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storage Way too many peppers...dry or freeze?

S

svtcontour

I'm going to have a ton of habs, cayenne, Naga Morich and other assorted peppers. I can only use so many fresh so not sure what to do with the rest. Freeze or Dry. I've got a dehydrator. I'm guessing if I dehydrate at 120F or lower, the seeds should be ok in those peppers or you think they might get damaged? Freezing for sure would damage them. I guess I could deseed them and then dry them. At least some of them so I have seeds for next year.


So what do you like to do with all the peppers?
 
I dont know for certain what temp it is that will nuke the seed, but I have read a few times over that 100-105 degrees is best for drying. If youre just storing the peppers, I think it would depend on what you use them for. If you will powder or flake them, then dry. If you will make sauces or cook with them, freeze. You can always dry a frozen one later too.
 
I had lots of orange habs last year. I took the stems off and diced them and seeds into small bits and filled in freezer baggies. Whenever I need a quick boost to almost anything, I take the hab popsicle out of the freezer and shave some off with a sharp knife. They still taste fresh. Also made some Belizean habanero sauce that was a great new experience for me. Of course, I made some powder too.
 
Hi svt-
if you want to use the seeds later for growing, most folks around here say to take the seeds out and air dry them on a paper towel, then you can freeze or dry the chile as you wish.

Both methods work great, but it depends on what you think you may want to do with the peppers down the road. If you like to use the fresh pods in your cooking, then you may want to freeze some. But if pepper powder sounds good, then drying is the way to go.

Personally, I'd do both if you have the option. It just gives you options down the road!


chilleaddict's method of shaving the pepper popsicle sounds like a good idea! I've never tried freezing and using that way. I have minced the peppers and frozen them in flat freezer bags. Break off what you need, keep the rest in the freezer.


Good for you to have a bounty!
 
Last year I just froze everything since I didn't have a food dehydrator. This year I decided to dehydrate and make powder from smaller varieties and varieties that I'm otherwise not too crazy about using sliced, like Tabasco, Cumari 'o Passarinho and Pimenta de Cheiro. I don't have much experience yet, but so far frozen is my preference in most cases. I just like pulling out a whole pepper in the otherwise boring, dead winter and early spring for cutting, since I won't see any on a plant until probably the next July. It also is a good gauge for heat; you might be able to predict how hot a medium or large whole orange habanero will be, but good luck doing the same with dried peppers that were ground into flakes or powder.

Really, I say it depends on your preferred use and expectations of the pepper varieties to be preserved...
 
Dont know if anybody here has heard of or tried bobs pickle pops? Its a dill pickle in liquid form that can be drank, or frozen like a popsicle. I myself had to throw in a little stupidity and bought like 15 of em, poured em out, and let a bhut and two orange habs soak in it for a few hours, and then froze em. Actually turned out really tasty.

Sorry. I know its a little off topic, but chile pops sound so good right now!
 
Thanks everyone for the replies. I think I'm going to pull the seeds and then freeze them (halves) and as JSKaiser said, I can always dehydrate or dry the frozen ones so I think this way makes the most sense.

Now about the freezing, do I have to worry about freezer burn? If I squeeze out as much air as possible from the bag, that will protect against freezer burn right?
 
Just suck the air out, especially with the super hots........ :D

Let us know what it was like............ :hell:
 
dry, then turn into flakes and or powder.

freeze, cook with it whole.

if you have a lot, try to do both. =D

see what works for you.
 
When I freeze, I put them in a bowl and give them a day or two in the freezer then take them out and right into the vacuum sealer which would mash them otherwise. I have done the same with ziplocs and just sucked the air out. Best of luck. Next year I hope to have a varied harvest and not just a ton of Caribbean Red Habs like this year.
 
Hi Guys. So the way I enjoy my peppers the most is to eat it raw along with food...little bite of a pepper, then bite of food but after that, its for cooking. For soups and stews and pizza I like to put pepper halves or quarters in the food. For other stuff, I will sprinkle on some powder. I wonder what the texture of a frozen pepper will be like when its thawed out. I wonder if it gets very soft and mushy because if not, then maybe I can eat the thawed ones raw and hopefully have it taste ok.
 
I use frozen pods to make sauce with, I have found that after chopping up the pods (or freezing whole if I'm pressed for time) that if
I add enough vinegar to the container to get the pods wet, (shake em up!) that the frozen pod has a much fresher look and appearance
after being frozen for a period of time. (OK the longest any have stayed in the freezer is 6 months) Somehow it seems to stop the freezer
burn and cellular degeneration that sometimes occurs in frozen pods.
 
i have the same dilemma

im pickling, giving away, drying,and freezing as well as making hot sauce

i generally have no trouble giving them away

the beautiful thing about having the blessing of a garden is that you can bless others as well

thanks your joe
 
for annuums types I like to keep them in the freezer for stir-fries, chilli, pot roasts etc as they keep some composure after freezing. I find chinense turn too mushy when thawed and quickly lose their heat when cooked after freezing.

So, freeze annuums for later cooking and turn chinense into powder.
 
Burning Colon said:
for annuums types I like to keep them in the freezer for stir-fries, chilli, pot roasts etc as they keep some composure after freezing. I find chinense turn too mushy when thawed and quickly lose their heat when cooked after freezing.

So, freeze annuums for later cooking and turn chinense into powder.
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Unless something goes very wrong at the last minute; I'm going to have a lot of orange and red Habaneros.
I've been wondering about that. So, powder and dehydrated pods it is. Cheers.
 
Cook them into purees and can them. You can use the purees later straight, or as bases for any hot sauce, BBQ sauce, jam, etc.
 
Hmmm that is possibly a good idea...but wouldnt I have to add quite a bit of vinegar to the puree to make it last? I'm guessing a cooked puree on its own would go bad fast wouldnt it?


thehotpepper.com said:
Cook them into purees and can them. You can use the purees later straight, or as bases for any hot sauce, BBQ sauce, jam, etc.
Click to expand...
 
svtcontour said:
Hmmm that is possibly a good idea...but wouldnt I have to add quite a bit of vinegar to the puree to make it last? I'm guessing a cooked puree on its own would go bad fast wouldnt it?
Click to expand...
Yes I didn't mean just peppers ;)

pH must be correct.

AlabamaJack is an expert at this. His purees rock.
 
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