The Desiccation of Chili Peppers

I survived making Red HOT Chili Pepper Flakes!!

Over the course of several seventh grade volleyball games, my Mom has plunged into my arms a couple trays laden with enormous tomatoes that my super-gardener cousin grew. We quickly turned them into pico de gallo salsa.  

Surreptitiously, tucked into the corner of one trey were two red jalapenos and a handful of small chili peppers. I don’t know the exact variety of the chilis, but they seemed to me like the kind you would want to dry for salsas, add to sauces, or grind into pepper flakes.

Once I had settled on drying the peppers, I immediately dreamed of stringing them into the ristras that so artfully decorate the porch eaves in New Mexico. 

However, much like drying the mint for tea, the experts recommend not drying peppers in climates possessing humidity, and our little woodland is a haven for moisture. 

So, I extracted a fireplace match and ignited my oven. 

The drying process for chilis was similar to that of the mint. 

I set my oven to 150 degrees (although my dial said 200 because our 1940’s oven probably hasn’t been calibrated correctly in decades).

After washing and drying the chili peppers, I simply scattered them on a cookie sheet and placed them on the top shelf of the oven with the door cracked.

The experts recommend propping the oven door open with a wooden spoon. The open door allows moisture to escape for proper drying. 

Since our oven is from the 1940’s, we don’t have a use for a wooden spoon. We merely need to leave it ajar, and it stays like that. There is no spring or mechanism pulling it shut.

That said, I wonder if I left it a little too open, because it took more than 1 – 2 hours for the peppers to dry completely. 

I checked on the peppers every 30 minutes – removing the early dryers as they – well – dried.

Once all peppers were dried, I took photos of them before pouring them into a grinder/food processor. 

Now, this is when things got exciting! The capsaicin released from the blending caused me to sneeze with such violence that I’m certain I could have blown a little piggy house made of sticks into smithereens. Then, I touched my eye, and my vision was compromised. Once the sneezes settled, my lungs tightened as my asthma had been unfortunately triggered. 

All in all, it was a painful experience. I think next time, I’d be better off wearing a gas mask and gloves. 

I do look forward to sprinkling these chili peppers on a slice of pizza or adding them to a pan of sweet and spicy sriracha noodles.

I’m sure the painful process will have been worth it!