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Drying Cayenne Peppers

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Elizabeth

Hi - I'm a newbie both to this forum and also to growing hot peppers. I have a great crop of cayenne peppers, and I would like to dry them to make Crushed Red Pepper flakes. I have ordered a really nice food dehydrator, but it won't arrive for a few more days.

In the meantime, I have picked the ripe peppers, and just put them in a bowl in the kitchen. They are beginning to get that dried appearance, although there is still some moisture in them.

My plan is to finish the job when I get the dehydrator, and then grind them up.

Is this method going to work (half dry on the counter, finished up in the dehydrator?)

What is the best method of grinding the peppers?

Are crushed red peppers typically made with cayenne peppers, or some other variety?


And finally, what else can I do with these peppers? I'd like to make some hot sauce, but don't know how.

I appreciate any advice you can give me.

Thanks!
 
Welcome Elizabeth. Cayennes are one of few types of pepper that dry easily for me usually without a dehydrator. I'm working on stringing a ristra with my whippet's tail peppers, they dry quicker this way and look cool. Where are you from and what's the humidity like? I grind mine in a cheap electic chopper and then in a coffee grinder for finer powder.
 
Hi Elizabeth, and welcome! There are some really excellent sauce makers here that can give you some good advice.

Cayenne peppers dry very easily, so you can actually dry them on the counter without the dehydrator. I would just spread them out on a cookie sheet or in a basket to speed the drying.

I think the commercial crushed red peppers, the stuff you buy in stores is made from cayennes, but I can't swear to that. You can make your own hot pepper powders from most any kind of pepper, though, and add heat or taste as it suits you.

I've ground peppers by hand, in a blender, and in a coffee grinder, and all three ways work. Just be very careful that you don't take the lid off the blender or coffee grinder until all the dust has settled, or you can inhale the powder or get it in your eyes. I do a lot of my really hot pepper grinding outside to help dissipate any dust.
 
Thanks for the replies! I'm in Delaware, and we have a lot of humidity. I have both a chopper and grinder, so I can't wait to get started. One more question...after they're dry, do I chop off the tops before grinding?
 
Oh - and one more question about the seeds...crushed reds always have seeds. Do I remove seeds prior to grinding to make powder?
 
Elizabeth when I grind or crush I leave seeds in for little more heat If you take seeds out you may take the membrane out too and that is most of the heat.

Dan


LET IT BURN


P.S. WELCOME
 
Elizabeth said:
Thanks for the replies! I'm in Delaware, and we have a lot of humidity. I have both a chopper and grinder, so I can't wait to get started. One more question...after they're dry, do I chop off the tops before grinding?
Click to expand...


Do you mean the stem, the green cap at the top?

I do, but I leave the seeds in if it's a course grind. I only take the seeds out when I want a very fine powder and I've not worried about losing any heat, like for a paprika.

And, hush all you silly men, losing a little of the heat is *not* a sacrilege!
 
don't de-seed!

the term 'de-seeding' is a misnomer, propagated by the non-heat lovers, it really means 'de-placentaing'

welcome to the site Beth. I have plans for about eight Cayenne plants for the Aussie growing season (starting soon for me). they are prolific fruiters apparently, how many pods do you estimate you have grown per plant (I believe about 50 is typical)?
 
Hi Chilliman,

I estimate that I have at least 50 peppers per plant, and they're still going! I go out and pick 20 or 30 (I have 5 plants) and the next day I need to go out and do the same thing.

So you're saying that even for finely ground cayenne pepper, DON'T remove the seeds?

-Thanks everyone for the welcome!

-Elizabeth
 
Seeds make it harder to grind finely. I take seeds out of cayennes (for powders) and if its not hot enough just add something hotter like habs.
 
Hi Everyone ~

Just registered... needed to know if I can air dry cayanne peppers like I do with my chile peppers. They just seem so large for air drying. I hate for them to grow moldy.

I thought I might share a recipe I have for crushed pepper. I used Habanero peppers (although any pepper with do). I cut them up in small chunks and marinate them in soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, and red vinegar for about 24 hrs. I then slow roast them on a cookie sheet, in the oven, on the lowest setting. When they're done drying I grind them by hand. At this time the pepper looks like instant coffee. I add, in the grinding, dry garlic silivers, and bacon bits. I then mix in minced onion. Mix it well, and bottle. I like it, and I've been told by many that it's good. Unless they were just being kind.
 
