These things are prolific, you'll get scores of them on a single small plant, and they all grow pointing up. It's weird. But it's nice to have a couple strings of them hanging in the kitchen, both because it's amazing to be able to crush up a few when you need to spice up a dish, but also it's a visual reminder in the cold, dark months that you did it yourself, and it's basically last year's sunshine. It's good for your soul.
Steps 1/2 remain the same.
Step 3: Pick your peppers. In the past, to save time, I've completely uprooted the plant and brought the whole thing in to pick the peppers while seated at the table. This year I'm going to try and winter the plants in the basement (not done yet), so I pruned the branches outside and brought them in.
These should have been picked a week ago, they already started to dry a bit and I ended up discarding about 5% of them because they were too far gone. But I was busy last week.
Step 4. Needle and thread.
Step 5. Thread them through the stems. A lot of people dehydrate them for hours first, which is fine, I guess. 4 years in a row, now, I string them while fresh, and they dry naturally over a few weeks in my kitchen. Have about a 99.9% pepper success rate. Every now and then one of them looks funny and I don't use that one.
Step 6. I think 4 strings is my normal usage. I will use 2 while cooking for the next 12 months, and whatever I have left when the next batch is ready goes into the blender, and I end up with a small container of organic, hot pepper flakes with 0 insects in it, unlike the stuff you buy.
This pic is what they will look like 12 months later. Dry, spicy, and perfect.
Saving CHILI PEPPERS
Saving CHILI PEPPERS
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"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
Saving CHILI PEPPERS
My little container ran dry. It's nice having the whole, dried chilis on a string for when I need to break off like 7 for some General Tso's chicken, but it's good to have some pre-ground when I need a pinch for tacos, on a slice of pizza, whatever.
So 15 seconds on the slowest blender setting, and better than what you can buy in the store.
That's an entire string. Fills my container perfectly.
ANd I wasn't careful, and the dust caused me immediate respiratory distress. That's how you know it's good.
So 15 seconds on the slowest blender setting, and better than what you can buy in the store.
That's an entire string. Fills my container perfectly.
ANd I wasn't careful, and the dust caused me immediate respiratory distress. That's how you know it's good.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."