Preserving and Drying Peppers

If you've had a bountiful year in your garden then you'll want to store some of that bounty for the cold winter months. There's a variety of methods to use when you store peppers.

The best method depends on three things, the type of pepper, how you'll use it and your personal preference in taste.

Drying Peppers

The oldest method of pepper storage is the drying technique. It's particularly most common for the hot types of peppers such as jalapeno, chili, cayenne and paprika. There are two methods used, one is more decorative than the other is. The first is to simply pull the entire plant and hang it where it gets adequate circulation until the plant and peppers it contains dry. You can also string individual peppers for drying. This is a little more decorative and often found in kitchens with a Southwest décor. If you dry many, keep the area well ventilated since some of the fumes from the peppers can cause eye irritation.

The second method of drying peppers is the oven method.

Preparing the Peppers to Dry

If you're using a string method or oven method, you'll need to prepare the peppers for drying. Before you begin, make certain you have adequate ventilation, put on kitchen gloves and clear an area away from children that might be curious enough to pick up the peppers. These are hot and the juice is quite painful particularly if it's on the hands and touched to the eye.

Look at the peppers carefully after you wash them. Throw out any peppers with bad spots such as mushy soft areas, disease spots that are white or gray in color or if they have a softer exterior and an unusual, rotten odor.

Make a Rista

The rista is the collection of chili peppers you often see hanging outside homes in Mexico and in Southwest kitchens. Start with fresh peppers. Make sure your peppers have at least a half-inch of stem on them. If you have green peppers store them for a few days in a cool dark area until they turn red.

Put three of the peppers together. Wrap them with a heavy string or fishing line at the stem. Use a half hitch to secure. Bring the string underneath one of the chili's and tie it again at the top. Hang a heavy string on the doorway. Create a large loop at the bottom and attach a group of chili peppers. Make more groups of three. The next one's you'll braid onto the string. Use the string as on of the section of braid and two stems as the other. Continue until you build the perfect rista to hang outside the door or in the kitchen to dry.

Non-Decorative Drying

Simply thread a large needle with heavy cord and pierce the stem top of the chili. Leave space between the peppers for ventilation. Allow the peppers to dry in a well-ventilated area. If you are short of time or have a lot of pepper plants, hot peppers dry well if you pull the entire plant and hang it upside down in a ventilated area. You can also use a drying table if it's still hot and sunny. The table is nothing more than a screen door or window on four legs. If you cut the peppers, cover them the top with another screen, making certain it doesn't touch the peppers, to keep away insects.

Oven Method

Whether you use a dehydrator, toaster over or your kitchen oven, this is a fast way to dry your peppers. Set the temperature on the oven or dehydrator to 120 to 135 degrees. The oven may not show that temperature. Normally it shows, "warm" so use that for the setting. The amount of time it takes to drying peppers varies by how thick you slice them and the amount of juice in the flesh. Check them every hour and turn them in conventional ovens. Dehydrators don't require you to turn them. They normally dry between 8 and 13 hours.

Custom Search

Return to growing pepper page from Drying Peppers