food Crushed Candied Habaneros

ZanderSpice said:
I made some candied Bhut Jolokias for Christmas. I followed the directions using organic sugar and apple cider vinegar. After baking I dusted them with confectioners sugar. I was very happy with the results. Thanks for posting the recipe!

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hOLY crap how did i miss these! They would OWN YOU!
 
I am in the midst of making candied trinidad perfumes again, and thought it might be helpful to post some of my thoughts as I was making them. Last year was my first attempt at candying anything, so there was a touch of a learning process going on. (Note this recipe is EASY for a first-timer, so these are just tips you might find useful.)

RichardK's post says to leave the seeds in the pods. IMO this isn't really necessary, so if you're a seed-saver, go ahead and remove them. Why? As you cook them, a good number of the seeds come out, anyway. "Good number" being most. It's kind of visually appealing to have some seeds in there, so I pulled out the ones that were easily accessible (trin perfs are small pods), and left the ones that weren't. I still had a significant number of seeds floating in the syrup.

While you need the pods to completely submerge into the syrup while they cook, don't be overly concerned if they aren't completely covered at first. The pods will soften and reduce in size as they cook; just be sure to stir frequently.

When I made these last year, I poured the pods into a strainer set over a jar before moving them to the parchment-lined pans. This way I gathered the syrup for later use, plus the pods drained before I moved them to the paper. Only as the pods cool, they get sticky, which makes them a tad bit more difficult to work with. This year I left them in the saucepan, and fished the pieces out between two forks. The forks let the syrup drain off, and they were easier to grab in the liquid.

There is a part of me that wants someone to tell me how long I should boil the pods. But in thinking about it further, this isn't really a good idea. It really depends upon the actual temperature of your burners, as well as things like altitude. In other words, it will take longer for some than for others. So use your eyes - make sure the pods become translucent before turning off the heat.

Safety - I found that things can change very abruptly while bringing the syrup to a boil, and while boiling the pods. Things seem to go slowly at first, but resist the temptation to leave it alone for a while. Also, keep in mind that boiling hot sugar is just that - HOT. And it seems to take a lot longer to cool down than one might think. So be patient - let it cool significantly before taking the leftover syrup out of the pan. If you want to save the syrup, pour it into a clean (preferrably boiled) glass jar, after letting it cool quite a bit. You could put it into a plastic jar if you know you are going to use it pretty quickly, but make sure it is really cool before attempting to pour it into one.

RichardK's directions say not to let them touch when they're on the parchment. While you don't want them clumped together, if they're touching a tad, don't sweat it.

Keep in mind the candying process actually happens in the saucepan - the real purpose of putting them in the oven is just so they dry out faster. Like I said above, if you want better color, pop the oven temperature down a bit.

I decided to experiment a bit this time, and added some ground coriander to the mix. When these come out of the oven, I'll post a couple of pics and let you know what I think about having the coriander in there.
 
Have to agree - these ARE great (with a tip of the hat to RichardK!) The funny thing about the trinidad perfumes is that I don't really care for them fresh, or even just cooked into a savory dish, as they seem to have a rather strong grassy taste to me. But I have two fairly prolific plants of them this year (last year just bought some pods from CCN), because they are so good when candied.

Something to know about the hotter pods: We all know sugar is one of the things that cuts into the heat of capsaicin. So these can be sneaky - pop a piece into your mouth, yum, pop another piece into your mouth, yum again...... pop a few more without thinking about it, then WHAM! Yeah, you're definitely thinking about it NOW.
 
Okay, before and after pics of the trinidad perfumes:

After the saucepan, but before the oven:
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After the oven:
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I also had a few pods of Aji Habanero in with the trin perfs. They were also a good choice for candying - very citrusy, and quite tasty. The similar thing about both these pods is that some are so mild as to be sweet, while others can pack some surprising heat - not HOT at all, but surprising if you've had a few with no heat. Makes it kind of fun, like a guessing game!
 
+1 look yummy. I am not candying this year after 3 days of hard breathing last year when I candied. Maybe next year.
 
