How do you store hot peppers

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Folks:

What do YOU do with them for storage. They are an essential part of our diet. They make the rather bland grains good to eat. I have about 28 varieties planted this year. Caribbean red, habanero, chiltepin, scotch bonnet, various Thai peppers, pequin, cayenne, tabasco, ancho jalapeno, serrano, rat tail, etc. It has been a bumper year. My tabasco plants are producing over 200 peppers per plant. I have dried some, I have pickled some, I have smoked some [chipotle]. I have used them in ketchup, sauces and relishes. Do you have any other good ideas?

Best wi

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), September 16, 1999

Answers

We hang strings of them by their stems. Strings all along the edge of the kitchen ceiling. They dry, and they get kinda crispy, but you can still cut 'em up and put 'em in yer food.

Al

-- Al K. Lloyd (all@ready.now), September 16, 1999.


Hi there

In keeping with my attempted transformation from a "city girl" to a quasi homesteader, I actuall grew vegetables this year. Among them hot red peppers (bought by accident - I thought I was buying sweet).

When I got quite a few and they turned red I picked them and very cleverly strung them up to dry.

Imagine my shock when I checked them and found they were actually growing mould! Plus they had dripped red oil. I had to chuck out the lot. Now I am freeze drying the remaining two red peppers in my harvest. Between the peaches and the peppers I have been somewhat of a failure. I'm waiting to see what my "potatoes in a barrel" did. I did however get a bumper crop of cherry tomatoes, carrots and onions.

I've enjoyed the learning experience - even the failures! Thanks to all on this board for your constant support and advice.

-- citygirl (citygirl@idirect.com), September 16, 1999.


Hey Z1X4Y7 follow this url ......http://www.kitchenlink.com/perl/dbase/adv/advert.pl? idnum=2&click=0 It has alot of great ideas for chili pepper usage and storage options........ Best of luck fellow missourian.....

-- kevin (innxxs@yahoo.com), September 16, 1999.

CityGirl:

Don't know where you are. If you want to sun dry them it is best to slit them one or two times so the inside dries. Still Fusarium infection [could be dangerous] can be a problem, even in Mexico. I use an American Harvest machine. You have to do it outside if you want to survive.

Best wishes,

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), September 16, 1999.


Kevin:

Will give it a try.

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), September 16, 1999.



We dried ours and sewed them on a piece of thread. Once they were good and dry we put them in jars in the cupboard. They lasted for years, and when my wife threw them out because they were discolored, they still made fine chili.

You know the caveats about handling those things!

I never noticed any mold growing on them. I know the insects never bothered them.

gene

-- gene (ekbaker@essex1.com), September 16, 1999.


I dry mine in the dehydrator to where they are pretty crispy and them I put into the food chopper and chop up into small pieces. My hubby is not into peppers, even bell, but as a kid I used to carry a jalapeno in my pocket so I would have one to eat with lunch. Alas! The stomach finally said, enuff is enuff, and I curtail my consumption to sprinkling onto pizza. Its hell getting old!

Taz

-- Taz (Tassie@aol.com), September 17, 1999.


Have you heard of pepper sauce. Wash peppers put in sterile canning jars, boil vinagar and this is mostly guess as to how much you are canning but mostly 2/3 vinager to 1/3 water , dash of salt per jar fill packed pepper jars with the vinagar, put on hot lids rings ,cold bath for 10 min.

-- ET (bneville@zebra.net), September 18, 1999.

City Girl, I suspect you live in a moister climate than I do. I'm in Oregon, and although it has the reputation (justifiably) of being wet (peoople don't tan here, they rust :), it's actually very dry in the summer and fall (except over on the coast).

We've never had a problem with mold, and we've dried banana peppers, anaheims, jalapenos, cayennes, can't remember any more. I don't remember drying anchos, but they might be too fat and juicy, as might be bells.

If your climate is very humid, you might want to put a slice or two down the side. Don't know for sure; I LEFT hot, humid, East Texas LONG ago, when I grew up.

Z1X, you say:

Don't know where you are. If you want to sun dry them it is best to slit them one or two times so the inside dries. Still Fusarium infection [could be dangerous] can be a problem, even in Mexico. I use an American Harvest machine. You have to do it outside if you want to survive.

What is Pusarium? What do you mean, "could be dangerous"? Are you referring to drying peppers still?

Al

-- Al K. Lloyd (all@ready.now), September 21, 1999.


Sorry to be late at getting back.

ET & pepper sauce:

I made it once. It requires controlled fermentation of the peppers and other stuff for the better part of a year. I did it in an oak barrel. It did work but it is cheaper to buy it from Panola. I did it to see if I could. It is a lot like making a fine wine. I make wine, but when I want a good one, I buy it.

Al & Fusarium:

Fusarium is a fungus which produces mycotoxins. Among the worst [in this case] are things related to what is called T-2. They are generally located in the seeds. If you use a modern device to dry them there should be no problem [although I have found infection in the seeds of some of my peppers]. I remove the seeds before I dry them. It is just a matter of what our grand parents did. Remove the bad parts before you store.

Best wi

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), September 21, 1999.



Al:

By the way, by doing it outside, I meant the following: Our house is 4500 Sq ft. If I try to dry 8 layers of Carib. red in the house, after 4 hours, you begin to tear, after 8 hr you can't breath. The stuff is has power.

Best wishes,

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), September 21, 1999.


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