Harvested garden peppers, what next?

September 26, 2022 6:37 PM

Our backyard garden has yielded a small harvest of some pencil peppers & banana peppers. Usually we just leave them in a bowl or in a paper bag to dry out and then use them as needed, but we've also started to notice some problems with mould. On the internets, people do various things: oven baking, freezing, refridgerating, etc. What do you do? Small quantities here.
posted by ovvl to Home & Garden (8 answers total)

For hot peppers I usually slice them into a jar, cover them with vinegar, and keep them in the fridge. They keep for a really long time that way. I’ve also minced and then frozen them - then you can just take spoonfuls of it.
posted by showbiz_liz at 7:35 PM on September 26, 2022

It depends on how I’m planning to use them. Peppers I plan to add whole or sliced to dishes I’m cooking, I freeze as whole peppers. Peppers I plan on turning into pepper flakes, I dry in a food dehydrator and store them whole until I need them. Note I’m usually growing hot pepper varieties that are smaller in size than banana peppers, so they don’t take up that much space stored whole.
posted by needled at 7:39 PM on September 26, 2022

I'm mainly using for cooking single-servings, so... For hot peppers I de-core, mince, fill ice cube tray holes, cover with water, freeze, and transfer cubes to another container in the freezer for later use. For larger, milder peppers, I usually de-core, blister skins under broiler, de-skin (could eliminate these last 2 steps depending on the pepper), chop, and freeze in sandwich baggies after flattening enough so I'm able to break off what I need to add to a soup, stir-fry, or whatever, then reseal what remains and back into the freezer.
posted by ClingClang at 8:04 PM on September 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

I like chopped roasted peppers in lots of things, so I roast (cleaned halves), chop, and freeze as ice cubes into a bag.
posted by away for regrooving at 8:46 PM on September 26, 2022

I leave them whole and toss them in a bag that goes into the freezer.
posted by Too-Ticky at 11:31 PM on September 26, 2022

I slice, pickle, and can my jalopenos in small jars. One jar is usually about the right amount for a recipe so it works for me.
posted by quaking fajita at 4:38 AM on September 27, 2022

I tossed our chilli pepper harvest into a jar in the freezer as I went last year and they've kept beautifully. I only grow tiny peppers so they can still be chopped straight out of the freezer, so ymmv with larger peppers.
posted by In Your Shell Like at 8:38 AM on September 27, 2022

Small hot peppers I freeze whole. Larger peppers I chop up (either in a large dice or in strips) and spread them out on a baking sheet or pizza pan, and then freeze for half an hour. Then they can be put into bags to finish freezing. If you chop and put straight into a bag and freeze, they stick together, not ideal.
posted by JanetLand at 9:25 AM on September 27, 2022