I'm buying peppers by the lb. and I'd like to know how to store them until I get around to using them. I'm still working on my recipes so my batches are very small (1 to 2 peppers at a time). Should I freeze them for later use or dry them? If I dry them how should I do it? Will I need to rehyrdrate them once I am ready to use them? How do I do that? Sorry I'm a real novice here.
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Freeze or dry peppers?
- Thread starter Darling Nikki
- Start date
I use fresh/frozen and dried pods pretty equally in sauce making. I'm still using a smaller Nesco dehydrator that's worked well for me to dry pods. Dried takes up much less space. I believe that the combination of fresh/frozen and dried really helps round out the depth and character of a sauce, so that's why I use em.
You can absolutely freeze them. So if they are fresh peppers like Habaneros, just put them in zip lock bags and freeze them until you're ready to use them. Once you are ready, pour some mild water into the sink with a stopper and let them thaw out there for a while. Then you can put them in the food processor once completely thawed.
Dried peppers you don't have to freeze, obviously
Edit: We weigh our peppers first though so we only thaw what we are going to use.
Dried peppers you don't have to freeze, obviously
Edit: We weigh our peppers first though so we only thaw what we are going to use.
THP member Hybrid Mode gave me a pro tip - freeze your peppers on a sheet pan first - then bag them and store in the freezer. <-- really makes it easier to separate them out when needed for a recipe.
I rinse and de-stem before freezing. I also halve then but you don't have to. It helps cut space and allows me to weed out any black stuff.
They go right in a bowl to freeze over night then into vacuum bags to get vacuum sealed.
I take them from the freezer and drop right into the blender. No thaw, hence the very useful de-stemming early on.
Have fun
They go right in a bowl to freeze over night then into vacuum bags to get vacuum sealed.
I take them from the freezer and drop right into the blender. No thaw, hence the very useful de-stemming early on.
Have fun
Dehydrating at 115f or less preserves the flavour and takes up less space and easy enough to rehydrate.
I was going to say what others have already said
however i'd add; experiment often, and take notes!
sometimes you even come up with that recipe you've been looking for when trying to just make a quick sauce for 1 meal.
try to always take notes.
and most importantly, have fun
GIP
however i'd add; experiment often, and take notes!
sometimes you even come up with that recipe you've been looking for when trying to just make a quick sauce for 1 meal.
try to always take notes.
and most importantly, have fun
GIP
Justaguy said:
This is exactly what I do. Process the peppers, then freeze them in the right amount for 1 batch of sauce. Want to double a recipe, take out two packages. Simple as that.
All I do to thaw them is let the processed peppers sit in a bowl for 2-3 hours. As they thaw the broken cell walls, from freezing, give up a lot of juice. Add that to your sauce as it would have been there with fresh peppers.
We are getting into the season where you can get fresh pods for the next 5-6 months. I would try to use/buy as many fresh pods as you can during this time and after Labor Day start to horde/freeze fresh pods. I had a few pounds of pods last winter that I thought would get me over the hump...they were gone by December. Don't under estimate your use!
TW
+1 on thisSmokenFire said:THP member Hybrid Mode gave me a pro tip - freeze your peppers on a sheet pan first - then bag them and store in the freezer. <-- really makes it easier to separate them out when needed for a recipe.
Without doing this I would end up with tons of ice crystals in my freezer bags. I started doing this and have bags of peppers about a year old that still look as good as the day I put them in the freezer.
I also agree with Justaguy about dehydrated vs. frozen.
Experiment and learn... I'm am also pretty new to this game compared to most of the people around here. There is a wealth of knowledge on this forum and some really great people always willing to help!
D3monic said:
If you haven't tried fire roasting chinenses, you gotta try it. Only a small portion of the chinenses I freeze each year are fresh. Once I started fire roasting them, there was no looking back! Soooooo good!!
This has been my demise many times this season.. Making an awesome sauce or powder and being under the influence on top of not writing things down (as I'm sure "I'll not forget what I put in here", kinda thing). Lots of good recipes lost...
Sent from my XT1565 using TapatalkGuatemalan Insanity Pepper said:I was going to say what others have already said
however i'd add; experiment often, and take notes!
sometimes you even come up with that recipe you've been looking for when trying to just make a quick sauce for 1 meal.
try to always take notes.
and most importantly, have fun
GIP
I would say this.
If you want to make sauces and have those sauces taste like they were made with fresh peppers, freeze them.
If you want to make powders, or makes salsas and sauces with the taste of dried peppers, dry them.
There is definitely a taste difference and you have the power to decide in advance, or do a mix.
If you want to make sauces and have those sauces taste like they were made with fresh peppers, freeze them.
If you want to make powders, or makes salsas and sauces with the taste of dried peppers, dry them.
There is definitely a taste difference and you have the power to decide in advance, or do a mix.