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preservation Drying peppers

caroltlw

caroltlw

...without a dehydrator.

Here's my test batch of cayennes that I dried on a rack on my car's dash and then on top of a toolbox. It took several days to dry out all the way (not counting the days it rained).

I like the way the cayennes turned out. They're transluscent and they look like an X-ray when you hold them up to a light. The superchilis are a bit thicker and some of them must not have been quite ripe enough because they got a little wrinkly and more brownish than red and shiny.

Here's some cayenne. I don't know whether to eat them or just look at them.
dryingExperiment.jpg




c.
 
I wish I liked cayennes more since they are about the only type that will air-dry well in my climate. I had a giant ristra of Whippet tail peppers one year, and the mice got into it:( Not a big deal since nobody else would eat those awful things
 
kinda looks like Alien...
 
POTAWIE said:
I wish I liked cayennes more since they are about the only type that will air-dry well in my climate.
Click to expand...

I figured I'd start with those and work my way up to the thicker and larger ones. The superchiles are about done now. It stays a pretty good 120+ where I've got them drying. The car was getting too hot on sunny days but works better when cloudy or wet.

Just bought a new experimental container to dry them in - a mesh office organizer thingee that isn't stainless steel, but was on clearance for $5. :D
 
What was I thinking? Heres a picture:

pepperRack.jpg


I've got white habs in the mesh "tea ball". The first batch of those look like tiny shriveled peanuts. You can see a couple in the upper left corner of the cayenne picture.
 
I'm relying on the wind and some convection ... but I could put a fan on them. Hmmmmm.... Let's see how the bigger peppers do without one.
 
when I start harvesting peppers I use string and make a bunch of Rista's to hang all over the house to dry!! I does take a while but it works well!
 
Cayennes I normally just throw in a brown paper bag and stick them in a cool place away from humidity. They are good to go in about a month and will store that way for years.
 
I was going to do the ristra thing but I don't have a lot of room to hang stuff without them being in the way. And the humidity here - OY! I don't even want to leave the ones I've dried exposed to atmosphere. Which is a shame, 'cause they're so pretty.


[edit]
And a belated thanks to Rainbowberry (I think) for the suggestion and link in some other thread I can't find right now.
 
No can do. I don't have an oven... unless you count the microwave as an oven. We'd like to get one of those little propane toaster ovens at least then we could do poppers without the charcoal grill. And pizza. I want pizza!

I did have some success with a crock pot - setup with alum foil and paper towels - but that requires long periods of running the generator for electricity.
 
Facehuggers!! Run awaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy!:scared::scared::scared:

Looks cool Carol. Think I'll run with Bob_B on this one--look at, eat.
 
I don't have a dehydrator either. No problem in the winter, just leave them in my boiler room. For the humid summer i've successfully used my turtles heat lamp and a little fan.
 
Dyce51 said:
when I start harvesting peppers I use string and make a bunch of Rista's to hang all over the house to dry!! I does take a while but it works well!
Click to expand...

This is such a good idea. I think when my peppers are finally ripe I'm going to do this. I'll cut them in half & string them up along my balcony like Christmas lights :). It'll do the trick AND look rad!
 
I cut and leave outside or on a windowsill to dry.
Cut in half is a minimum, as some peppers tend to curl when drying and so take longer, however, if you cut the into strips they cant curl enough to slow the drying.

dreamboat
 
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