Dried peppers?

[Jeaton]

I'm thinking about drying out some bhut jolokia peppers, but I didn't know if that would cause the pepper to lose some heat. What do you guys think?

 

[ThePepperGrowingMan]

any loss is minimal...i make powders from the superhots all the time.

 

[Nova]

Per weight of the pod heat will increase because you are loosing all that moisture. I haven't noticed any heat "loss" when drying pods.

 

[finitejest]

Sorry to piggyback, but how about flavor? Is it concentrated or diluted? Does it depends on the pepper?

 

[Burning Colon]

cook'em jeatman, you won't be disappointed, they will keep the heat and keep the aroma, just keep them in a well sealed container and in the fridge.

 

[chilehunter]

the heat will stay about the same, flavor might change a little cuz its dried vs fresh.
use a dehydrator on lower heat for drying it'll work better for drying chiles.

 

[muskymojo]

Sorry to piggyback, but how about flavor? Is it concentrated or diluted? Does it depends on the pepper?

You can smoke or roast them too and add a whole new flavor dimension.

Hey Jest, I'm surprised you didn't say FLAVOUR. What's up with that eh?

 

[POTAWIE]

If you dry them at low temps over a long period of time, you will retain a lot more flavor than sun drying, oven drying, or higher temp dehydrators.
Like any spice you want to keep them in a dark location and preferably not in a warm place like in the cupboard above the stove

 

[SuperHot]

Great thread, I will definitely slow down my drying time next season.
Powder is the way to go!!