I’ve always loved hot peppers and have occasionally made my own Nashville hot chicken seasoning by buying dried peppers, but this is the first year I’ve grown my own. I have:
- Jalepeño
- Habanero
- Carolina Reaper
- Ghost
- Trinidad Scorpion
- Naga Viper
Although I think one of them was killed off by the groundhog that lives under my deck — either the scorpion or reaper. The Naga vipers and habaneros have been really coming in strong and the ghost peppers (I think?) look almost ready to turn.
What should I do with them? I have all of the appliances — dehydrator, sous vide, food processor, etc.
And if I’m not ready to use them right away, is there a good way to preserve them? Dehydrate or freeze?
I’m thinking hot sauce or dehydrate and grind into powder or flakes, right?
Open to any and all suggestions, recipes, tips or feedback.
by rebel_alliance_red5
22 Comments
Dehydrate and grind is the most optimal way if you’re not ready to use them. You’ll be able to use introduce them to many dishes (chili is a good one, if you’re into it) but also salsa, jams, and my favorite to do is killer beef jerky.
You’ve got a lot of options. I’ll suggest fermentation. There a a few great methods for beginners. I use airlocks on wide mouth mason jars.
I second fermentation and then blending into hot sauce
I grind them into a fine mash, then I have a large freeze dryer. Put all of them into a small shaker bottle. Enjoy. Well done!
If only Stanley had a dime for every time someone asked this question 💰
I either make fresh chili *OR* dry them in a dehydrator and grind them to dust. I put a little label on them and give the powder out at Christmas. A small jar lasts everyone a whole year, as it’s WICKEDLY potent.
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I freeze a lot whole as well, they freeze really well
I’d make jam with the hottest. Get some pectin in and bulk it out with bell peppers. It’ll really take the heat out (relatively) whilst giving you good flavours and something to spread on your burger/ fried chicken/ salmon etc
Salsa, dehydrate for seasoning, make a sauce, add to a dish to add a kick, stuff with seasoned cream cheese and wrap with bacon….
The real hot ones get put on the smoker until they are dried and shriveled. Then they turn into crushed pepper flakes. The other peppers can be mash, sauce, or sandwich toppings.
Hot sauce, dehydrate them, fermented them, freeze them, throw some in your meals while they’re fresh, make pepper jellies, make a pot of hot chili, lots of options.
Three things, because you will almost certainly have MANY more peppers than you know what to do with. Make fermented hot sauce. Freeze some so they can be used in cooking or future hot sauce batches, dry some for cooking, and share with friends.
I LOVE reapers for hot sauce. Their intense heat means that you only need one or two, so you have tons of room for extra flavors like tomatoes, bell peppers, onion, etc.
The habañeros are good in pasta sauce, especially if you’re in a house with others who can’t take the same heat level as you. I always have extra sauce that I put in two jars in the fridge for later use. 1/2 to 1 Caribbean hot pepper—about the same heat as a habañero—minced and placed in one of the jars before I pour in hot pasta sauce is usually perfect for me. I make sure that the sauce is still hot enough to cook/brew the pepper.
Frozen jalapeños are good in things like omelets or other quickly cooked foods. You really need a longer cooking time for dried peppers, but they should last longer than frozen.
Boil ’em, mash ’em, stick ’em in a stew
I make sauce! I also dehydrate a bunch so you can make pepper powder and pepper flakes. Everything left over I freeze to use in the off season. My sauce with frozen peppers turns out great.
I would suggest a mango ghost pepper sauce! We did a Scorpion Pineapple Mango sauce this year. Depending how hot you want it we used 2 scorpion for 5 bottles and it’s too hot for most. Just right for me.
If you’re going to grind them after drying, I suggest grinding the super hots outdoors. I maced myself the first time I did it lol and the you couldn’t breathe in the kitchen without coughing
Ferment em, blend em, put em in a sauce. The heat level on those gnarly little bastards isn’t going to be appealing to most as a cooking ingredient.
Pickle them Or make a mole light (just ask chat gpt for a recipe)
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First of all you gotta take the first ghost pepper to the dome. From there I usually make some sauces or jams with them
First one down the hatch. The next: use fresh in recipes. The rest: dry and grind, ferment, freeze for winter, etc
Cut them in half, remove the seeds and the membrane.
Then freeze them.
Do whatever you like whenever you like from there
Try pepper jelly! [https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/170998/habanero-pepper-jelly/](https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/170998/habanero-pepper-jelly/)
I got a reaper plant as a gift and I’m trying to figure out what to do with the peppers now. Someone I know recommended cutting them up and putting them into honey.
Thanks for starting this thread!