You have grown them in your garden. Now you have an abundance of them and don’t know what to do. Cathy Isom gives you three useful methods for drying chili peppers. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
At the end of the summer when you have more peppers than you know what to do with…the logical choice is to dry them!
Chili peppers are spicy. They have a great flavor, but using too much can make it difficult to actually enjoy the flavor. After all, your taste buds take a back seat when the rest of your mouth is on fire. One of the best ways to ensure that you can control the amount of heat your peppers add to your food is by drying them.
The three foolproof methods of doing this are by air drying, oven-drying, and by using a food dehydrator. Pick the best method that works for you. Always start with the best chili peppers. If you have chilies with bruises, withered edges, or splits, cut them up for salsa and sauces. Keep only the firmest, most solid peppers for drying.
Next, you want to clean your chilies. If they’ve been sprayed in any way, you’ll need to wash them and let them dry thoroughly. If they haven’t been sprayed, you can just wipe them clean with a moist cloth and let them dry. Once your chilies are completely dry, you can crush them into flakes or grind them into powder.
Then you can add just a pinch of chili pepper to a dish, or sprinkle pepper flakes all over your pizza.
I’m Cathy Isom…
