Dry & Hot

how to dry store chillies

At room temperature, chillies may last for days to weeks before they rot. There are many methods to preserve chillies. Freezing chillies can make them last for several months but people need to learn how to thaw correctly so that they don’t get mushy chillies.

Drying chillies is probably the most effective technique to preserve chillies so they can last for months and even years when properly stored. What’s more, heat can remove moisture better than any other technique. Dried chillies magnify the flavour of food and add fiery punch to your recipes. When ground, you can have a seasoning for all occasion!
Preparation before drying your chillies

Now, there are lots of articles that tell you how to dry chillies, but not many of them tell you how to prepare and take precautions before the process.

Chillies, when warmed, will give out fumes that can be very irritating to your eyes. If you don’t have protective goggles, then the ones you wear when swimming will do just fine. Seriously! Be sure to keep the environment well ventilated and use a desk fan or ceiling fan to minimise the nasal passage burning issue. By keeping the air circulated, you will get less watery eyes, too. If you have kids and pets at home, make sure you keep them away from the sensitive smells.

Latex gloves are a MUST have pair of items when handling dried chillies. Touching chillies will cause your palms to get the burning sensation aftermath. Make sure to wear gloves and wash your hands after everything is done.

Chillies inspection is necessary before you put everything to dry. Discard chillies that have these characteristics:

Soft or mushy
Grayish color
Rotten or look like almost get rotten
Give out bad odour

Make sure that you pick the best condition chillies and don’t be hesitant to throw the others that are not. This idea will save your effort to succeed in drying chillies.

Washing the chillies with warm water is necessary. You can add a pinch of salt if you like. Dry them off completely before you proceed to dry.
If you dry your chillies in your oven, you should remove the stems and slice them for faster drying. However, if you choose indoor drying method, you should keep the chillies whole because it may take a few weeks to dry. Cutting them open in a humid area will spoil them.

Now that you have read the preparations and the precautions, let’s move on to the drying techniques!

Oven drying method
Any kitchen oven will work just fine to dry chillies. The best thing about drying chillies in an oven is that you can do it in any season. However, please take note that drying with an oven is not a one-way process. It takes a few days, and a few hours each day to remove the moist in the chillies completely. If you don’t consider this as a disadvantage, then you can work this method.

Slice the chillies and place them on a baking tray. Set the lowest temperature setting which is usually below 150 degrees Fahrenheit. Once in awhile, open the oven door an inch wide and let the moisture escape. Flip over the chillies every hour to dry them evenly. This process can make your kitchen gets very hot. And now you know why you need those goggles.
Turn down the temperature level when you think the chillies get brown and flip them. You are not cooking them but simply drying them so you can use it at a later time.

Traditional drying method
Although this method is the easiest, but it is considerably the most time consuming. You need a well ventilated space with dry climate and abundant of sun lights. Place the chillies on a tray and let them dry. Rotate the position occasionally discard any signs of damages. You may need your gadget to forecast the weather. If it calls for sunny weather (and dry, too!) then you can speed up the process.

Food-Dehydrator drying method
From the term, it is obviously invented to dehydrate foods. A dehydrator will help you to dry the chillies very quickly. The device has motorised fan and air circulation to dry foods faster than any other instruments. If you have a home grown garden full of chilli plants, getting one of this dehydrator will save time and effort.

Growing tips from World of Chillies