a necklace, to carry around with me to sprinkle on everything.