The Best Way to Dry and Preserve Cayenne
I’ve been harvesting my garden all summer and one of my most prolific growers is cayenne peppers. I mean they just don’t stop! So I have tons of cayenne and had to determine what the best method of preservation would be.
For cayenne, honestly the best preservation method is drying, however, there are multiple ways to dry them. We’ve all seen those adorable looking cayenne pepper garlands hanging in kitchens in magazines. So, I figured I’d look into it. …I do not have time to figure out how to weave those things together, and honestly, I don’t have the room to hang them!
Drying is Best, but the Method Makes a Difference
I opted for a different method of drying to preserve. I recently built a solar dehydrator and it was just sitting there waiting for more stuff to be thrown in for drying. That made the choice pretty easy.
Prepping the Cayenne
Cayenne dries really well, you just have to prep them, throw them in and let the sun work its magic. In prepping the cayenne, I put on some latex gloves (trust me on this one…you wanna use gloves!), grabbed a knife and went to work. This is actually quite quick and simple. For the small ones, you just need to cut a slit in them and the large ones, you want to split them in half. After I did this, I just put them on a tray and put the tray into the dehydrator.
The Next Step
Once they were fully dry and crispy, I ran them through my old coffee grinder (which I now use solely for grinding herbs, etc.) a small handful at a time and started grinding.
You can do a couple things at this point. The first few handfuls, I ground briefly in small bursts to create red pepper flakes. The rest, I ground more fully into powder. Both of these are very useful in the kitchen.
Storage
After grinding, I put them into these cute little glass spice jars with rubber gaskets to seal them. I found them at Big Lots for 3.99 for a pack of 4. …so I grabbed several!
While there are other ways, besides drying, that are good preservation methods for cayenne, this is a terrific way to preserve the goodness from the garden and utilize it all throughout the year! Later, I may even make a cayenne vinegar. I will be adding some recipes soon that make terrific use of your spice cabinet! So be sure and subscribe so you can easily get that info!
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