Has anyone preserved chillies??

[chicksta44]

Hi Everyone. Yet another bush in the garden that I need to harvest. I have an abundance of chillies and seeings the lovely Fayeeg has already given me a huge bag of dried ones I thought I might slice mine up and preserve them ready for tacos etc (like the jar of jalepeanos you buy in the supermarket). I'm guessing it's chilli, salt, vinegar and water but not really sure the process. Has anyone else done this before? I found one method on the net but it calls for soaking them in a brine solution before pickling? Help! 

[gertbysea]

My neighbour has a chilli tree. She  is not a nice person. I harvest the tree by secretely cutting off the branches. I take it into the house and remove every single chili. I then put them on a  pizza tray and put them outside in the sun. When they are really really dry i put them in the TMX and grind them up. Do not  stick your head in the bowl!

Put the  ground ciliiies into a jar and they will keep forever.

Gert

[goldfish]

Hi lisaarnold - you may have already taken a look at some of these sites which may be helpful

http://www.chillies-down-under.com/preserving-chillies.html

http://www.chillies-down-under.com/drying-chillies-dehydrator.html

I've preserved them in sherry years ago - use the chillies as you need . . also use the flavoured sherry, particularly in Asian dishes.  Personally, I wouldn't try preserving them in oil - have heard too many conflicting accounts of how this can lead to food poisoning - don't know that for sure but I really don't want to take the risk.  

My preferred method is to dry them - some years ago I found the instructions to build a "solar powered" dehydrator on the Australian Renewable Energy website. When I went to look for it again recently the website had been changed and the page taken down. I did find a hard copy of the two pages just recently that I had kept "in a safe place" though and now I have them as a pdf.  

A friend of mine built one and has had years of remarkable success using it to dry all manner of things but chillies were his specialty!  To give you an idea of the size, the body of it is made by cutting one side out of two polystyrene boxes and fastening them together . . . costs virtually nothing to make

The file is too large to send to the forum, but if anyone would like the instruction sheets, perhaps I could email them to you (2 pdf pages)

[fundj&e]

yes please goldfish i would like a copy 

[chicksta44]

Ah Gert, you made me laugh!! Great idea

Thanks goldfish. I looked at that site which is where I got the brine idea from. I already have a stack of dried ones, and hoping for more of a pickle recipe. I'm giving the one a try on the website and I guess I'll just see how I go. would love you to send me the PDF sheets of the mock dehydrator I'll pm you my email thanks a bunch

[goldfish]

fundj - be  more than happy to . . . can you please PM me your email address?  Thanks.

lisaarnold - thanks for the PM . . on its way

l

[goldfish]

fundj - on its way

[fundj&e]

thanks goldfish 

[goldfish]

Here are some other sites you may like to look at, lisaarnold . . .

http://www.thechilliman.biz/Recipes.htm#Pickled Chillies.

http://www.rocoto.com/preserving/      (just scroll down for the pickle)

http://www.jalapenomadness.com/preserve_jalapenos.html     (can adapt for other chillies I should think!)


http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/pepper/msg082227119009.html

I'm posting a recipe from this particular forum (Note: An American recipe so you might need to adjust some of the measures)
and hope to heaven I'm not breaching any forum etiquette by doing so!!    (Moderators - please advise!!!)  

Posted by fiedlermeister 04/05 (My Page) on Mon, Sep 1, 08 at 7:41  
I adapted a bread and butter pickle recipe, sustituting pepper-- mostly jalapenos. They are very tasty and can either be stored in the fridge without processing--they stay crispy-- or proceessed in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes and stored at room temp.
I usually increase the amts for the brine to be sure I have enough to cover the peppers
1 1/2 to 2 lbs peppers sliced 1/4 " thick
2 medium onions sliced thin
6 ice cubes
1/4 cup coarse ( Kosher ) salt
1 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon mustard seed
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
In large bowl combine peppers, onions, salt, and ice. Let stand 1 hour tosssing occassionally.

Fill bowl with water and drain vegetables in a colander. Rinse and drain three times to rinse off all salt. Drain well.

In large pan combine vinegar, sugar and spices. Bring to a boil. Add the vegetables and when the liquid barely begins to simmer remove from heat. Transfer to a bowl and let cool to room temperature.

Put in jars with enough brine to cover vegetables and store in the fridge. Ready to eat the next day but I have kept in fridge for many months. really good--crunchy-not too sweet--not too sour.


. . . and just for fun  let's hope you don't have this many to deal with . .!!
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/India/North/Jammu_and_Kashmir/Srinagar/photo533311.htm

[cookie1]

I tend to throw mine into the freezer and use straight from there.

[achookwoman]

I have just made a batch of Sweet Chilli Sauce from the Forum.   Highly recommended.

[judydawn]

I do that too Cookie.

[Delightful Den]

I have a recipe for glace chillies. I have not tried to make them because it is quite a processes. Basically the process is to make a sugar syrup and place the chillies into a jar with the syrup but it takes about a week and needs daily checking and maintenance.

 It was given to me in paper format and is several pages long.  If anyone is interested I will scan it into a PDF document and email it to you.

[goldfish]

Hi Dashingden - would love to see a copy of your recipe.  I'll PM you my email address.  Thank you!

[chicksta44]

Right, well I had a crack at this and what a disaster! I'm so confused by what salt to use. I went and got one from the health food shop with no nasties in it and the lady told me to use a specific one for preserving but the liquid is so cloudy and horrible looking and i thought I had heaps of chillies but once they were all cut up there doesn't look like many at all. I should have waited and picked them all at once but I didn't want them to turn red. Oh well. Just waiting 1 week to try these and will see what they are like. All else fails I'll chuck them in a taco mince or something.  Will use my jalepenos next time too instead of these smaller skinner chillies.