A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 An abundance of Habenero

what to do with them??? How can I preserve these hot little guys??

seriously, I have about 30-40 peppers... I need some ideas on what to with them all....

thanks -
lips on fire / SnazzieT

Snazzie,

Most peppers can be preserved several ways. Depends on what you want to do with them. If you have that many a ristra would be a great way to save, dry and display them. It is basically a hanging decoration that you make by stringing the peppers together and then hanging them until they dry. Once dry they can be crushed for use as a spice. I have done ristras using thick fishing wire or twine, but be careful not to tie the stem too hard or you will go clean through.

Another way to preserve is to bake and freeze. Place the cleaned peppers on an oiled piece of parchment paper and bake in the oven on a low temp until they are soft. They you can peel them and freeze them. Be careful with this because it will fill the air with a very potent smell and when you peel them you need to wear gloves, like Dr's laytex ones or you will burn you hands, same with any major handling of peppers. You can avoid the indoor smell by drilling them on the BBQ.

Also dry at least one for the seeds so you can have it again next year. peppers can also be overwintered indoors if you want to keep the plant for next year. This is something I am just learning about so if you want more info, just email me.

Triss

Snazzie,

I took a pic of the ristra my sil gave me. If you'd like to get an idea of waht they look like.

Ristra

Triss

Snazzie, are they the orange or red Hab's? I would like a few seeds!

WOW!! Thanks for all the great tips Triss!! I love the Rista you did, did you get all the peppers from your garden? how long did it take? and where is the best place to put the hole in the pepper or does that even matter??

I appreciate all the great tips... I'm gonna get started right now

Tracie

Tracie,

Unfortuantely I did not make this ristra, my sister in law gave it to me. I wish I had grown that many peppers this year. But when I have made them, I did not put a hole in the pepper at all I just tied the stem, thought I suppose it would not hurt and you would want it as close to the top as possible so that the pepper could stick out more.

Hope that helps.
Triss

I have a question about overwintering a habanero plant. I have a small potted habanero plant that has been outside all spring and summer, I plan on leaving it out until first frost but I want to keep it and try and get it to start growing as soon as possible next year. I am hoping that next year i can maybe squeeze two harvests from it and maybe get it to grow into a good sized bush.

My two concerns are natural light and humidity levels, my apartment does not get a lot of light in the winter and the air is very dry as opposed to the humidity of summer, any suggestions?

I also want to transplant it to a bigger pot, would it be wise to do that now while the plant is fruiting? I am unsure if the plant will need the sunlight it gets right now to help it overcome the shock of transplanting.

Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any help anyone may be able to provide.

If you are hanging habaneros to dry I have a tip that may work for you, thread the string, twine or fishing line through the stems. That worked for me last year when I had a few extra varieties of different hot peppers.

Dried habaneros on a pizza, can't beat that

to make the rista, you can either tie the string around the stem or push a needle through the pepper just at the base of the stem, right where the pepper and stem meet, just not in the joint itself. (i used to use carpet/button thread, nice and heavey but not too thick and will wick the moisture out of the pepper) a little toward the top makes it easier to get the peppers off when you want to use them, a little bit into the crown of the pepper makes it sturdier for decoration. both work, done it both ways.

Andrew,

I am not sure as to overwintering the plant. Mine is about 1 foot tall and producing fruit line madness. I have put a flourescent light in a spare closet to help this winter with my plants.
I am hoping that the heat from the light will kepp the temp up and with a few mists each day in the air will assist with the humidity level.

xx fingers crossed all my plants will survive the winter, even if I may not ;( (i recently moved from fla to the appalachian mountains... this will be my second winter and I wish I was looking as forward to it as my hubby ....)

sit any plant you want to keep humid in a pan of water that has rocks or stones in it to keep the pot up out of the water. the evaporation will humidify the plant.

awesome tip jiffymouse!!

ummm..there is nothing better than habenero hot sauce!! personally, i cant get enough of these amazingly flavorful and powerful peppers!

some of the hot sauces i make are...

mango habenero
roasted apple habenero
carrot habenero
...well you get the point. soo easy...so fun..and soo darn tasty!

they all came at once for me, so i made up a whole bunch of jars..and i have them frozen..waiting for the winter when i need some HEAT.

enjoy!

(they are super easy to freeze fresh and raw..then use at will.)

Sidheblooms,
I hope you find the recipe section here and have a few extra seconds to go post those scrumptous sounding items~recipes!!!!!!

We love recipes here!

Something to give us ideas with stuff we love and extra items!!!

Thanks in advance!!!

Weezied

SnazzieT and Jiffymouse...

Thanks for the great information, I will be sure to let you both know how my wintering experiment works out. I already started converting a closet into an improvised greenhouse. I am really hoping that by next spring i have a habanero plant that is about two feet tall, bushy and ready to fruit a couple times next year.

Sidheblooms, those sound like some very tasty hot sauce recipes!

Hey guys..if you want some good ideas on pickling your peppers...
www.fiery-foods.com/dave/pickle.html
Some pretty good recipes! My husband has a thing for habaneros and we had a TON of yellow, orange and red chiles....I was running out of ideas! Our turned out some of the HOTTEST :p guys ever! One of the best recipes on that site is the Jalapenos in Escabeche!!!YUMMY!

We got a bumper crop of bishop's crown and habanero this year too. i just rinse them off and let them drain on paper towels for 20 min. or so,pop them whole into ziplock freezer bags, squeeze most of the air out, and throw them in the deep freezer. then when i want one or more, i just remove what i need and run them under cool water for a minute till they thaw, and chop 'em up and "ole! mamacita... i love hot peppers!
the bigger bell peppers though, i will clean, chop, and pre-freeze on a cookie sheet for a day, then put them in the freezer bags, so when i need a handful of peppers to cook into something, it only takes a second to grab some and they don't stick together.
Pat