Preserving Peppers?

DuckDogDr

Hey guys I'm actually having success growing my habaneros this year. Would like some ideas to preserve them to last until next spring. 

Anybody ever tried dehydrating them? Wanting to be able to add to pizzas etc.

Anybody crushed made pepper flakes?

Mom canned me some habanero peach jelly last night but obviously I don't want the whole  crop stored this way.

What about just canning the peppers?

Would appreciate input

TrippleRipple

Dehydrating them works well. My advice is to do EVERYTHING outside. The dehydrating and the grinding. I maced my entire kitchen with reapers two years ago.

I would also pickle some like I would jalapeños. Maybe with onion and garlic. 

Good luck!! Swish with some heavy cream before you do any taste testing.

DuckDogDr

@TrippleRipple

What process did you go through dehydrating ?
Did you just dehydrate then vacuum seal? Or do you have to grind after dehydrating ?

Eoin

I just dehydrate chillis on a tray in a very low oven, or dehydrate / smoke them on a very low temperature Egg.

They can be kept in a sealed jar and ground as needed.

Fementation is also good for preserving chillies. Have a look at the lacto-fermentation thread.

TrippleRipple

@DuckDogDr

Dried them in a standard food dehydrator. Then ground them an a coffee grinder I use for spices. The trouble is, when you grind coffee, it smells good. When you grind spices, the also smell good. 

When grind peppers with a high Scoville rating, you create nothing short of mace. Coughing, eyes watering, snot.....plug in an extension cord, go as far from the house as you can.

Gulfcoastguy

Or you could just freeze them in food saver pouches. Don’t wash them first or if so thoroughly dry them before freezing.

BSR

Any oven or toaster oven propped open that you can set 180 or less will do. I have a dehydrator now set at 135 and it's worth it. Jars are fine, no need to vac bag.

You can also look into fermenting, pickling, canning salsa, jerky, jams, cowboy candy, list goes on. I grow tons of peppers so I love this stuff.

Smoked or minor char on the egg before dehydrating or salsa is nice too.

YukonRon

Dehydration is the way to go.

alaskanassasin

You could pickle them in vinegar like jalapeños. 

alaskanassasin

Or make fermented hot sauce.

Eoin

alaskanassasin said:

Or make fermented hot sauce.

Fermented then made into a paste is good too.

lkapigian

Lactose Fermentation , if you do a brine fermentation , you can get your pickled peppers and eat as is, or blend into a sauce then separate the pulp , dehydrate the pulp and grind that to a powder....save your brine and use it on salads, a spritz for proteins etc...3 easy uses from 1 pepper ...i mix the dehydrated mash 50/50 with kosher salt or use as is ....there is a thread buried in OT here that will give you some ideas

BSR

If you're on Facebook there's a good group on there "Fermented hot sauce society" that is pretty good.

fence0407

You can also leave them on the counter to dehydrate. I use a cheap dehydrator and have jars full of crushed red peppers. I give smaller jars to friends who I know like spicy foods. 

fishlessman

fence0407 said:

You can also leave them on the counter to dehydrate. I use a cheap dehydrator and have jars full of crushed red peppers. I give smaller jars to friends who I know like spicy foods. 

ive dried the thai peppers in the window one year, pulled the whole plant out and hung it upsidedown to dry and used as needed

dbCooper

Making a Ristra is an option.  You get a nice decoration as a bonus.

DuckDogDr

Do you have to crush / grind once dehydrated?
Thanks for all the replies

stv8r

Habanero peach jelly sounds amazing!!

BSR

DuckDogDr said:

Do you have to crush / grind once dehydrated?
Thanks for all the replies

I don't until I'm ready to use them, I just keep them in a jar.

Botch

This afternoon I watched a Rick Bayless video on making blackened habanero salsa, but it was "refrigerator-safe" for a couple weeks, and not a good solution for a big crop (it could be canned, I guess).  
He used about ten peppers, and stressed to toast the 3 cloves of garlic too, as raw garlic would overpower the salsa (yeah, right)!  

