Re: [CH] Drying Chiles
VoodooChile (rael@ebicom.net)
Sun, 28 Jun 1998 17:56:58 -0500
Twas Writ:
>I'm thinking about getting a food dryer/dehrydrator to help with drying
>the many chiles I have and was wondering if any of you fellow
>Chile-Heads could give any advice or experience on Brands or what
>features to look for ???
I've got a relatively cheap American Harvest dehydrator...have seen them in
the everpresent Martus of Walz...(Wal-mart, ya know?). It works just
dandy. The form of the chiles is, in my experience, the "big deal" in
drying times and such. Whole, they take a while...depending on the chile
(thin walled, small, large, etc...); halved, they take less time (duh..),
and so on. Just experiment and have fun. I also found that if you freeze
chiles first, thaw in a fridge, and then dehydrate them, they (often) dry
quicker. Something 'bout cell structures being broken down/up when
freezing occurs...so said some o' the Wise Ones on this list.
Gotta luv this list, no? Yes, mon...
BTW, at the end of the season, if ya don't plan on overwintering chiles, I
like to take the whole plant, chiles and all, and hang it in a reasonably
dry place and let the last of El Grande's bounty dry like that. Cut off
the roots and hang it in the kitchen...cool redneck decorations 8^p
Peace, Hendrix, and Chiles.......
Rael64
rael@ebicom.net
Redneck Sous Chef
Monk of the TCS
Order of Immaculate Twister
Keeper of the Faith
and a Towel...