Hi Bejay, i used the ball book but i did soak my sliced jalapenos in a salt brine over night. 1 cup of salt per gallon of water. i am looking for the way the Mexicans do theirs. i was at the home of a Mexican friend and his wife put a bole of pinto bean and a jar of hot stuff in front of me. it was to die for. i don't know what the stuff was called but it had jalapenos and carrots in liquid. there were just a few carrots and jalapenos in the jar but the liquid was very good. i would like to learn how to make that stuff. so if there are any Mexicans out there that are willing to share that knowledge with me please do. this years pepper have been way hot and i did not notice that much pucker from my peppers. maybe the salt soak toned them down. Dean

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. :)

jcav8ter: Yes, it is a "play it by ear" type method to dry them in a dehydrator. Couple things to keep in mind when drying them. First of all, if you are married and want to stay that way, dry them, especially the super hots in the garage or other isolated room with ventilation. You throw a couple trays of Bhuts in dehydrator in the kitchen and you are likely to feel like the SWAT team has just raided your house. Second, they will probably dry slower out in the garage since the humidity is usually higher out there. But it is worth it. Just make sure you cut them in at least half before trying to dry them. Most thicker walled peppers will take forever to dry otherwise. I suggest you simply start them drying and then after about 5 or 6 hours, just check them every couple hours or so. Pretty tough to over dry them. You want very dry ones to grind up into powder or flakes and the dryer they are, the longer they will keep. I grind most of my peppers. It is then really easy to sprinkle a little on food or into meals whenever I want just like you would with garlic powder. Good luck Bruce

Oh, the flavor will be fine. Dried chiles are good for a long tim, but all chiles, like all grain, can have "guests". I coul tell you a funny and slightly disturbing story about how I know that, but then I might scare you from using them. :) I keep my dried chiles in the freezer. Guajillos can have a little heat to them. I've used them so often that I can sort of tell by the smell how hot they will be. They do vary from one batch to the next. I usually rinse them since the place I get mine packs in the fields, Then I wipe them dry and toast them in a dry pan (less than a minutes) just until they soften. DO NOT SCORCH THEM or they will be bitter. Then I put them in a bowl and pour boiling water over them. Once they are soft, I split and dessed/devein (just depends on what I'm making and how hot I want it.) I have a VitaMix, which can puree darn near anything into a smooth sauce, so one sauce I keep in the freezer uses 5 or 6 guajillos, about a pound of roasted tomatoes, an onion, two heads of roasted garlic, cumin, coriander, thyme, morjarom, and chicken broth. I whir it into a sauce, then freeze it for later. It's good with chicken or pork espeically.