Curing vs dehydrating your home grown peppers

[Isaaccarlson]

As some of you know, I picked 45 ghost peppers this week. I cut them up and put them in the dehydrator. Normally I would put them in the curing cabinet, but I wanted to see how they would turn out in the dehydrator. What I found was more surprising than I expected.

For those who dont know, a curing cabinet is an enclosed space with a dehumidifier and some sort of shelves/racks/netting for what you want to cure/dry. We use a portable closet made of heavy cloth with a tiny dehumidifier in the bottom and mesh fabric streched inside for shelves. You keep it closed up and the moisture level drops until the material you put in is dry. It doesnt always get crispy like a dehydrator, which I like.

The peppers from the curing cabinet are a dark red color with a beautiful, rich, sweet, fruity aroma that gives you all the happy feelings. It makes you happy, hungry, and also makes you drool. They smell sort of like fruit loops on steroids.

The peppers from the dehydrator are more pale and have no real aroma, but will burn your sinuses if you try to smell them. They are just simply hot, and thats it, hot.

I used to give my wife a hard time about the curing cabinet. I thought the dehydrator was the best way and thought she was a bit crazy for spending money and setting up a curing cabinet as she called it, just to dry herbs. I really didnt think it was a good idea and suspected that it would not work. I have to take it all back. It works amazing! If you dry your own peppers, herbs, or other plant materials, please look into a curing cabinet. Youll wish you did it years ago.

I will only be using the curing cabinet from now on. Its a night and day difference. The cured peppers are not crispy, but instead are sort of soft and pliable. The difference in flavor/aroma is amazing. The cured peppers taste fresh!

I wish I had only put a few peppers in the dehydrator, but its ok, we make mistakes and learn. Besides, the jar of dehydrated peppers really gives you a good visual comparison with the jar of cured peppers.

 

[karoo]

I do prefer the curing or long dehydration and it does give a totally different taste. The increased aromas and leathery softer consistency you are getting might be from the higher water/moisture content.
 
I often use pods I've forgotten about for a week or two .
 

 

[Walchit]

Interesting. Do the leathery pods grind to powder?

 

[karoo]

Interesting. Do the leathery pods grind to powder?

 
No , but they are good for soups and stews and you can rehydrate them to use in pastes and sauces.
 
You can dry them further and then powder or flake them.
 
For me the most important part is the slow drying process that gives you a more matured taste . Almost like comparing freeze dried grapes to raisins , it's not the same thing.

 

[Chorizo857_62J]

A new alternative.  Awesome.

 

[gthordarson]

Might be interesting to compare keeping qualities longer-term with these two batches side by side.

 

[The Hot Pepper]

When you dehydrate it uses heat so you are also cooking.
When you use your curing cabinet it is similar to sun drying.
 
So picture a tomato in a dehydrator. When done you could grind. But a sun dried tomato, more leathery.
 
Good post! Glad you liked your results. Just be careful of mold because of the moisture and drying times.