Elizabeth said:
Hi Chilliman,

I estimate that I have at least 50 peppers per plant, and they're still going! I go out and pick 20 or 30 (I have 5 plants) and the next day I need to go out and do the same thing.

So you're saying that even for finely ground cayenne pepper, DON'T remove the seeds?

-Thanks everyone for the welcome!

-Elizabeth
Click to expand...

if you want a really fine grind then you will get a better result if you remove the seeds, also the colour of your powder will be better. just try not to remove the tissue that connects the seeds to the rest of the chile because by taking that out you will remove the main heat causing part of the pod. cayennes are apparently one of the healthiest of the chile pods to consume.

I was just kidding before about not de-seeding as most people scrape out the placental tissue with the seeds and it reduces the heat too much.

jet said:
Hi Everyone ~

Just registered... needed to know if I can air dry cayanne peppers like I do with my chile peppers. They just seem so large for air drying. I hate for them to grow moldy.

I thought I might share a recipe I have for crushed pepper. I used Habanero peppers (although any pepper with do). I cut them up in small chunks and marinate them in soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, and red vinegar for about 24 hrs. I then slow roast them on a cookie sheet, in the oven, on the lowest setting. When they're done drying I grind them by hand. At this time the pepper looks like instant coffee. I add, in the grinding, dry garlic silivers, and bacon bits. I then mix in minced onion. Mix it well, and bottle. I like it, and I've been told by many that it's good. Unless they were just being kind.
Click to expand...

gday Jet and welcome to THP. that recipe sounds great, is it used as a sprinkle, like a savoury salt/pepper or more as a rub for barbecuing/roasting etc?

you should be able to air dry cayennes. if you are growing a thick variety, try cutting them in half lengthways, this will allow the moisture to escape and reduce the risk of mold.
 
Hi bentalphanerd ~

I use it on all the foods one would use the plain Jane store bought crushed pepper. I just had it on my pizza. I also use it on all my pasta, steaks, soups,... almost everything, but ice cream.
 
Hi Chilliman64 ~

As with what I mentioned before to bentalphanerd... I mainly use it as a shake. I make my own beef jerky - which I've been told by so many that it's the best they ever had - and I shake it on top of the meat after it's laid out on the trays. I've also added soy sauce (or some type of liquid... it's all personal tastes) and brushed it on the meat. And thank you for the idea you gave me. For some strange reason I never thought of brushing it on anything I'm grilling, but I will now.

As far as the cayenne ~ I don't know what variety it is. They were given to me. But I would have to say they look like they have a thick skin. I did think of slicing a small slit in one of them to see if it helps the drying process, but I was afraid I might ruin it. I think I'll take your advice and slice open a few.

Thanks for writing to me with your thoughts. And by the way...
that's some resume'.

Oh, and thank you, bentalphanerd, for writing to me.
 
Welcome jet!

jet said:
I also use it on all my pasta, steaks, soups,... almost everything, but ice cream.
Click to expand...

I reckon habs would go really well with ice cream actually... never tried it myself, but I think I saw a recipe for habanero and mango topping floating around here somewhere... I think I'll have to experiment this summer.
 
I posted this one elsewhere here somewhere...its small so I'll just put it in again -
I stemmed & seeded a hab (without slicing it), poured melted 70% chocolate into it & sat it in the freezer to set for an hour. It was solid when I took it out so sliced it up into rings nice & thin & layered it over a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
 
Hi Bentalphanerd ~

When I said everything but ice cream, I thought I was making a joke. I see now that the joke's on me. I still think I'll keep the peppers off my ice cream.

I logged onto your site... you have some nice peppers going on down there. I live in New Jersey (USA) and Autumn is right around the corner, and as for you.... well you're looking at spring. Hope you do well. As for me, I'm going to try and find some more exotic peppers, or at least some that I've never grown before. I also see that your contact link is down. Will you be adding that any time soon?

One more thing for everyone ~ Can anyone tell me which peppers air dry the best. Right now I have just the Chiles drying, and the Cayenne a friend gave me. The Chiles look so cool strung up. As they dry they take on a really nice clor of red. Alot of friends want a string or two for their decor. Find, but I tell them only if they plan to eat them too.

Sorry, but one more thing ~ Anyone with a good recipe for a sauce? And a powder?

That's it ~

Jet
 
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