BSR

stv8r said:

Habanero peach jelly sounds amazing!!

Might have to make some of that, I have fresh gerogia peaches and habeneros right out of the garden.

A real quick one is dry the habeneros most of the way and put them in a jar if honey, the longer you wait the better.

Eoin

DuckDogDr said:

Do you have to crush / grind once dehydrated?
Thanks for all the replies

Some Indian recipes call for whole dried chillies, so it's useful to keep at least some whole. 

nolaegghead

The ultimate preservation technique (if it wasn't for the cost) is to freeze-dry.

I've been looking at freeze-dryers for years.  I have never pulled the trigger, although I've come close on some used units.

It's not just that they start around $3k, but they use a lot of electricity, make hella noise and are huge.  A batch takes 10-30 hours in the unit.

On the up side, freeze drying give you what's normally in the "too-good-to-be-true" mythological traits:  Full nutrition, fresh taste, almost unlimited shelf life, no refrigeration or preservatives needed, options to use as is or quickly re-hydrate to fresh level, etc.

You can recoup your cost if you keep it running.  Allows you to buy in bulk very perishable foods (think by-the-case at Restaurant Despot), and not use freezer space.

</sigh>

BSR

nolaegghead said:

The ultimate preservation technique (if it wasn't for the cost) is to freeze-dry.

I've been looking at freeze-dryers for years.  I have never pulled the trigger, although I've come close on some used units.

It's not just that they start around $3k, but they use a lot of electricity, make hella noise and are huge.  A batch takes 10-30 hours in the unit.

On the up side, freeze drying give you what's normally in the "too-good-to-be-true" mythological traits:  Full nutrition, fresh taste, almost unlimited shelf life, no refrigeration or preservatives needed, options to use as is or quickly re-hydrate to fresh level, etc.

You can recoup your cost if you keep it running.  Allows you to buy in bulk very perishable foods (think by-the-case at Restaurant Despot), and not use freezer space.

</sigh>

Do you think you can effectively rehydrate a fresh pod to good as new? Otherwise freezing works great if you're going to make a powder or sauce later although I don't personally freeze them.

nolaegghead

BSR said:

nolaegghead said:

The ultimate preservation technique (if it wasn't for the cost) is to freeze-dry.

I've been looking at freeze-dryers for years.  I have never pulled the trigger, although I've come close on some used units.

It's not just that they start around $3k, but they use a lot of electricity, make hella noise and are huge.  A batch takes 10-30 hours in the unit.

On the up side, freeze drying give you what's normally in the "too-good-to-be-true" mythological traits:  Full nutrition, fresh taste, almost unlimited shelf life, no refrigeration or preservatives needed, options to use as is or quickly re-hydrate to fresh level, etc.

You can recoup your cost if you keep it running.  Allows you to buy in bulk very perishable foods (think by-the-case at Restaurant Despot), and not use freezer space.

</sigh>

Do you think you can effectively rehydrate a fresh pod to good as new? Otherwise freezing works great if you're going to make a powder or sauce later although I don't personally freeze them.

Yes, they rehydrate and look, feel, smell and taste like they are fresh.  It's amazing.  Also, they rehydrate very fast, unlike dried vegetables and fruit.  They maintain their look and shape when they are dehydrated, just weigh a fraction of the original as most foods are mostly water.

You store in jars or bags, the best container is an oxygen non-permeable mylar lined bag with an oxygen removing bag in it (basically it's iron dust that reacts with oxygen and converts to rust - similar to desiccant bags).  You can store at room temperature, although it's recommended to store at cellar temps. 

nolaegghead

https://harvestright.com/home-freeze-dryers/

lkapigian

nolaegghead said:

https://harvestright.com/home-freeze-dryers/

Greg over @ Ballistic BBQ has one and does a decent review on it 

nolaegghead

lkapigian said:

nolaegghead said:

https://harvestright.com/home-freeze-dryers/

Greg over @ Ballistic BBQ has one and does a decent review on it 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_Wio4I-s-E

BSR

nolaegghead said:

BSR said:

nolaegghead said:

The ultimate preservation technique (if it wasn't for the cost) is to freeze-dry.

