Preserving chillies? 17 August 2005 at 2:02PM in Old Style MoneySaving 140 replies 46.1K views

jazzyjustlaw

I have a pack of fresh chillis use by 19th August. I intend to use 1 or 2 tomorrow but I will have some left over. Can I freeze them if so do I just wash them and put them in the freezer?

ancasta_2

i always fereze some chillis. I make little bags up of sliced, ringed and chopped chillis of varying types (chipotle, birds eye etc)

Im a BIG chilli fan so its always there. They are a god send when i need some chilli and havent always got time to go to the shop. I often have little ice cube trays full of crushed/chopped garlic in a little olive oil so that when i come to frying i can just pop one out and fry away

MrsB_2

Fabulous ideas Ancasta. I always end up with dead chillies in my veg rack cos the recipe called for 1 or 2 and the supermarket only sells them in bags of 4 or 5!! And as for the garlic - well that's just genius. :beer:

LyndsM

Hiya

I guess you can freeze them - they are just veggies at the end of the day.
My OH is chilli-obsessed... we buy 1lb for a £1 at the market (nearly every week!)

What we tend to do is put the ones we don't get round to using on a bit of kitchen roll on a plate in the airing cupboard (or radiator shelf when we didn't have an airing cupboard) and dry them - just give them a shake every couple of days to dry each side and they should be done in a week (usually less).
Then you can either use them whole (plonk into cup of hot water to reconstitute) or chop them up, or bung them dry into your pan while your meal's cooking (the water here will reconstitute them)

Or...OH's fave...crumble them up, put into a jar and then sprinkle them on every single thing you ever eat ever, including probably cornflakes.... :rolleyes:

(NB. if you dry them outside in the sun, they can fade and turn strange colours!)
(NB #2. They tend to be hotter after you've dried them....be warned!! )

Cheers
Lynds

ancasta_2

*does a happy dance*
im a genius im a genius

Just dont forget to assign ice cube trays solely for the purpose of chilli or garlic (you could freeze chilli in portions in one)

as i once made garlic tainted ice cubes and put them in some VERY expensive Bourbon.

DOh

MrsB_2

oops!! Where's that vomitting smiley when you need it??

chudies

can also drop the chillis in some oil, in one of those decanters
and make your own chilli i think

spalding

I've got loads of chilli's still sitting on my plants was wondering what the best way was for drying them out? Any tips?

Thanks in advance Jeff

squeaky

There's an old thread on drying mushrooms that should give you a start and it includes links to site about drying foodstuffs that should tell you more...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=61198

Don'tskipit

spalding wrote:

I've got loads of chilli's still sitting on my plants was wondering what the best way was for drying them out? Any tips?

Thanks in advance Jeff

Unless your greenhouse is heated, cut the chillies from the plants before the frost gets 'em, even if they're still green. I have a sunny widowsill that is full of harvested chillies - they do ripen to red - then dry. You can dry them in a very low oven with the door open. By the way don't throw your plants away, with a bit of care you'll have bigger and better plants net year.
I've been growing them for years. Love 'em!
Anyone got any spare garlic cloves to plant now???!!!!

spalding

chilli already red have found the plants nice sheltered spots for the winter so hopeful time to fill the windowsils then!!