drying Dehydrating Peppers

ColdSmoke

ColdSmoke

I searched high and low to try to find the answer to this but came up empty. I am dehydrating some Marugas to make flakes, powders and rubs. They have been in my Nesco dehydrator for over 30 hours on the lowest setting. They are still rubbery. What do they feel like when they are dry? I assume they will be crunchy and it will be obvious. I ask because 30 hours seems like a long time and in fact it's not economically reasonable to do it this way. Should I crank up the heat?
 
Thank you,
 
CS
 
outlaw said:
I did 1 tray last week at 95 degrees and it took about 3 days to get them where I wanted. Wait it out brother
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Is using all that electricity worth it? I guess I'm not sure how much energy those Nescos use, but judging by the sound it's not a small amount. 
 
ColdSmoke said:
 
Is using all that electricity worth it? I guess I'm not sure how much energy those Nescos use, but judging by the sound it's not a small amount. 
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I honestly don't know how much your electricity costs, but mine is about 5.5-6 kWh and the Nesco FD-60 is 500 watts, so based off of this calculation (Watts x hours of use ÷ 1,000 x cost per kilowatt-hour = cost of operation)
 
500x72÷1000x.06 = $2.16 per day
 
So if my calculations are correct it's basically 6 bucks
 
Is it worth it or not? That's up to you. You can definitely up the temperature and dry faster, you just wont have the nice color you get when drying at a lower temp.
 
Last question: I have five trays and the instructions said to use them all even if there isn't food on them. Do you guys use less than five trays? Would that make a difference?
 
Thanks for the replies!
 
I use all the trays but just put the food on the bottom trays and work my way up.  That way the empty trays aren't dirty and it's less clean up required.
 
If you don't use all the trays, the airflow will be disrupted and the unit will not work as advertised...
 
I've never had a issue with any noticeable discoloring when I've been drying the least 5 years.
 
I run mine around 135-140F.  cut mine in half, sometimes 3rd's depending on size....stem-free of course.
 
don't overload it and go by the makers suggested spacing (sortof)
 
I use both a Presto (controllable temp) and a Oster which runs about 150 constantly.
 
These run anywhere from 14-18 hours.
 
....and below are the results. I just took these out of the jars today to crush and grind for some orders.
 
I do smoke mine with apple-wood for about 2 hours (low and slow) and that's where most of my discoloring comes from I beleive.
 
edit:....Forgot to say these are Scotch Bonnets.
 
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ColdSmoke said:
I searched high and low to try to find the answer to this but came up empty. I am dehydrating some Marugas to make flakes, powders and rubs. They have been in my Nesco dehydrator for over 30 hours on the lowest setting. They are still rubbery. What do they feel like when they are dry? I assume they will be crunchy and it will be obvious. I ask because 30 hours seems like a long time and in fact it's not economically reasonable to do it this way. Should I crank up the heat?
 
Thank you,
 
CS
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I am wondering why the 'lowest setting'?
 
I have a Nesco FD-80 with four trays.
 
I typically use all four trays, full to start, and remove peppers as they become dry, at between 140° and 165°.
 
I do not cut up the peppers.
 
Normal batch is about three or four days.
 
OhioHeat said:
I've never had a issue with any noticeable discoloring when I've been drying the least 5 years.
 
I run mine around 135-140F.  cut mine in half, sometimes 3rd's depending on size....stem-free of course.
 
don't overload it and go by the makers suggested spacing (sortof)
 
I use both a Presto (controllable temp) and a Oster which runs about 150 constantly.
 
These run anywhere from 14-18 hours.
 
....and below are the results. I just took these out of the jars today to crush and grind for some orders.
 
I do smoke mine with apple-wood for about 2 hours (low and slow) and that's where most of my discoloring comes from I beleive.
 
edit:....Forgot to say these are Scotch Bonnets.
 
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Not bad but my red powder is REALLY red :) have you ever measured your temperature to see how accurate it runs at? It may run hotter or colder than the dial of course. 
 
JoynersHotPeppers said:
Not bad but my red powder is REALLY red :) have you ever measured your temperature to see how accurate it runs at? It may run hotter or colder than the dial of course. 
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I did check the temp on the Oster(2nd year) since it didn't have a variable control on it after reading some posts here at THP. It read 150f, the other(Pestro) was just about dead on with it's readings.
 I did notice the lower levels drying faster and rotated them about midway through the process.
 
My biggest concern was it affecting the flavor, a little deepened flavor/color due to smoking them 1st took some getting use to w/smoker timing/heat wise.
      For me taste is paramount over heat levels/appearance since most of this at the time was for my own consumption.
Now that I offer some of my powders and dry rubs locally I have kept a closer watch.
 
Thanks for the help folks!... I'll post some pics; they turned out great! How do you guys get them from flakes to powder? My processor should work for flakes, but now sure how to get the powder, coffee grinder?
 
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