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dehydrating chilli peppers

Hi there Im trying to dehydrate my chilli peppers I have them in a dehydrator at the minute and it set to 40 degree celcius but so far they havent completely went crispy, theyre still bending when you touch them, Im just wondering if anyone can give me any tips on what temperatures I should have them on, theyve been going since 8;00 last night image

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  • I just leave mine on pads of kitchen roll on a sunny windowsill - they dry beautifully in a couple of weeks.


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Would love to do that but i live in the northeast of England and we simply won't have the sun and amount of time to do it they will rot, i barely managed to do a decent sized amount of parsley that way this year image
  • Zoomer44Zoomer44 Posts: 3,267

    I'm in the NW and start by drying chillies in the GH. I wait tilll they've mostly turned red on the plant cut it at the base and hang it upside down from the roof of the GH. When it seems we are not going to get any warm days the plant is brought indoors and hung upside down. At this stage chillies don't need sun but warmth to dry.

    The chillies don't go crispy though but are dry and if put in dry jars, will keep up to 2 yrs. 

    I don't understand why you don't have the time to let them dry naturally, please explain...

  • exactly what you said ive done waiting for my hydrator coming in the post, what i meant is that our summer is over now here so we wont be getting many more sunny days and the plants wouldve started to die off, and if i left the fruit in the GH they wouldnt dry out enough as there wont be enough heat to do it, all my peppers are ripe, even the jalapenos are red since writing this today Ive knocked the temperature up to 60 degrees celsius and they seem to be going crispy now =)

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,138

    As Zoomer says, they don't need sun to dry - they'll dry just fine indoors in a dry atmosphere. 


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,064

    I live in Belgium which is also damp and grey in winter.   I dried my chilllies last year by threading them through the stalks on sewing thread and then hung them in my south facing kithcen window  in full sun (when there was any).  

    There were red, yellow and purple ones so they looked very decorative and dried beautifully.

    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • ItalophileItalophile Posts: 1,731

    A couple of years ago I left mine on the plants in the garden well into winter. They freeze-dried. Perfect.

  • FruitcakeFruitcake Posts: 810

    I just bung mine in the oven for a couple of hours on a very low heat

    but please, please, please remember to wear gloves when handling freshly dried chillies... I didn't and suffered for hours because the chilli oil had got under my skin image

  • mike wmike w Posts: 43

    Hi Clarky

    I am using a de hydrator for the first season and I find the indicated temperatures and the time totally inadequate I have upped given temp from 40oC to 60 OC and time from 3hrs to 6 hours to dry herbs.It worked well.

     

    Mike W

  • ClaringtonClarington Posts: 4,949

    I'm in South Yorkshire and am drying chillies threaded on string just hanging in the kitchen window. It seems to be working! (I've others in white wine vinegar and more straight in the freezer).

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