Cayenne chilli - drying/preserving

[Gurberly]

Hiya

My first time with chillis/peppers

I have about ten plants all with an abundance of fruit, the first of which are just turning red.

I want to dry them so two questions....

1 - At what point should I pick them to dry them? When they are still green, turning red.... or fully red? Or do I just leave them on the plant and stop watering the plant?

2 - Better to hang them in a cool garage to dry, or bung them in the oven at a very low temp for a day or so?

Cheers

G

[HotStuff]

Gurberly, according to this article at the chillisgalore website, the best time to harvest is just when they start to change colour. Personally, I tend to wait until they are their final colour.

One thing you can do is string them up together using a needle and thread to make a Ristra and hang them somewhere warm and dry (I use my airing cupboard). Once they're dried you can either pick them off as you need them or whizz them up in a blender to make your own Chilli flakes.

[Shadylane]

I'm sure I read somewhere that if you're drying them then you have to wait until they're fully ripe or they won't keep. Dunno if this is true. You can freeze them aswell though. Just chuck them whole in a plastic container.

[Two_Sheds]

Lovely pic Hotstuff.
I don't have that much freezer space, so mine get dried and strung up as well, or made into Evil Chilli Chutney

[sewer rat]

I string some up to dry but the vast majority go into Spitfire Sauce, or to liven up other chutneys.

[Gurberly]

OK thanks all.

G