I've been looking at freeze-dryers for years.  I have never pulled the trigger, although I've come close on some used units.

It's not just that they start around $3k, but they use a lot of electricity, make hella noise and are huge.  A batch takes 10-30 hours in the unit.

On the up side, freeze drying give you what's normally in the "too-good-to-be-true" mythological traits:  Full nutrition, fresh taste, almost unlimited shelf life, no refrigeration or preservatives needed, options to use as is or quickly re-hydrate to fresh level, etc.

You can recoup your cost if you keep it running.  Allows you to buy in bulk very perishable foods (think by-the-case at Restaurant Despot), and not use freezer space.

</sigh>

Do you think you can effectively rehydrate a fresh pod to good as new? Otherwise freezing works great if you're going to make a powder or sauce later although I don't personally freeze them.

Yes, they rehydrate and look, feel, smell and taste like they are fresh.  It's amazing.  Also, they rehydrate very fast, unlike dried vegetables and fruit.  They maintain their look and shape when they are dehydrated, just weigh a fraction of the original as most foods are mostly water.

You store in jars or bags, the best container is an oxygen non-permeable mylar lined bag with an oxygen removing bag in it (basically it's iron dust that reacts with oxygen and converts to rust - similar to desiccant bags).  You can store at room temperature, although it's recommended to store at cellar temps. 

Pretty cool I had no idea that you could rehydrate so easily to a like new condition, I'd love to try that...

Grilling a few tonight. Really wanted to try that Aji Lemon but it fell through the grate before I opened the grill back up.

Gulfcoastguy

I get to go pick my peppers 🌶 tomorrow. Habaneros, jalapeños, and Aji Amarillo ( which translates to Aji Yellow). Hopefully I remember to take a picture.

Eoin

BSR said:

nolaegghead said:

BSR said:

nolaegghead said:

The ultimate preservation technique (if it wasn't for the cost) is to freeze-dry.

I've been looking at freeze-dryers for years.  I have never pulled the trigger, although I've come close on some used units.

It's not just that they start around $3k, but they use a lot of electricity, make hella noise and are huge.  A batch takes 10-30 hours in the unit.

On the up side, freeze drying give you what's normally in the "too-good-to-be-true" mythological traits:  Full nutrition, fresh taste, almost unlimited shelf life, no refrigeration or preservatives needed, options to use as is or quickly re-hydrate to fresh level, etc.

You can recoup your cost if you keep it running.  Allows you to buy in bulk very perishable foods (think by-the-case at Restaurant Despot), and not use freezer space.

</sigh>

Do you think you can effectively rehydrate a fresh pod to good as new? Otherwise freezing works great if you're going to make a powder or sauce later although I don't personally freeze them.

Yes, they rehydrate and look, feel, smell and taste like they are fresh.  It's amazing.  Also, they rehydrate very fast, unlike dried vegetables and fruit.  They maintain their look and shape when they are dehydrated, just weigh a fraction of the original as most foods are mostly water.

You store in jars or bags, the best container is an oxygen non-permeable mylar lined bag with an oxygen removing bag in it (basically it's iron dust that reacts with oxygen and converts to rust - similar to desiccant bags).  You can store at room temperature, although it's recommended to store at cellar temps. 

Pretty cool I had no idea that you could rehydrate so easily to a like new condition, I'd love to try that...

Grilling a few tonight. Really wanted to try that Aji Lemon but it fell through the grate before I opened the grill back up.

I grow Aji Lemon sometimes, they're nice.

Slow this year in the UK though, we had a really cold spring. I have some green fruit and a lot of flowers at the moment.