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Drying out peppers

TjMartin

TjMartin

I don't have a dehydrator yet, and my oven doesn't go as low as needed to dry out peppers. Do you think it's possible to dry out peppers like Habaneros in my pepper grow box? The temperature stays around 80 degrees in the box with the lights on.

Has anyone tried this? It's a cardboard box lined with foil.
 
Air circulation is a big thing , preventing molds from growing, slice the habs in half and lay out, so if you have a fan on low and the warmth it'll work just at a slower pace and actually thats not a bad thing
 
Pretty sure they will mold, many super-hots mold. I would think your grow box is meant to keep moisture not an arid dry environment. They may not dry fast enough to prevent mold, could always just try and let us know. ;)
 
I experimented with air drying in the off season. I bought fresh peppers and with various thickness and strung them up both inside and outside. The humidity is pretty constant where I live.(coastal San Diego) I found a spot near multiable windows that worked well. So, at the beginning of the season I made Ristas and spread them around. (see pic) I had fans, space between the rows etc. Well it did not take long to abort this plan. Unless you live in the Desert Southwest you will have issues. The thin skinned as you know dry easily, but some others retain a good bit of water and are problematic. The Yellow Scorps were the worst for me.Basically you need low humidity, airflow and some heat. When one or more is not there things will grow. I just bought a bigger freezer.
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Oven drying can still work. A lot of ovens can go below 200 in the "warm" territory, and with the oven door open it should be able to work as I suggest here:
http://www.scottrobertsweb.com/Ultimate-Guide-to-Drying-Hot-Peppers.php
 
The lowest I can get the oven down to is around 190-200, I have to place my Maverick wireless thermometer probe in the oven to watch it. It's an old twist knob oven that goes from warm to the lowest number of 200, I did make bacon a few weeks ago in the oven rather than the smoker to test the oven out and that's what I came up with, 190-200 degrees.

Could I do it in the smoker? I can do low temps, haven't tried towards 100 degrees but immature I could do it.

I could add a little smoke to it too!
 
you can get dehydrators for cheap if you look online or at your local stores.
the ones with adjustable temp control is best but w/o will get the job done too, get one with the fan on top cuz liquids fall down & could destroy the motor plus makes it easier to clean w/o worries of water in the motor.
you can get them for less than $50
plus having a dehydrator is a huge plus & makes life easier.
 
Cut pods in half, line on kitchen paper and keep reasonably warm. The paper absorbs excess moisture and avoids mold/rot.
It takes a while but works great for me.

Cya

Datil
 
Anyone ever try one of these Roater Ovens to dry pods.

Has settings on it that are lower than 150°. Can start at 150° then turn knob below that a ways for lower temps.

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It's more about airflow than temperature. Simply cutting the pods in half and a fan will work.

A little warmer temperature speeds up the process.
 
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