Ok, we have come to the point where we have already successfully planted and grown our chilies, but to our surprise they are producing so much fruit and now we don’t know what to do with them.
We daily prepare them in various foods, but even for us it is almost impossible to use them up before becoming soft and go bad.
It’s best to keep enough fresh peppers in the fridge and preserve the others while they’re still fresh and crisp in order to have hot peppers all winter long.
What to do to save your harvest?
1. experiment with all kinds of recipes and use LOTS of peppers in all sorts of ways – make sauces, pickles, jam, olive oils, powder mixes and etc.
2. There is also a second option but we don’t recommend it – for example you imagine you want to make a brand for spicy products in order to make a lot of money – IT DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY.
Here are some tips we can give you from our years of experience:
First of all, before we start it is good to be ensured for the next harvest and save the seeds of our favorite species. How to do this – we take out and clean the seeds, put them on a newspaper in a nice, warm and airy place to dry. Then we put them in a jar or bag, label them and store them in a warm and dry place to wait their turn to be sown.
Important:
- It is very important to have information about the type of pepper whose seeds you will save. It is good to know if it is a hybrid or a direct variety. In one case, the plant is designed to bear fruit only once, in the other, repeatedly.
- If we want to keep the hot pepper variety, it is good to be grown separately from other varieties to avoid crossbreeding. However if one occurs, it may not reflect now, but it will manifest itself next year in the next generation of pepper.
Here are some tips we can give you from our years of experience:
Drying the peppers removes all the moisture, allowing you to either rehydrate them later or grind them up into powders and powder blends. We do both. We make seasonings blends with the ground dried peppers or soak them in water and make a puree.
Drying chili peppers
You can dry chili peppers in several ways:
1. by letting them dry in the sun (but usually at this time of year the sun is not abundant)
2. in a dehydrator (electric dryer) – they sell them in stores. Basic dryers cost around BGN 50-60.
3. in an oven – with an open door at about 50 – 60 degrees.
Tip: cut the peppers in half to speed up the dehydration.
Once dried, store in bags or jars, vacuum, store in a dry place and protect from moths.
If you don’t have any peppers, you can buy them directly from us:
Dry chilies and spices can be found here .
Freezing chili peppers
Freezing is one of the simplest methods for preserving your chili pepper harves. Just make sure you have plenty of room in the freezer!
Pop them out when you want to use them and allow them to thaw.
They usually lose their crunch factor, but there is no complete happiness. You can blend them, chop them or add them into the simmering sauce.
Tip: It’s good to cut them in half so that they thaw faster and the seeds don’t rot. If possible, vacuum and shock freeze.
Pickling chili peppers
Pickling your peppers will keep them around quite a while.
It basically involves preserving the peppers in a vinegar brine and additional seasonings, so if you enjoy pickled peppers in restaurants, you can now enjoy them at home.
Chili peppers in olive oil
What’s better than hot olive oil. It is unique supplement on pizzas, pastas and salads.
Preserving your peppers in olive oil gives the oil an extra flavor and kick, depending on the type of chili peppers you are using to preserve.
You can add other spices and make a uniquely beautiful bottle.
Preparation and preservation of purees
Another favorite method we use quite often is to puree our favorite peppers.
We blend them and then boil until the water evaporates. We add a little salt and vinegar for preservative and fill in jars. Sterilize for 15 minutes in boiling water, label them and put in the pantry for the winter.
Preserving chili peppers is a lot of fun, but it’s even more fun when we have our favorite chili, grown by ourselves all winter long.
