Dried peppers tend to last longer than their normal texture. Whether you’re a big fan of poblano peppers or bought them in large quantity, you must be thinking of preserving them for long. They just add more flavors to your dish. The best way of preserving your peppers is to dry them.
How to dry poblano peppers? To keep them dried, you need to be familiar with the ways of drying poblano peppers. One of the simplest ways to dry poblano peppers is by heating them in the oven. Leave the door slightly open so that the moisture escapes.
What is Poblano Pepper?
Poblano pepper originated from the state of Puebla Central Mexico is mild chili pepper. It has a thick skin and looks dark green. They have a triangular shape, wide at the top and pointy towards the bottom.
The taste of this pepper can range from mild to medium-hot. Red poblano peppers are ripened; they are hotter than the less ripened green poblano peppers. When dried, they are called chile ancho or ancho.
Nutrition in Poblano Peppers
Here’s the amount of nutrition in one serving of poblano peppers
Calories 17
Total fat 0gm.
Protein 1gm.
Fiber 3grams
Carbohydrates 4grams
Calcium 10gram
Sodium 1mg.
Vitamin C 85.5mg
Potassium 113mg.
How to Dry Poblano Peppers?
Here are the different ways in which you can dry poblano peppers.
Hang Dry Method
Indoor hang dry method can become one o your favorite methods of drying poblano peppers. It’s the fastest and quickest way to dry your poblano chilies. Dried poblano peppers can be used effectively for a period of up to 6 months.
Here’s how you can hang dry your peppers:
Things required:
- Water
- Fresh Poblano Chillies with the stem of 2 inches
- Needle
- Two sticks
- Fishing line (at least 25 lbs)
- Kitchen Towel
Steps:
- Wash the peppers thoroughly to remove all the dust and dirt. Dry it with a kitchen towel.
- Knot one end of the fishing line so the peppers won’t slide off.
- Take the other end and insert it into a needle.
- Take the big poblano pepper, insert the needle into its stem and slide it down the line.
- Keep doing it until all your peppers are in descending order.
- Now remove the needle and tie the other end too.
- Hang the line in a place free from humidity. A sunny window or cabinet will be a perfect place to hang it.
- Let it dry for a few weeks. You’ll see the peppers getting wrinkly in texture.
Drying with Dehydrator
Another easy method to dry your poblano peppers is by using a dehydrator.
Things required:
- Dehydrator
- Poblano peppers
- Kitchen Towel
- Sharp Knife
- Water
Steps:
- Wash the peppers with cold water to wash out all the dust or dirt.
- Pat dry with a kitchen towel.
- For drying peppers in a dehydrator, you need to remove their stems.
- Place the peppers on the dehydrator tray in a single layer.
- If you want to dry them fast, slice them in half using the knife.
- Remove seeds before placing them on the tray.
- Set the temperature to 100 F, if possible.
- Keep checking the dehydrator in between for safety purposes, as it takes a few days for them to dry.
- Use dried poblano peppers in the winter season in your soups or stews.
Drying outdoors
If you don’t want to use an oven or dehydrator (they’re fast-drying methods, though), you can dry the peppers outside.
Things required:
- Paper Towel
- Garden Twine
- Water
- Poblano Peppers with stems
Steps:
- Remove all the moisture from the poblano peppers using a paper towel.
- Wrap the garden twine around the stems of the pepper in loops.
- Tighten the twine making sure you don’t cut off the stem.
- Taken another loop and knot it double.
- Repeat the process with all the peppers. Again, keep space of at least a few inches between each pepper.
- Hang all the peppers in a string, and then hang in a cool and dry place with access to direct sunlight.
- You’ll notice the peppers getting wrinkled in a couple of days. Wrinkling can make them fall off, so keep checking timely.
- If you see the rainy weather, remove the peppers and bring them inside.
- Your peppers will be dried in 2 weeks.
Drying with Oven
Things required:
- Oven
- Poblano peppers
- Baking sheet
- Water
- Knife
- Paper Knife
Steps:
- Wash and dry the peppers using a paper towel.
- Cut the poblano peppers into slices and place them on the baking sheet.
- There’s no need to remove the seeds as they’ll get collected on the sheet.
- You can also keep the peppers in the oven without slicing them.
- The temperature should be between 100 to 150 for drying them.
- If you’re drying the peppers in a conventional oven, slightly open the door for the air to move out.
- Keep the pets or kids away from the oven. Keep supervision.
- Keep turning the peppers at regular intervals and dry them until they are fully wrinkled.
- After cooling the peppers, store them in an airtight container.
Storage for Dry Poblano Peppers
The best way to store dry poblano peppers is to keep them in a dry air tight container or a glass jar with a tightly sealed lid. It helps keep the flavor strong and unflawed for a much longer time.
These dried peppers can be used for up to 6 months. You can also use the same process for storing ground pepper flakes.
Use zip-lock bags or vacuum seal bags for storing dry poblano peppers if you don’t have airtight containers.
Conclusion
Depending on how fast you want your poblano peppers to dry, you can use any of the above methods you find convenient. If you can’t determine which method is faster just by looking at it, try each of them if you have the required things.
While using an oven or dehydrator, you need to be very careful as your kids or pets might come to touch it. Do both the methods under your proper supervision for the safety of you and your loved ones.