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Chilli peppers
pushbar-2
Posts: 16
in Fruit & veg
I have got quite carried away with my chilli pepper growing this year and am going to end up with a large surplus! I would like to try drying or freezing them, can anyone tell me how to go about it and what is the best option please?
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Pushbar there is another thread on this subject that may interest you.
http://www.gardenersworld.com/forum/talkback/too-many-chillis/475075.html
I keep mine in a bag in the freezer and just grab one when you need it
Hi!
Always good if you have a chilli surplus; they are so versatile! Taste lovely & great nasal clearing powers if you have a cold. Too much and they are a cure for constipation as well (!)
I have grown Habanero, Jalepeno, and birds eye chilli pepper for quite a while and they all freeze great- I just chop them into pieces beforehand and shove in a freezer bag.
"Long" chill peppers also dry well; Make a chilli Ristra! Edible and decoration!
Pick them with the stalk still on, and then sew cotton through the stalk and tie. Tie the individual chilli onto a main stem and hang to dry in a warm dry place.
I am growing "basket of fire" for the first time this year & the plants are amazing- easily grown as a pot plant and they are smothered in chilli peppers- small but made up for in quantity.
Fingers crossed for some September sunshine- My roma toms need to ripen (!)
I dried some chillis that my neighbour kindly gave me last year in return for a couple of cucumbers! I slit them longways with a sharp knife and left them on a plate on the window ledge to completely dry out. It took a while but when they were as dry as a bone I chopped them up into tiny bits with some scissors. Stored in a little air tight pot. Wow! They taste amazing and I sprinkle them in all sorts for a nice extra kick. Really useful way to use them
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/20139/sweet+chilli+sauce
Chilli sauce is what I am going to make with mine!
Mmmmm, dried chilli sprinkles on cheese on toast......(actually dried chilli sprinkles on everything - love them )
Thanks for all the great replies everybody, I'm sorry I didn't get back to you all earlier but I had no notifications come through that I was getting replies as I usually do so thought everybody was ignoring me Crazy cat I've grown basket of fire for the first time too, feisty little bleeders!
Anyway, I'm going to try drying and freezing and see how it goes, I'll let you all know. Thanks again
I freeze them by lying them on a tray first, then chucking them in a bag. That way they don't stick together.
If I'm doing chilli flakes or powder I chuck em in the oven for a couple of hours, split beforehand, then I put them in the food processor, seeds and all and blitz them to flake size. For powder I just do the above and put them in a pestle and mortar to grind them down
I've gone a bit mad with the scotch bonnets this year so have a "few" in the greenhouse lol
one last piece of advice- wear gloves AT ALL TIMES when handling chillies. Last year I was stupid and didn't, and the chilli oil got under my skin and I honestly thought my hands were going to fall off
Scotch bonnets, aren't they one of the hottest?
Thanks for your advice anyway. And the wearing gloves tip, ouch!
Supposedly, but I'm sure there will be hotter It was just an experiment, honest