drying fatalli and habanero peppers

[tjg911]

i left a fatalli on the counter whole over the past several days (due to no refrigeration) but i'm not seeing it dry like the long red slim cayenne peppers did last summer, maybe i need to wait longer.

i don't have a dehydrator and don't want to use the oven so for air drying would you cut these in half or just let them sit whole to dry?

i'd like to dry them but if that can't be done without the 2 methods i don't want to do maybe i should freeze them.

thanks,

tom

[Boutique Tomatoes]

Originally Posted by tjg911

i left a fatalli on the counter whole over the past several days (due to no refrigeration) but i'm not seeing it dry like the long red slim cayenne peppers did last summer, maybe i need to wait longer.

i don't have a dehydrator and don't want to use the oven so for air drying would you cut these in half or just let them sit whole to dry?

i'd like to dry them but if that can't be done without the 2 methods i don't want to do maybe i should freeze them.

thanks,

tom

I have problems with mold if they're not cut for air drying. Doing the hot ones in the dehydrator can turn the house into a torture chamber.

Unless I have a lot of them and I'm planning on making pepper flakes or powder I find freezing them to be the easiest.

[beatpoet]

I dried some habaneros in a paper bag last year, found that putting them in the attic(no a/c in my attic) or a sunny window helps the process. The habs definitely took longer than the cayennes.

[Jeannine Anne]

I use a needle and thread and string them like a row of fairy lights through the green stem bit then fasten it on a wall with thumb tacks, if put it in a warm room they dry quite well like that, I keep a space between them so they can't touch each other. I have done it like this for years and don't ever rememeber getting a rotten one.

XX Jeannine

[tjg911]

thanks my fatalli is looking worse today. it is inside with the a/c on so it is cool and dry in here but it just doesn't seem to be drying right. the walls of this pepper are not very thick so i am surprised they aren't air drying whole well. slicing one of these in half might be necessary vs leaving them whole. long red slim cayenne spoiled me as they were so easy to air dry whole! it does seem air drying is hard to do unless you have high heat and low humidity. my attic is probably 130 degrees, i think that might be too hot but i could try one there and see how it goes.

tom

[austinnhanasmom]

I am drying peppers basically for the first time.

I did the string method, with some, and placed them in my basement. It's dry here but my basement is maybe 65 degrees.

I had to build screens this year and mis-measured on some - oops. So, I cut peppers in half, to save seeds for trading, and placed the halves between 2 screens. I then placed the screens in the shade on my deck. These are drying way better for me. It's been a few weeks now.

I also smoked some peppers for a day. I did not cut them in half and they were not fully dry after a day of smoking. DH FREAKED because he has to change the propane tanks on the grill (and get them refilled) so I placed the smoked peppers in the oven for a day. The lowest that my oven heats to is 170 degrees. This seemed to slightly cook the peppers, but they did finally dry, after a day.

I am also drying bell peppers, since my smoked peppers created a paprika that is WAY too hot for me, and after smoking for a day and oven cooking for three, they are finally drying as well. Now the bell peppers are under screens, outside. It gets crazy windy on my deck, but these screens have stayed put.

[gnol]

I have had more success with cutting the thick skinned ones up and drying them on a tray above the stove.

In this lot there are Naga Morich, Seven pot, Goatswed and some Serrano.