What to do on a rainy day here at Struan Farm, other than ironing and laundry perhaps? Faced with yet another healthy harvest of chiles I decided to try drying them. They went into the oven at 100 C on a lined baking tray. The recipe indicated that cut chiles should bake for at least three hours. I left mine whole and kept an eye on them, taking them out 7 1/2 hours later!
From what I've read these now can be ground finely in a dedicated coffee mill (or in my case the food processor) to make chile powder. Instead I may put them in a jar in olive oil, a la sun dried tomatoes. If nothing else they will make a mean chile flavoured oil. To test which dehydration method works best, I'll thread the next batch into a ristra and hang it in the hot water cupboard to dry. I'll be interested to see how long that takes. I've got so many chiles that there's no harm in playing around with them!
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