I think this is the right forum for this. So, with my scotch bonnets or any hot chili that has a thin enough wall to dry (I think you can dry bonnets, right?) I'm wondering what the benefits are dried vs. frozen and if anyone knows how it affects the flavor and so on. I'm drying cayennes so I'll have plenty of pepper flakes, but freezing the others is just easier. Thoughts?
food Frozen vs. dried
- Thread starter Pulpiteer
- Start date
Freezing them makes them soft, so typically after that about all you can do is make sauce or use them in dishes like casseroles, chili, or spaghetti, where the consistency doesn't matter so much. I've rehydrated dried pods, and prefer the consistency of those over frozen. So I agree with Omri - it depends upon what you are going to do with them later, as well as personal preference.
To be honest with you, I'm not sure. I'm thinking about using the hot lemons in a pepper jelly, so that's how I'll store them. I'll probably pickle some. The bonnets I'll probably just use for cooking chili or throwing in some eggs stuff like that. How different is the taste between dried and frozen? Where is the thread on candying them - that sounds very interesting, and tasty...
I've frozen habs before, and knew they got soft. Your comment on better consistency for dried makes sense, thank you. And yeah, your's and Omri's questions on what I'll do with them eventually... that helps. It sounds like freezing and pickling them will be the way for me to go, I don't have a ton of them and I'll probably use them for casseroles, chili, etc... I guess it'd be nice to just have fresh pods year round, huh?