Quote:
Originally Posted by tam91
I think Hot Lemon and Lemon Drop are the same. And I have a bunch of them.
I made a lovely pepper jelly from them, but I'd like to dry the rest and try making powder.
How do make the powder? Can I use my dehydrator? Whole? Cut them up? Remove seeds?
Thanks!
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I dry small hot peppers whole -- stem, seeds and all -- in the dehydrator. If I'm not going to grind them right away, I let them go until dry, but short of brittle, then store them in an air tight container in a cool, dry place.
When I'm ready to grind them, I put them back in the dehydrator until brittle, break off the stem, shake out any loose seeds (but many still remain in the peppers), and use a coffee/spice grinder to pulverize them. If I'm going for pepper flakes, I stop there. If I'm going for powder, I sift it through a fine mesh strainer, re-grind what's left and sift it again.
I read that they retain more flavor and heat if left whole until needed, but I have a small bottle of red cayenne flakes that's now two years old and still has more flavor and heat than anything I've ever bought in the spice aisle of my grocery store. I use this method only because I can wait until all the peppers have been harvested to do the final grinding step.