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drying hot peppers

12 years ago

I borrowed an American Harvest Snackmaster dehydrator and want to dry some large ancho peppers in the garden. I use them to make my own Chili Powder, and when I buy the dry anchos from Penzy's the are dried whole, with stems and seeds inside. I usually cut off the stem end and shake out most of the seeds before using them. It does not look like the dehydrator tray is deep enough to accommodate the whole pepper. I find it easiest to use as close to a whole pepper as possible since that is how I measure the different peppers I put in: 2 whole Anchos, 3 arbol chilis, ect. Has anyone ever dried large peppers? I was thinking I could cut them in half length wise, remove the seeds and dry them. Do they need to be cut up smaller for some reason? Any idea how long or what setting? I have a vacuum sealer that I hope to use to seal them in batches with one bag equal to the amt needed for one batch of Chili powder.

Thanks!

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Comments (4)

digdirt2
12 years ago
Peppers: Wash, stem. Remove core and seeds. Blanch 3-4 mins. Cut into 1/4 to 1/2" strips Dry for 8-12 hours until tough to brittle.

That's the general guidelines from NCHFP documents and basically what I use for mine. But the smaller the pieces the better and faster they dry and the longer they store so keep that in mind too.

Personally I wouldn't do halves of Anchos. Still so big that it will take a couple of days in that particular dehydrator. That long not only costs in electricity and wear and tear on the machine but gives plenty of time for bacteria to settle in.

Try a few quarters and see how long it takes and then go from there would be my suggestion.

Dave

PS: also if you don't dry them completely, just 1/2 way or a bit more, then you can freeze them for indefinite storage. I still use from 2009 bags in the freezer.
sue_ct
Original Author
12 years ago
I can't use frozen because of what I use them for. They need to be very dry in order to make them into a powder in the Chili powder. I did not know peppers needed to be blanched before drying them, so thanks for that. All the times on the box are much shorter, tomatoes 10 hours, Apples 6 hours, Bananas 5 1/2 hours, etc. Why would peppers take so long? Not that it matters, just curious. This is 500w one, I saw on Amazon that they do make a 700w and others. The unit says it is 135 degrees on the veggie setting, 155 degrees on the meat setting. Should I try using the higher setting? I would not hesitate to eat raw peppers that sat at room temps for a couple of days, but dried is different? Sorry for the questions but this process is new to me. And thanks for taking the time to give me the information you did. I already learned a couple of things. :)
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1. I take the extra trays out, why would you want to leave them in? You would think they would take away from the air flow, and the more air flow the faster the produce dries. 2. bottom up, on my dehydrator the bottom is warmer. But that's just my preference, don't think it matters especially if your going to fill it. 3. The bottom of my dehydrators wash up easily, so I just let them drip, again why impede the air flow if not really necessary. I have more of a mess when I dry herbs, because you have to dry them until they are brittle and then they start breaking apart. 4. I have to agree with not mixing too many aromas, they may intermingle. This will be my first year drying hot peppers too. I heard you should put the dehydrator out of doors so as to not stink up your house. The same thing for onions. I have to agree about the manuals, I've done alot of research on the internet. Like start the dehydrator at 140 for the first hour then turn down, I don't have to pretreat fruit and they don't brown either. You may want to try small batches until you get the knack of the temp and time. Good luck My latest have been peaches...they are out of this world. Next spring try strawberries...even better.
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I just now finished a jar of jalapeno that I put up in 100% vinegar + spices. I grew them in 1988. 21 years old pickled peppers. Tasted like fresh. I did have lots of dill in the jar. at least one and maybe 2 big flowers of dill with stems in there. only very light on salt. These jalapeno were sliced in half length wise top to bottom. Red ripe peppers should not be pickled unless you intend to eat the red ones moderately soon. They simply go mushy soft too fast. But pickling takes more jars and I have since gone over to making hot sauce. Basically the same thing. I use peppers and vinegar and NO Water added. always 100% low cost white vinegar. With hot sauce I grind up the peppers in the food processor to reduce the volume and then put into the jar with vinegar. with pickled I put whole peppers in vinegar. But I can get a lot more pepper into the jar if they are ground up first. I also no longer add spices to my hot sauce. If I want flavor I put it on the food as I cook it and then add hot sauce. It all works out easier for me with no risk or less risk of botulism. However, if I ever make pickles again I will add dill as I like that flavor on pickled peppers and cucs. I like garlic but I dont use it because there can be some problems with garlic. So if I want garlic today I add it to the food and then add hot sauce later. I like hot sauce because I can control the amount I add to my food. Dry hot peppers lose a lot of flavor especially c chinese types like habs. If you want to keep the flavor of chinese you should consider frozen or pickled or hot sauce which is my solution.
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Remmember the Ronco Food Dehydrator with the the stackable trays, looks like a brown beehive with a heating element in it. Paid like $30 bucks fer it years ago. I just slice the peppers in half sometimes I save the seeds (my Bhuts), sometimes I leave them in, dry them for two days and then rast them in the oven at 170 degrees for an hour or two and it give them the nice dark carmelized look, throw'em in an old coffee grinder (I use strictly fer pepper powder). That's It.
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david52 Zone 6
12 years ago
With drying for grinding, I wash them off, slice them in1/4 - 1/2 inch rounds or half-rounds depending on the size of the pepper, then put them in at 135F.

You can seed them or not, some peppers have way more seeds than others, and if you want the heat, its concentrated in the seeds.

Here, they're usually crispy dry in well less than 24 hours, but we rarely have high humidity to slow the process,
sue_ct
Original Author
12 years ago
Thank you!

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