How to Dry, Smoke, and Grind Your Own Peppers
Have you ever wanted to try freshly-dried homegrown peppers? And to smoke and/or grind them into your own powders? It's so easy to do, and the flavor using homegrown peppers is out of this world! This is more like a loose guide than a recipe, as there are various ways to do this. You can dry them in your oven or dehydrator, in whichever quantities you have from your harvest. And you can grind them in a blender (with a dry or regular blade) or food processor. And if you'd like to smoke them, you can use whichever type of wood chips or chunks you have, in a stovetop or barbecue smoker. Use whatever works for you, and enjoy your delectable results. Your friends and family will love the extra care you show them with your mouthwatering homegrown peppers!
Ingredients
- fresh sweet or spicy peppers, variable quantity
- uncooked rice, optional, variable quantity to clean out your blender or food processor between batches of peppers
Instructions
Prepare fresh peppers
- Gather your peppers, and wash and pat them dry. If any have discoloration or soft spots, remove these areas with a knife.
Dry peppers with a dehydrator or oven
- Using your oven at the lowest setting (below 200°F/95°C if possible) or your dehydrator between 125°F/52°C and 140°F/60°C degrees, dry your peppers while checking them every 2-4 hours. Flip them if the sides are drying unevenly. Drying may take as long as 24-48 hours.
- If your peppers are thick-walled, dry until still pliable. Thinner-walled peppers will be more brittle when done. You can stop here if you'd like to use your dried peppers whole. Or if you'd like to smoke and/or dry them, proceed to the next step(s).
Smoke your peppers
- If your peppers are spicy, you'll want to wear a mask and gloves for this part. Remove the tops, seeds, and membranes from the peppers, and cut them in half or into manageable chunks to fit your smoker.
- Using your stovetop or barbecue/grill smoker, prepare your wood chips or chunks per the instructions (as they may need to be dampened). Add the wood and peppers to the smoker, and set the heat level and smoking time per the instructions and your preferred level of smokiness. I recommend smoking at a lower temperature and time at first, and then checking the flavor for your preferences before proceeding to a higher level of heat or longer smoking time.
- Open your smoker and reveal your beautiful and tasty smoked peppers! Taste and decide if you're happy with the intensity of smoked flavor. If not, smoke them longer. Repeat until you have your desired level of smokiness. You can stop here if you'd like to use your peppers whole and smoked. Or, if you'd like to grind them to a powder, proceed with the next steps.
Grind your peppers
- If you'll be grinding more than one type of pepper, set out a small amount of uncooked rice (any type) to clean out your blender or food processor in between types of peppers. I used about 1.5 cup (90 g) of rice.
- Place thedried pepper pieces in your blender (with a dry blade container if you have one) or food processor. Blend or process to your desired level of coarse or fine texture.
- If you need to blend more than one variety, add your uncooked rice and blend or process to clean out any powder remnants before the next batch.
Notes
- If your chili/chilli/chile peppers are spicy, please wear a mask and gloves when you remove the tops, seeds, and membranes. I experimented with not doing this so I could give you an accurate recommendation, and I can heartily advise you that it's very worth your while to wear both!
- If you're lucky to have huge quantities of peppers to dry, smoke, and/or grind, you can do these steps in batches to have the best outcome. Please make sure not to crowd your baking sheets, dehydrator trays, barbecue grill, blender, or food processor. It'll be well worth your time to give your peppers space to give you the most flavorful results!
- I hope you'll have fun experimenting here. I'm really glad I left some of my Leutschauer paprika peppers unsmoked so I could compare them to the smoked ones. And if you have a huge yield and don't have the time or fridge space to enjoy all of your peppers fresh, drying them (whether whole or ground, smoked or unsmoked) is a great way to keep your harvest fresh longer.
- If storing dried peppers at room temperature, please consider using air-tight glass jars of a dark color and food-grade dessicant packs to keep your whole or ground pepper color and flavor as fresh as possible.
- You can also store your dried peppers in the freezer in an airtight container or plastic bag. And in this case as well, using food-grade dessicant packs can help keep your peppers and/or powders dry and help prevent them from caking.
- A serving size for peppers can be highly variable, depending upon how they're eaten. The nutrition facts calculation for this recipe is based upon 1 teaspoon (about 2 g) of ground pepper powder per person, just to have a reference point.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!