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preservation Questions about drying

bpiela

bpiela

I have a small pile of Yatsufusa Peppers, which are small, and cayenne-like in shape.  Just by leaving them on a paper towel, they have all seemed to dry out without rotting.  So, since they are dry, can I just get a rubber mallet out and pound these into submission in order to make a dry pepper flakes?  I seem to have frozen some of these peppers in the past.  I am guessing that if I took those out of the freezer, I would have a hard time drying them.  Does that make sense?  How do you dry other hot peppers that are not in the cayenne family?  It seems that other peppers tend to rot before drying out...
 
Thanks in advance.
 
Typically, slice in half and put skin side down in a dehydrator. In your situation, I would toast them in the oven at it's lowest setting for 10 minutes, just before crushing them. 200°-225°F but don't burn them. They will be brittle coming out of the oven and perfect for crushing.
This will work well for your frozen ones also.
 
     ^+1. A two for one. Easier to crush and extra flavor! Also, you could use a food dehydrator. They never rot before they dry, no matter how thick the flesh is.
 
Your frozen pods won't have the same consistency as the fresh ones - putting in the freezer makes them squishy. Likely they will release much moisture upon thawing, so keep them in the container you froze them in and let them drain well before putting them into the dehydrator or oven. 
 
split in half on lowest setting(150-200) in oven with convection fan on, takes about 5 - 8 hrs.
You can do the same with frozen, they will just be a bit more of a mess / mushy for a couple hours.
 
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