drying-smoking Few peppers drying in a jar and mold inside them

[wiicek]

Hi, I left few of my peppers in a small tiny jar...
I really mean few, like 5 of them. I think I just forgot about them. I saw them few weeks ago on a shelf but didn't check and today I decided to grind it but I found out that the most of them have mold inside.

They were not opened, cut they were just put in a opened jar and left inside a glass cabinet. Cabinet is closed but has spaces between glass and is opened few times a day, the air flow is better than in normal wooden cabinet.

How do you deal with that? I dry my peppers and do something with them almost suddenly so didn't face it on a large scale, I did dry some of them at the end of the season tho and there was a time I didn't have time to do much with them for few weeks and some fid have mild inside also.

I know pepple put dried peppers inside the jar without grinding them and that is a way they store them.

Also, on the third picture there is perfectly fine pepper with seeds that were too young and dried black... I think. This is not mold, right?

 

[The Hot Pepper]

Seems you stored peppers that were not fully dried or they had trapped moisture inside, did you pierce them when drying?

 

[wiicek]

Seems you stored peppers that were not fully dried or they had trapped moisture inside

Than might be the case, I don't remember but maybe there were put there just for later and forgotten.

Did you pierce them when drying?

I did not touch them but maybe there were damaged when picking or something, I won't swear that this could't happen.

So, the ideal way is to dry them fast and fully and then something like this just can't happen, right?

Sometimes I just like to leave them be on the plate somewhere in the house so they can dry naturally and then after few weeks do something with them. I am scared now that they could have some mold inside and I didn't see. Like with the wild brasil I dried last year, few of them I catched with darker insides, they were moldy.

Have to buy some dryier or use oven just always...

 

[The Hot Pepper]

No no no I meant did you take a knife and stab each pepper so the water has an outlet. You should do this when drying.

 

[The Hot Pepper]

I actually find the best tool is a long and sharp metal skewer and just poke each one on the tray. It's insurance against mold as usually the water can find a way out but not always.

 

[Bou]

Another good option to consider to avoid mold problems is to add a small packet of silica gel to each jar. Also useful for powders made from very oily peppers (to reduce clumping). They are available in packs of different sizes and quantities (I bought them on Amazon).

 

[The Hot Pepper]

True, they make certain ones that are food-safe too (otherwise they are good for shoe boxes etc.) I like these:

Amazon.com

 

[wiicek]

Omg, I did not think that this may be helpful and now I am like, wtf, it's obvious @The Hot Pepper so thank you so much!

And did not know that this thing even exists @Bou Will have to get some till autumn then! Thank you! <3

 

[Marturo]

I began deseeding the pods before drying due to mold problems.
So far so good.

 

[Bou]

True, they make certain ones that are food-safe too (otherwise they are good for shoe boxes etc.) I like these:

Amazon.com

Although it is not written on the bag the ones I use are supposed to be food safe.

 

[The Hot Pepper]

Word! That's good, I wasn't commenting directly on yours but good to know that you know!

 

[wiicek]

I began deseeding the pods before drying due to mold problems.
So far so good.

Yeaa, I will have to do this from now on, I did not last year. Normally when I dry them in the oven, I don't put them all there, I cut them in smaller pieces, so they can dry in two days in 60 Celsius or something like that, upper row, heat from above with circulation. It's fast, house smell gorgously and everything is safe.

Problem is at the end of the season when I don't know where to put my hands and there are plates with peppers ripening or drying naturally all over the house. Then I can't deseed them when I finally get to them ;/

But hey, there is a good side - I found out I don't have any Black Molten seeds saved, because she was rippening so late in the season (in my house after the frost!) and I took some from my flakes! They are growing nicely xd

 

[The Hot Pepper]

Another trick is cut the tip off the pepper. When it shrivels up you won't even notice it's gone, and it's a great air hole.

 

[Bou]

Word! That's good, I wasn't commenting directly on yours but good to know that you know!

I know! Plus it is written on each pouch "Do not eat or inhale"

 

[The Hot Pepper]

It's food safe, I love it on pizza!