preservation Dehydrator stank?

B

Btdown

First time grower of datil peppers (actually first time grower of anything that actually survived).  I bought myself a Nesco dehydrator and as an experiment, I cut half of the datil peppers in half, and the other I just cut the caps off an stuck them in the dehydrator and fired it up.  I came downstairs an hour or so later and the entire first floor smells nasty like a dirty pair of gym shorts!
 
Is this stank normal with peppers or is the datil "special" in that regard?
 
Thanks!
BT
 
 
 
 
Btdown said:
First time grower of datil peppers (actually first time grower of anything that actually survived).  I bought myself a Nesco dehydrator and as an experiment, I cut half of the datil peppers in half, and the other I just cut the caps off an stuck them in the dehydrator and fired it up.  I came downstairs an hour or so later and the entire first floor smells nasty like a dirty pair of gym shorts!
 
Is this stank normal with peppers or is the datil "special" in that regard?
 
Thanks!
BT
 
 
 
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Its pretty normal, I actually dehydrate my peppers in the basement so I dont have to hear my wife complaining about the smell.  Ocassionally she walks downstairs and still feels the need to comment about it.  lol
 
Btdown said:
... the entire first floor smells nasty like a dirty pair of gym shorts!
Is this stank normal with peppers or is the datil "special" in that regard?
Click to expand...
 
Actually, no, IMO. It could be the newness of the dehydrator, but I don't honestly remember my Nesco smelling like that the first time I used it. I've heard plenty of people on here either complaining themselves or mentioning others complaining when they dry pods either because of the capsaicin in the air or the strength of the smell. All I do is keep a window open and it's fine. But note - the smell may be strong, but it should smell like the peppers you are drying, NOT like a dirty pair of gym shorts. I'd suggest contacting the manufacturer if that kind of smell persists.
 
geeme said:
 
Actually, no, IMO. It could be the newness of the dehydrator, but I don't honestly remember my Nesco smelling like that the first time I used it. I've heard plenty of people on here either complaining themselves or mentioning others complaining when they dry pods either because of the capsaicin in the air or the strength of the smell. All I do is keep a window open and it's fine. But note - the smell may be strong, but it should smell like the peppers you are drying, NOT like a dirty pair of gym shorts. I'd suggest contacting the manufacturer if that kind of smell persists.
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I just assumed he was referring to the pepper smell, my wife thinks the smell of drying hot peppers smells awful.  To me they smell wonderful, I guess its all pereption.  Your advice is sound though, I hope its just the latter and not a defective dehydrator unit. 
 
geeme said:
 
Actually, no, IMO. It could be the newness of the dehydrator, but I don't honestly remember my Nesco smelling like that the first time I used it. I've heard plenty of people on here either complaining themselves or mentioning others complaining when they dry pods either because of the capsaicin in the air or the strength of the smell. All I do is keep a window open and it's fine. But note - the smell may be strong, but it should smell like the peppers you are drying, NOT like a dirty pair of gym shorts. I'd suggest contacting the manufacturer if that kind of smell persists.
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Unless they are Bhut's.
Sweaty gym shorts is how I describe the undertones. :twisted:
 
And, yes---all of my dehydrators emit the odor of drying peppers, drying anything else has it's charistic stank too.
 
If you or someone else in the house objects to the odor, just set the thing by a window and put a fan blowing out.
 
Problem solved.
 
Thanks for all the input....The issue was with the pepper stank itself, not the misoperation of the dehydrator.  I don't know what I was thinking, but I didnt anticipate it smelling that much.  I'm going to have to air the place out, but it was manageable (for me at least). Since I live in Florida, I doubt I could do it outside or in the garage due to humidity...it might get done, but would probably take forever. 
 
I still havent figured out what I'm going to do with them, so I figured drying them would be the best option. I have 4 datil plants fruiting now, and I should have another 6 (3-red habs and 3-chocolate habs) fruiting in a couple months.
 
The datil ones I cut in half were done drying in 10 hours, and the full ones I just cut the top off dried in like 13 hours. 
 
I bought a mature fruiting datil plant late last year and it has not flowered or come back yet...I'll post a pic of it later and maybe yall can tell me if I killed it or not.
 
Thanks!
BT
 
Btdown said:
Thanks for all the input....The issue was with the pepper stank itself, not the misoperation of the dehydrator.  I don't know what I was thinking, but I didnt anticipate it smelling that much.  I'm going to have to air the place out, but it was manageable (for me at least). Since I live in Florida, I doubt I could do it outside or in the garage due to humidity...it might get done, but would probably take forever. 
 
I still havent figured out what I'm going to do with them, so I figured drying them would be the best option. I have 4 datil plants fruiting now, and I should have another 6 (3-red habs and 3-chocolate habs) fruiting in a couple months.
 
The datil ones I cut in half were done drying in 10 hours, and the full ones I just cut the top off dried in like 13 hours. 
 
I bought a mature fruiting datil plant late last year and it has not flowered or come back yet...I'll post a pic of it later and maybe yall can tell me if I killed it or not.
 
Thanks!
BT
Click to expand...
 
Some people will dry the pepper whole and then store them in gallon freezer bags.  When you need powder just take some of the whole dried pods and fire up the coffee grinder.  They say they retain more of the flavor when they are dried whole.   If you have a good dehydrator like a Nesco you can set at 90 degrees and then the seeds will still be viable for trading. 
 
M y cheap dehydrator sucks, no temp control.  
 
I don't recommend drying whole, as it takes longer - much longer. Either cut in half or at least cut a slit so air can get to the inside. 
 
Btdown - what temperature did you dry them at? You said they dried in 10 hours. I dry mine at the lowest setting (90F) and it runs a few days. You likely have higher humidity that we do here, so 10 hours tells me likely you dried them at a higher temperature. Drying at the lowest setting takes longer, but it retains color and flavor better. It could be that the temperature makes a smell difference during dehydration, too. I've never dried pods at a temp higher than 90F, but it seems reasonable that if you dry them hotter/faster, there is going to be more concentration in the air all at once. It's probably like the difference between washing your hands and prep tools after processing the pods with cold water vs. with hot water. Some still gets in the air if you use cold water, but the steam can make you start choking if you use hot water.  
 
When I cook and can salsas in my parents' kitchen my mother complains that it "smells like you maced something and it killed it" but my dad barely notices.  I think it's all a matter of how your nose reacts to the smell. 
 
I can say that I've never dehydrated peppers and have them smell like gym socks though.
 
The nesco I bought only had one setting (on/off switch) but I think I'm going to splurge for the one with the temp control. I only had one tray of peppers and the ones I cut in half dried in 10 hrs, but the whole ones took another 3 hours. I had never used a dehydrator before and don't know what I was expecting, but I really didn't think it would the equivalent of sticking a hair dryer in a box for 12 hours....I guess I was expecting magic or something...

I had grandiose dreams of making a lot of sauce but I think I'm going just to stockpile some pods for a while and experiment with dehydrating. Next on the purchase list is an herb/coffee grinder. Im also considering buying a small smoker to smoke them up before drying.

I think I might use these first pods to make some datil salt!
 
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