To my experience, jalapinos are not fit to dry due to their high moisture content, Probably serrano is similar.
That is why they don't sell dried jalapinios.
So I would just use them fresh, make sauce or pickle them.
I have lots of chili peppers. I would just pull them up and hang them in barn, kitchen, garage, ..Most of the fruits already are red but even green ones will dry fine.Be
cause, they are small in size with very little moisture content. Even habaneros will not dry esily.

I start pickling toward the end of the season.Do you have any canning jars and a little bit of time?They are great on sandwiches and for adding in dishes..

I freeze my jalapenos. I just wash and dry them well, then lay them out flat in a food saver bag and vacuum-seal it. When I want to use one or two, I take that much out and reseal the bag. They are easy to cut if you do it while they're still a bit frozen, and the seeds are easy to get out, too.

This advice is probably too late now... but for hot peppers suitable for drying, I just pull up the whole plant before frost, knock the soil off the roots, and hang it in a protected location. The older peppers will continue to ripen as they dry. This works well even for peppers not suitable for drying too (such as jalapenos) especially if they did not ripen before frost - like this year.

I do what Barbe_wa does with jalapenos and other thicker fleshed peppers. For the thin-walled types(cayennes, guajillos, lemon drop, etc), I run a needle and thread through the stem and hang them to dry.

Hey, Barbe_wa...another foodsaver fan!
I just bought the latest battery opperated version, that also has bags that you can re-seal over and over!
I'm using it for cheese and lunchmeat, re-sealing the packages everytime. They also have leftover containers that you suction!
Good stuff! NT

Our coastal climate is a bit damp for drying peppers outside, so I purchased a food dehydrator this year. For many things, I can still use outside drying - weather permitting, but for peppers it is great.

I make cross slices about 1/4 in thick, removing seeds, and spreading out on the dehydrator screens until dry. Instead of storing in jars at room temperature, I put serving amounts in small baggies, and then into larger half pint and pint sized freezer containers. These are kept in the top freezer part of my fridge, for easy use in recipes.

Works fine for all peppers, red, green, thick, thin. Slicing them crosswise, seems to prevent too much "rollover" where mold can collect causing spoilage.

I store dried cherry type tomatoes this way also - they keep better than dried and stored at room temps, and are more pliable also.

For ancho types, I sometimes scorch the skins, peel and preserve in some citric acid/salt water mix, and freeze in small 1/4 pint canning jars. Great for use like canned store peppers in Mexican foods.

Just my 2 c's.

Bejay

Got a smoker? Make chipotle.

Smoke them! We just did a large batch of serranos and some NM peppers similar to Anaheims or the Hatch greens.

It takes all day on low heat.

Frost is not going to damage thin skined chili peppers, it might just kill the leaves.

Ok,here is my plan. Hang the pepper and plant whole from the basement beam. Dehumidifier running about 50%. Give the single peppers out. What do you think? I did bake a cookie sheet full on low on and off all weekend. They dried nicely. There is now way I can eat that many peppers all winter.

I don't think we are going to have frost, it's just cloudy and my serrano plants have alot on them, the deer got into the garden the other night and only trimmed the tops of the hot peppers nothing else (they must be mexican deer) can you freeze serranos? if so how? Can you freeze them without a seal a meal? thanks for any input :)

Ancfan,
When I posted that I did what Barbe does, I meant freeze my peppers, but I don't vacuum seal(don't have one). The vacuum does keep moisture out, but I just use good freezer bags and toss the peppers in whole. For the chest freezer(longer storage)and larger amounts, I dip the filled bag into a bowl of water as close to the top as possible to get the air out, then seal. For frequent use, I use smaller bags and keep in the fridge-freezer. The peppers get a little frost on them from frequent opening, but it doesn't hurt them. I usually use them up before they get burned or shriveled. So yes, you can freeze any peppers without a seal-a-meal. Just put your serranos in a freezer bag, press out as much air as you can(some people suck the air out with a straw),toss into the freezer and your done.

I use the suck the air out with my mouth approach too. Works fine. I think the vaccuum sealers are nice, but I don't have one. I suspect the thickness of the plastic has more of an impact on air getting in over time than removing every last air molecule initially. Also, repeated opening/resealing seems to shorten freezer life so I recommend 'portion sized' freezer bags over large bags that need to be opened, a portion of the whole removed and then resealed.

Thanks! freezing them will be easy :) then, I was going to roast them, skin them and put them in freezer bags (a lot of work).

What can you use previously frozen jalapenos for? I have 3 bags and not sure what to do with them.

I also freeze my hot peppers, but I usually dice them first. It makes it really easy to use them later. What can you use them for? EVERYTHING! I throw a few of my frozen peppers in a lot of what I cook. When I cook spaghetti, lasagna, Mexican food, Thai food, etc... I toss a few in. That is why I like to dice them first, it makes portion control very easy... add just a few for flavor, add a lot for spice.

Try this, it's delicious with any hot pepper.

Cooked Chili Garlic Sauce
6 ounces hot chiles (e.g., cayenne, Fresnos, habanero, jalapeno, long, serrano, Thai, or a combination of them), stemmed and chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
½ teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
Put all the ingredients in an electric mini-chopper or food processor. Process to a coarse texture. Take a whiff and it should make you sweat a bit. Taste and adjust the flavor with add extra salt or sugar. Transfer to a small saucepan, bring to a vigorous simmer over medium heat, lower the heat to gently simmer for about 5 minutes, or until it no longer smells raw. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Transfer to a jar and store in the refrigerator. Makes a scant 2/3 cup.

I use a lot more garlic, and vinegar, but that's just my taste.

Steve