Chilies add flavor to any meal and are easy to grow here too. To keep your chili peppers longer, you can easily dry them and use them in a variety of ways.

Drying the chili: This keeps the pods durable

Chili plants are easy to care for and high-yielding and are therefore becoming increasingly popular with hobby gardeners in this country. Depending on the variety, you can harvest the pods in late summer or autumn. However, if you grow the chilies to use in the kitchen, you will hardly use all the pods at once. To preserve them, you can dry chili. So you don’t have to throw away your harvest and you can stock up for the whole year.

Drying chili: the right method for the right pod

You can air dry chili peppers, in the oven, or in a food dehydrator. Which method is most suitable also depends on the type of chili. If you want to air-dry your chillies in an environmentally friendly and energy-saving way, you should take this into account when choosing the variety.

Air: You can thread the fresh pods onto a string and hang them up like a clothesline in a warm, dry place. After about four to six weeks, the chillies should be completely dry. This method is suitable for thin-fleshed, narrow chili peppers, such as Cayenne or Tabasco.
Oven: Halve the pods and remove the stalk. You can also dry the seeds if you like. Arrange the chillies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper so that they do not overlap. Let them dry in a fan oven at 80 degrees for about 6 to 8 hours.
Dehydrator: Even when drying in the dehydrator, you should halve larger pods. After about eight hours, the pods should be dry – they should no longer bend and should be slightly brittle. The last two methods are ideal for thick-fleshed chili varieties such as jalapenos or habaneros.
Tip: Drying chillies in the oven or dehydrator uses a lot of energy. If you don’t preheat the oven first, it at least saves a little electricity. Never leave the oven door open while you are drying the chillies: this wastes a lot of energy and the pods have to stay in the oven longer.

Attention: In the oven or dehydrator, sharp vapors develop quickly that can irritate the eyes and nose. To avoid this, you can leave your kitchen window open during the drying process.

Drying chili: tips for storage and use

You can store the dried chillies as whole pods, process them into flakes or powder. They retain their aroma best as pods, while flakes or powder are easier to use as spices. If you later want to process the pods into chili powder, it is advisable to remove the seeds before drying.

You can roast whole, dried pods briefly before using them. This is how you enhance the sharp aroma. If you soak the dried pods for half an hour before you process them further, they almost return to their original shape: You can then fill them, for example, or use them to make a hot sauce. Dried chillies can be used in many ways and complement your spice rack.