Pablanos -> Anchos ???

[OnAFly]

Anyone here have any experience drying chiles? I have two pablano plants that I'd like to start picking and drying but have some concerns with using my dehydrator.

Will I have the same results as what I've bought in the stores before? Will they turn red or just stay green?

Any advice is appreciated

[jentz]

I have 12 pablano plants,I dry mine on a screen rack in the open sun,They should turn black.You should leave them on the plant till they go from green to black or dark green,Then dry them.Watch for mold and cut it off if it forms.I am trying a new method this year,Cut them in half then dry.I will see if that slows or stops mold.UNlike the southwest our air is to moist and mold can and will grow inside the peppers.I have 80 pepper plants total for paprica,and mole sauces plus these anchos for adobo sauce.Bout every third year I do this many peppers for drying.

[OnAFly]

awesome! I might have to buy a few pablanos from cub and try using my dehydrator on the lowest setting. I have one hanging right now to test that out, but I have the feeling it will mold and rot before it dries up here.

[ishy]

I planted Ghost peppers this year. Not sure why. Anyway I have 25 of them in the dehydrater since Friday evening. This AM they were about perfect. Should be good to go when I get home tonight. The small chile peppers were done Saturday afternoon.. I have just a cheap jerky shooter one from FF but it does work good..

[MontanaMax]

This might not help because in Montana in the fall our humidity is around 20%. I let my poblanos and anaheims turn color and pick them before they start to "wilt", picking all that remain the night before the first predicted hard frost. We can get away with drying in any room where the humidity and temp are constant on cookie sheets with two layers of paper towel. For smaller peppers or chiles, like cayenne or red hots, I simply pull the plant and hang it upside down in our semi heated garage. Takes 1-3 months to fully dry, depending on size.

[OnAFly]

MM - Yeah, we're a little more damp over here

Ishy - did you cut yours in half first or dry them whole?

[jentz]

I found the dehydrator useless for meaty peppers like poblano.Hungarian sweets,jalapenos they seem to lose all their flavor,Thats when I started air drying.Montanamax you got 20% humidity?Thats lots less than Mn.I do take mine inside to complete the drying process,Thats when the furnace is on and the air is drier.Untill then I just watch them and remove mold before it spreads.It seems to start inside them and you get a black spot on the skin.When its cut open the mold is 3Xs as bad inside.My reason to split the pepper and try it that way this year.Within the next week I will be picking the RIPE peppers,to start drying.

[OnAFly]

Yeah, I was worried about them losing flavor with the dehydrator.

I'll probably buy a couple from cub and give it a shot on the lowest setting. I think it's about 95F on that setting, so maybe it will be OK. But, I wonder if the sun part of the equation has an effect on the flavor too. That might be the source of loss.

[ishy]

OnAFly, I did not cut them in half. I was afraid of the dangers inside . Next batch i will for sure cut as it would speed the process up.. No flavor lost by dehydrating. Or at least no heat lost. The wife ate one with a sanwich. Wholly dump that was funny to watch. Them suckers are HOT!!!!!!

[OnAFly]

oooh yeah, you couldn't pay me to eat one of those whole.

Day 3 on the dehydrator and I'm getting what I expected. The sliced pepper is drying pretty fast, but the color is staying pretty green. The whole pepper is wilting pretty good and also still dark green.

The hanging pepper is softening and still green, but I've hear this can take weeks, so I'll continue to watch it.

I did buy a thing of Thai red chiles from the farmers market the other day. I've been drying some, adding some to dishes chopped. I'll probably make red pepper flakes out of most of them.