I was making something that needed a jalapeno pepper or two and for some reason instead of buying just one or two, I bought a whole container full of them with the idea that I was going to start using them more often. I guess I was caught up in some kind of moment of inspiration. The reality was that I used them for the dish I was making (can’t remember what it was) and then they sat in my refrigerator. I pulled them out one day to notice that they were starting to wrinkle and go bad. I didn’t want to throw them out and I’m not crazy about frozen peppers, so I thought about dehydrating them.
I did a quick google search on dehydrating jalapeno peppers and learned that many people dehydrate jalapenos. It’s also really easy. All you do is clean the peppers, slice them into 1/4″ rounds, spread them out on a dehydrator tray, and then dehydrate them about 8 hours or so until completely dried. How long you dehydrate them will depend on the temperature you use. Once they’re dried, just store them in a sealed airtight container. I like to use canning jars because then I can always clearly see what’s in them. I have to say that the smell of dried jalapenos that emanates from that jar when it’s opened is phenomenal.
A note of caution, though - jalapenos get really hot when dried. Their flavor concentrates and you can use less dried jalapenos than you would fresh. I made a pot of chili the other day and threw in two slices of the dried jalapenos. It ended up being much spicier than I thought it would. They’re really great to have on hand for quickly and easily adding a little bit of spicy heat to a dish.
I was making something that needed a jalapeno pepper or two and for some reason instead of buying just one or two, I bought a whole container full of them with the idea that I was going to start using them more often. I guess I was caught up in some kind of moment of inspiration. The reality was that I used them for the dish I was making (can’t remember what it was) and then they sat in my refrigerator. I pulled them out one day to notice that they were starting to wrinkle and go bad. I didn’t want to throw them out and I’m not crazy about frozen peppers, so I thought about dehydrating them.
I did a quick google search on dehydrating jalapeno peppers and learned that many people dehydrate jalapenos. It’s also really easy. All you do is clean the peppers, slice them into 1/4″ rounds, spread them out on a dehydrator tray, and then dehydrate them about 8 hours or so until completely dried. How long you dehydrate them will depend on the temperature you use. Once they’re dried, just store them in a sealed airtight container. I like to use canning jars because then I can always clearly see what’s in them. I have to say that the smell of dried jalapenos that emanates from that jar when it’s opened is phenomenal.
A note of caution, though - jalapenos get really hot when dried. Their flavor concentrates and you can use less dried jalapenos than you would fresh. I made a pot of chili the other day and threw in two slices of the dried jalapenos. It ended up being much spicier than I thought it would. They’re really great to have on hand for quickly and easily adding a little bit of spicy heat to a dish.