Re: [CH] A question about freezing peppers before drying them

Jim Graham (spooky130u@gmail.com)
Sun, 15 Aug 2010 14:02:59 -0500 

On Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 01:28:19PM -0500, Tom Greaves wrote:
> Thousands of blossoms, but nothing setting...except for the Tabasco's.
> My one plant has hundreds of peppers in all stages of growth.

Good ol' tabasco peppers....  Mine in past years (couldn't plant this
year or last year...$$) have been the strongest survivors, and have been
the only pepper plant of mine that has ever survived the winter (no
leaves, no sign of life) and come back to produce more peppers than ever
before....

> They took up about half of one of the 5 trays in the dehydrator.  Not
> very cost effective.

I don't know what conditions are like where you're at, but here, in NW
FL, I just set mine out somewhere (say, in a spare baking pan) and let
them dry on their own.  No special treatment, and they're all ok.  I do
the same with cayennes from the garden.  Habs ... no way.  They'd rot.

> So, I was wondering if I could harvest every few days and then freeze
> them and then when I get a big enough batch, go ahead and defrost and
> dehydrate.  Has anyoine had experience with this?

With freezing peppers, yes.  When they thaw, they're mush.  For any
peppers that I freeze, I chop them really fine and freeze them in small
tubs (e.g., the smallest typical size butter tubs) or ZipLoc bags, and
then use them in my habanero hot sauce, pepper jellies (fresh is better),
etc.

But why would you freeze them for such a short time?  If the indoor temps
and/or humidity won't allow you to let them sit out, why not just put
them in the fridge?  Based on what I've seen, tabasco peppers are among
the easiest (along with cayennes) to keep---just set 'em aside on the
counter and keep them dry.

Again, that's true where I live.  YMMV.

> When I saw the video about the making of Tabasco sauce, I couldn't
> forget the comment about the pepper pickers carrying a color card
> showing the color of a ripe Tabasco.

I was taught a totally different way:  take the pepper between your
thumb and first finger (whatever it's called) and very lightly apply a
slight pressure (did I stress that all you want is a "very tiny pressure"
enough?).  If the pepper just breaks off without any effort, it's ready.
If it resists, leave it alone.  Whether or not this matches the vinegary
sauce company's neat little card, I don't know...but it works for me.  :-)

> pots, so I expect to be harvesting well into the winter.

Again, this is for NW FL ... I've had tabasco, habs, and cayenne last
well into October, and some years, into November, but as soon as the
temps start to fall and stay down, it's over.

Hope this helps.

Later,
   --jim

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