Expert care lures a bountiful harvest from chili plants. But what to do with the spicy treats? Air-drying has been proven to be an effective way of preserving chillies for centuries. The consistency of the pods determines the procedure. Here's how to do it.

Thin-fleshed chillies are dried in the air

In the constantly dry climate, a large part of the stored water evaporates. Microorganisms and bacteria only multiply very slowly, which preserves the chillies for a long time. Without further aids, this practice only leads to success with thin-fleshed fruits.

  • Aji Amarillo
  • cayenne
  • Chiltepin
  • Dutch Red
  • Fatali Brown
  • Mellow Star
  • Red Rocket
  • Thai Dragon
  • Tabasco

Preserve chili with needle and thread

The easiest way to dry is to thread a piece of string through the stalks of the pods and hang them up. Then the chillies dangle in the air like laundry on a line.

The ideal location is in a warm, airy place. There it can be semi-shady to shady. After about 3 to 6 weeks the process is complete. The most important premise for dried chillies is absolute protection against moisture.

Decorative ristras - the Mexican way of drying chillies

Did you notice the picturesque chilli ristras on the house walls during a holiday in Mexico or Hungary? This is how you conjure up your own sharp wall decoration from your harvest:

  • Connect 3 chillies to the stems with a piece of sewing thread
  • pull the twine between two pods and pull tight in a loop
  • Tie additional bundles of three or individual chillies into this thread at a distance of the length of the pod

Now attach a long piece of sturdy twine to a curtain rod or closet handle before continuing. Tie a piece of wood or a cork at the bottom.

  • starting at the bottom, braid the chili bundles together like a braid
  • the stable cord forms a braided strand
  • the other two strands form the stalks of two chillies each
  • finally, all the pods stand close together and point outwards with their tips

Thick-fleshed chillies go into the dehydrator

The local climatic conditions are not made for drying voluminous chillies. In this case, a little technical support is required. Special dehydrators have proven their worth.

The apparatus works with an electric heater and a blower. The heated air flows through the sieve trays with the spread chillies. Depending on the performance and equipment, drying takes up to 8 hours.

Installing a timer is recommended. In any case, you should always keep an eye on the drying process. Properly dried pods are still slightly rubbery. Finally, let the dried chillies cool and fill them in an airtight container.

Where there is no dehydrator, the oven takes over the function

Investing in a dehydrator is not always worthwhile for hobby gardeners. If you want to preserve your favorite varieties from time to time, you can use the oven.

  • clean the chillies under running water
  • Cut the stalk off each pod
  • Halve the fruit lengthwise
  • Line an oven tray with baking paper and spread the chillies on it
  • dry at 75 degrees for about 6 hours

If you want to dry on the gentle cycle, the pods first stay in the oven for 4 hours. Then they soak up some sunshine in the fresh air for a day. On the third day, the process in the oven continues for 3 hours.

These chili varieties only dry with mechanical help

  • Apple Sweet Pimento
  • Caribbean Red
  • cherry bomb
  • Early Jalapeno
  • festival
  • habanero
  • Rio Grande
  • Poblano
  • Paprika Supreme
  • Bhut Jolokia
  • Santa Fe Grande
  • Scotch Bonnet
  • Tiburon

Only the elite is suitable for drying

Gardeners occasionally confront chillies with dark spots and discoloration. Experienced growers know that this is not an infestation of diseases or pests. Rather, completely natural pigment changes are expressed in this way. These chillies are perfectly suitable for consumption.

Nevertheless, they have no place in the dehydrator or the oven. Chillies only dry in the best quality if they are flawless. This means that the stems are also removed and each individual pod is carefully cleaned.

tips and tricks

Of course, you should NOT dry chillies like this. A chili enthusiast recently put 1kg of pods in the microwave to dry them. This plan had bad consequences. All residents of the house ran away with tears in their eyes while the fire brigade approached with respiratory protection. The acrid odor could only be controlled with high-performance fans. The bill for the rescue operation then brought tears to the eyes of the chili dryer.

The garden journal freshness ABC

How can fruit and vegetables be stored correctly so that they stay fresh for as long as possible?

The garden journal freshness ABC as a poster:

  • as a free PDF file to print out yourself

Category:

Vegetable garden