powder-flake Sundried chillis.

[Linyera]

Good day to all chilliheads!
I always dry the chillies in the sun here in autumn and early winter.
I have dried them with heat before and the whole farm ends up having a lovely chilli flavour.
The result is powder that is not as tasty. I believe that a lot of the good stuff evaporates with the heat.
Smoking the chillies is another issue, but we use the cold smoker half way through the drying process for that now.
Any opinions or advice in the subject will be usefull.
Thanks.

 

[Marturo]

The result is powder that is not as tasty. I believe that a lot of the good stuff evaporates with the heat.

I have dried a lot of pods for storage & sending as presents.
Last year I switched & froze the majority of pods. Why? Because drying removes so much flavor.
Drying some only so far that they were just past leathery made a big difference in taste.

Other than my Mole making peppers I just don't enjoy a Dried Scotch bonnet over a Fresh frozen pod with my fried potatoes.
When I tried sun drying my pods they lost there bright red colors. That's where I am, so I bought a 7 Cubic foot
lay down freezer for all the pods.

 

[Linyera]

I have dried a lot of pods for storage & sending as presents.
Last year I switched & froze the majority of pods. Why? Because drying removes so much flavor.
Drying some only so far that they were just past leathery made a big difference in taste.

Other than my Mole making peppers I just don't enjoy a Dried Scotch bonnet over a Fresh frozen pod with my fried potatoes.
When I tried sun drying my pods they lost there bright red colors. That's where I am, so I bought a 7 Cubic foot
lay down freezer for all the pods.

I will try to freeze some and see how we like them.
Thanks for the advice.

 

[The Hot Pepper]

What is the question?

 

[RobStar]

I find it best to harvest Capsicum annuum and C. baccatum when ripe but not over-ripe where they start to become mushy. They should be dried in a a cool dry place with good air movement under cover out of the direct sun. That way they dry slowly and develop very intense flavours - the fruity nuances come to the fore. The difference between a ristra of guajillo hanging out in the sun versus slow dried in the cool shade is ridiculous - the one is dust-flavoured paper and the other is raisin and paprika (intense dark flavours) flavoured pliable leather. There's just no comparison.

Capsicum chinense on the other hand is not well-suited to drying. I find they lose all the tropical fruity flavours - that are actually very volatile - that's why you can smell them when you cut them. They become bitter. I have tried reconstituting them in various liquids but to no avail - the bitterness is overwhelming. Best to preserve chinense as Marturo says - freeze them.

 

[Linyera]

What is the question?

Good morning. Not really a quetion. I would just like to learn some more about drying chillis. Other natural ways.

 

[Linyera]

I find it best to harvest Capsicum annuum and C. baccatum when ripe but not over-ripe where they start to become mushy. They should be dried in a a cool dry place with good air movement under cover out of the direct sun. That way they dry slowly and develop very intense flavours - the fruity nuances come to the fore. The difference between a ristra of guajillo hanging out in the sun versus slow dried in the cool shade is ridiculous - the one is dust-flavoured paper and the other is raisin and paprika (intense dark flavours) flavoured pliable leather. There's just no comparison.

Capsicum chinense on the other hand is not well-suited to drying. I find they lose all the tropical fruity flavours - that are actually very volatile - that's why you can smell them when you cut them. They become bitter. I have tried reconstituting them in various liquids but to no avail - the bitterness is overwhelming. Best to preserve chinense as Marturo says - freeze them.

Thanks Robin. That makes sence. I will give it a try in a cool spot. I do not yet have any chinense, but the seeds are already on the way so next year!!!

 

[Marturo]

The difference between a ristra of guajillo hanging out in the sun versus slow dried in the cool shade is ridiculous

I totally agree.

. That way they dry slowly and develop very intense flavours - the fruity nuances come to the fore.

My concern over drying very slowly is of course, moldy seeds & placenta.
If I could still use my electric dehydrator to start drying, then gut them & finnish drying the pods to leathery consistency.
I'm sure it's the high humidity here in the Mountains, that make drying Ristras in the open imposable.

As for Charapata & Scotch Bonnets + all the C. Chinense I will dry some, & freeze or sauce the rest.
In December we took out some frozen Scotchies to use in three bean salad, even frozen that smell just pulled you back to Summer.
A handful of frozen Serranos for an omelet & you could swear it was mid August & the plants were loaded with ripe red pods.

Good thread on a very important subject, drying your peppers for storage & taste retention. I believe that the peppers I have dried
before last season were too dry, & last season were all dried just past leathery. Taste so far? Season before last, the chickens will love them.
Last seasons dried pods are much more aromatic & seem to have more flavor.

With all the frozen pods we put up last season, I just don't use the dried pods that much.

This was 2 seasons ago & that was half the peppers as we are growing this season.

 

[Linyera]

I totally agree.

My concern over drying very slowly is of course, moldy seeds & placenta.
If I could still use my electric dehydrator to start drying, then gut them & finnish drying the pods to leathery consistency.
I'm sure it's the high humidity here in the Mountains, that make drying Ristras in the open imposable.

As for Charapata & Scotch Bonnets + all the C. Chinense I will dry some, & freeze or sauce the rest.
In December we took out some frozen Scotchies to use in three bean salad, even frozen that smell just pulled you back to Summer.
A handful of frozen Serranos for an omelet & you could swear it was mid August & the plants were loaded with ripe red pods.

Good thread on a very important subject, drying your peppers for storage & taste retention. I believe that the peppers I have dried
before last season were too dry, & last season were all dried just past leathery. Taste so far? Season before last, the chickens will love them.
Last seasons dried pods are much more aromatic & seem to have more flavor.

With all the frozen pods we put up last season, I just don't use the dried pods that much.

This was 2 seasons ago & that was half the peppers as we are growing this season.

All good and usefull info Maturo. Thanks.
The variety of methods is great and obviously has bern fine-tuned by some!
I do like the tradicional methods used for milenia by the people in central and South America. México has a wealth of culture im chillies.
The way it was used way back when.

 

[HerbCasa]

What about using the dehydrator to do a jerky with mashed peppers?

 

[SpainChillihead]

I stopped buying dried peppers years ago because of internal mold problems. You just have to open them to see that most of them have mold.

I tried drying some at home, outdoors, and I found that the same thing happened with the thicker peppers, mold appeared.

A few years ago I bought an "ultra-no-frost" refrigerator and seeing how it dried lemons that had been in the refrigerator for months, I tried it with peppers. The result was a damn slow drying, but without mold and preserving the flavors better. It is true that Chinense's tropical flavor completely disappears, but appear smoky and earthy.

For me, the best way to preserve peppers is still vacuum packaging in small packages of 3 or 4 peppers and straight into the freezer. This way I can have peppers for 2 years in the freezer. You never know when things will go wrong...and if things go wrong, no one wants to be left without spice on doomsday.