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preservation When are dehydrating peppers done?

Malarky

Malarky

Dehydrating my first batch of Choc Habs. Did them at 135 cuz I figured they were brown so there wasn't much color to lose. They've been running all day and are looking dried. What's your benchmark for "Done"?
 
Time depends on the ambiant humidity and pepper type.
 
I consider mines done when they are brittle and not leathery anymore
 
The longest it took me was 4 days running 24 hours/ day. those damn oily 7 pot lava just don't want to dry xd
 
Got a batch of brown morugas going right now. should be done in a hour or two.
 
dehydrating brown morugas.jpg
 
Ok I'll maybe let them go til morning. That'd be about 24 hrs and then I'll check them again. They were crackly when I got home from work, but maybe a little leathery still.

I've got a Nesco Snackmaster FD-61. $25 garage sale find!
 
I always dry pods at the lowest heat setting on my dehydrator. That yields not only the best color but also the closest to original flavor as it gets. Also, it allows me to be lazy and not deseed before drying - the seeds are still viable when dried at such low temps. Drying them usually takes several days this way, and I'm cool with that.
 
I got a Nesco and I do them at 136. I start checking them out at about 10 hours and sometimes it takes an extra hour. Talk about humidity, mind is in the garage and I am in Florida. Bottom line, when really crispy, they are done. Any of that flexibility you mention, check a half hour after that. The more crispy it is, the finer the powder will turn out. Tom
 
I dont do geek flips when drying
I use 9 tray Excalibur units
I run at 150F(split pods) for about 5-6hrs
Sometimes ambient conditions play in variance but not much
I loose no flavor,no color or anything remotely negative in my process
Im a decade+ running consistent,take the newbies at face value
12 Excalibur 9 Trays on stand by :)
 
i have the nesco as well and do what was said above. Generally I grind it right away, so I like to dehydrate it till it cracks when I squeeze it to ensure no clumping happens when i grind in the coffee grinder 
 
Thanks for the insight everyone! 24hrs at 135 did it for sure. probably could have gone less.
Like i said before i did choc habs so i wasn't terrible worried about color. i'll do some RedSavinas a little more carefully next to see if i can keep that color bright.
 
Any one notice an appreciable difference in flavor between low temp and high temp dehydrating?
 
All good advice.  Want to add a test.  I started doing this when making banana chips.  I think I read it in one of the Ball books.  When you think a batch is done, let them cool and then put them into a pint mason jar, lid on set them aside upside down.  If you see any condensation by next morning, they are not done.  I store things in mason jars, so it is not much of a bother.  If there is no condensation, I flip them over, drop in an O2 eater, close it up and wait for that ting when the top gets sucked down from the O2 eater.  I think the O2 eater is a bit extreme for things you are going to consume within the year, but have had three year old banana chips come out tasting fresh.

Oh, and I -think- the O2 eaters suck up any moisture that might be left.  Something about the chemical reaction to eliminate the O2.
 
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