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preservation Dehydrating superhots...

I've dried normal habs, aji crystals, cayenne, jalapeno..etc and all end up nice and brittle and dry. My trinidad scorpions, dorset nagas and naga morich dont get dry no matter how long they stay in there...is that due to the oils? I'm only drying at around 105-110F but its been 2 days and they are still sort of squishy and leathery. The other peppers are dry and can be.
 
I've dried normal habs, aji crystals, cayenne, jalapeno..etc and all end up nice and brittle and dry. My trinidad scorpions, dorset nagas and naga morich dont get dry no matter how long they stay in there...is that due to the oils? I'm only drying at around 105-110F but its been 2 days and they are still sort of squishy and leathery. The other peppers are dry and can be.

I haven't had any trouble with any particular variety. Thicker pieces or folds tend to dry slower. As a result of running my dehydrator in my garage, I also find that pods have difficulty drying during extended periods of rain. I am assuming the high humidity levels cause this.
 
Hmmm see I was hoping I'd dry them at a low temp to make sure the seeds are safe. I think I read that anything over 110F might cause the sees to be rendered unusable.

I never tried drying at temps that low. I pump up to 115-125 deg. It would take FOREVER at 105 deg!!

Chris
 
Interestingly enough, it has been a bit humid so maybe that could be partly why.

I haven't had any trouble with any particular variety. Thicker pieces or folds tend to dry slower. As a result of running my dehydrator in my garage, I also find that pods have difficulty drying during extended periods of rain. I am assuming the high humidity levels cause this.
 
Yeah humidity sucks when drying pods, remove your seeds that you want then crank the heat up!
 
Ya I might have to do that. I wanted to avoid picking off too many seeds right at the moment because I was being lazy. I figured I'll dry it slowly and then later, I'd shake a bag of dry peppers and have a bunch of seeds at the bottom to collect :)

Yeah humidity sucks when drying pods, remove your seeds that you want then crank the heat up!
 
I dried a Naga Morich the other day and it was fine after about.....30 hours I think. Brought the lone Naga pod to our local pizza joint to have some fun with my buddy. He loved it! Dried naga flakes is a must now on pizza.
 
Here is what I do, and I will include pics later today when I start up a new patch.

Step 1. Was and dry all pods
Step 2. Cut in half length wise
Step 3. place on dehydrator rack without touching each other
Step 4. set temp to 125 - 135 F
Step 5. turn on homemade exhaust system

It usually take about 8-16 hours for my pods to become dehydrated and I check them periodically. I know they are done when they are extra brittle.
 
I like to dry my pods whole but with holes or slits cut into them, and ideally I like to dry them low and slow over several days. 105-110 sounds about perfect to me. I'll post some pics later of quick dried pods vs. pods dried at low temps, theres quite a difference in my opinion
 
I purchased a Nesco Dehydrator today and picked all the Bhut pods off of 1 plant, rinsed them off and into the dehydrator they went. Smells kinda fruity in here after 3 hours, will update on them tomorrow sometime on how dry they are getting.

Fruity - To me the fresh bhut's smell fruity, almost rhubarbish.
 
I agree Jolokias do smell fruity and sweet, they trick ya like that.

I should elaborate as to why I cut mine in half, but first I dehydrate my pods to make powders with. So, it's in the dehydrator and then into the grinder. I cut them in half because I find with most of my super hots, every year I've grown them, that by cutting them in half, I find bad seeds and bad spots inside the pods that I don't want in my powders. These spots are inside otherwise perfect looking pods and I would never have found these if they were left whole. As for the temps, I am just following my dehydrator's instructions and my pods come out looking pristine and I have received numerous rave reviews of my powders tasting just as fresh as a real pod, without any burnt or nasty taste to them that you sometimes get if dried at too high of temps.
 
Well, they are well dried. I should have posted earlier today, but I have been busy. It took about 18 hours in the Nesco dehydrator for them to get dry and crispy. I tested one and it simply went to powder/broke apart when I squeezed it. PF, I like your idea on cutting them in half, I think I will start doing so as well, plus it seems to darken the seeds, which I dont like.
 
I cut slits or sometimes even cut through one side of the pods lengthways(but not all the way in half) and this allows up to twice as much peppers in the dehydrator, and you can easily see any nasty pods. For the most part I like to dry peppers whole and grind them up when required to keep as much flavor/freshness as possible
I use a nesco dehydrator, and I just became aware of these cool spacer trays which I must purchase soon
http://www.nesco.com/category_449f7f01f1ea/subcategory_861213896041/product_fd5acf60f112/session_67d3aa3f0efe/
 
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