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WTF

Jeff L

Jeff L

I bought a Nesco dehydrator for my peppers to make powder. I sliced them in half, set the temp to 120. It says 3 to 20 hrs. Well its been 36 hrs and theyre still soft. I cut reapers,habaneros, Thai,and salsa. They are wrinkled up quite a bit. Should I remove them and let em air dry?
 
If I'm not mistaken, my old American Harvest has a temp dial that is marked for different items ranging from crafts to meats.  I believe fruits/vegetables is 135F.  That's what I use and depending on wall thickness of the peppers it takes no longer than 12 hours.  
 
Tybo said:
If I'm not mistaken, my old American Harvest has a temp dial that is marked for different items ranging from crafts to meats.  I believe fruits/vegetables is 135F.  That's what I use and depending on wall thickness of the peppers it takes no longer than 12 hours.  
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I dry mine at as close to 100f I can go because they retain color and the seeds are still viable done that way.  I feel you get a tastier powder at lower temps.  The trade off is definitely time though; thicker walled padrons and jalas can take 3 or 4 days. 
 
 
I have an Excalibur and use the lower settings for pods I want to save seeds from waiting until they're leathery. For powder I use a much higher setting, shortening drying time, as I don't care if the seeds effected by temp. Of course drying times vary but 2-3 days at max temps produces pods dry enough for grinding into powder.
 
luvmesump3pp3rz said:
you should have put dehydrator in the title. some people might skip over threads titled WTF. JMO
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Good advice Kevin. I'd like to add using the "Quote" feature to alert the person you're responding to that they should see if they'd like to respond/answer/add to the conversation.
 
I did a small comparison lately.
 
First batch of jalas i cut into 1/4s lengthwise into strips. They dry pretty fast.
Second batch i only halved and drying took more than twice as long.
Both batches were deseeded first.
 
Thin walled supers ive just been slicing open the full length of the pod but leaving the stem on. The stem gives me something to handle more safely and less loose super hot seeds fall out. They dry at least 4 times faster than whole pods.
 
Aji Panca i just make a 1-2" slit in the pod. For whatever reason these suckers dry fast. Maybe its because i let them ripen longer to make sure they are ripe.
 
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