Guy - I always have the windows open and a fan running when candying or dehydrating, as I don't have a vent hood. But still, I can completely understand your hesitation!

Tonly - I highly recommend it!

Warning: They're highly addictive!
 
If you're tired of me resurrecting this thread, so sad, TOO BAD! Actually, I'm kind of on a quest to improve my methodology each time I make candied peppers, in a way to try to arrive at a Borg-like perfection to candying peppers without being a candy expert. That said, I did a little research into candying "stuff" (still focusing on not getting super-technical, though), and I found several recommendations that were all in line with each other. Specifically, when initially melting the sugar/salt/lime juice mixture, don't do it on high heat - use medium-low for that initial melt. Then once it gets all melted and starts to become clear, crank the heat up and toss in the peppers. Stir significantly to coat the peppers with the hot sugar mix, but stop stirring once it comes to a good boil. If you feel a need to push the pods down from time to time, go ahead and do that, but resist the temptation to stir. Once the pods become translucent, let them continue to boil for about another 5 minutes before removing to the pan.

What difference does this make? I remove the pods from the syrup using a couple of forks to scoop them out, then spread out the clump once I dump them on the pan. By the time I got done with that, the forks were MUCH stickier than they've been in the past. Also, I usually let the saucepan sit a while to cool down before pouring the syrup out of it, which is usually an easy task. This time? I REALLY had to work at getting the syrup out of the pan - it had become just that thick and sticky in a fairly short time.

The pods are drying in the oven right now, but I have a sneaking suspicion they won't take as long to dry this time, either. And shorter time in the oven = better color in the end product. I'll let you know how they work out after I get them out of the oven later.
 
Let me know when Gee's Candied Peppers Inc. is up and going. Would you want some scorpions to candy? I can send you some.
 
Thanks for resurrecting this. I forgot that this was what I was gonna do with my last batch of habs of the year. THEN I SHALL CRUSH THEM AND PUT THEM ON MY ICE CREAM :woohoo:
 
So this is curious. I actually ended up leaving the peppers in the oven a lot longer than I had anticipated. Not intentionally, but between fixing dinner and a few other distractions, temporarily forgot about them. Anyhow, I was quite surprised to take them out of the oven and still find them quite soft and syrupy. Hmm. But I decided to check the container I had poured the extra syrup into before taking any further steps. It's not hard, but I can turn it on its side and see VERY little flow - it hardly budges. Okay - so maybe the heat of the oven in this case was actually keeping the peppers soft, so I took them out and put them (still on parchment paper) on a cooling rack. At this point the little spots where the syrup dripped as I was putting the peppers on the pan are rather hard. The peppers are a cross between hard and chewy right now - parts are crunchy-hard, but parts are still sticky. I'm not going to put them back in the oven at this point, but will let them air-dry overnight, and check them again in the morning.

Isn't experimenting FUN?
 
Well, I ended up putting them back in the oven for just a bit over an hour yesterday. They are still a cross between crunchy and chewy, which I have to admit I like. The inside is chewy, but the outside is a thin, hard layer, so you get that initial crunch when you bite into them, but then they end up chewy. Possibly if I either a) boiled the syrup a bit longer, or b) left them in the oven a bit longer, they would have been harder throughout. I ended up placing a fresh pod order with CCN and also have more pods ripening, so will be trying again this weekend - good times!
 
This is a great thread. Thank you, folks! I'm going to give it a shot with some chocolate habs and some SBs that windchicken sent me. Was gonna do it today, but it would apparently interfere with the lamb roast for dinner. lol.
 
As said much earlier in the thread I have made these. I have been doing some other experiments with candy but have found after it sets it is sticky and if you have a few in a container together then they stick together. What do you suggest i do? Should I dust them with something? Is it icing sugar that people use? I dont want to affect the way it looks much though....
 
have found after it sets it is sticky and if you have a few in a container together then they stick together. What do you suggest i do?

Sticky/tacky sugar coated candy just needs a dusting of confectioners' sugar once they are dry. It will stick to all the tacky places. When I candied Fatalii's last year I did that, but unfortunately I didn't have them dry enough.
 
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