In article om,
"frank megaweege" wrote:

Thomas (dot) wrote:
You probably are aware that habs have a bad habit of rotting if not used
rather quickly. Oven drying will work if you dry them at a very low temp
for a long time, however the downside is the smell and eye irritant issues
in the house. I've had very good luck in the past when I smoked them dry.
I cut off the tops and removed the seeds and membranes with some long
kitchen tweezers. I highly recommend using gloves to do this. If you
don't, you will invariably touch around your eyes (or more sensitive body
parts *wink*) I promise you don't want to do that. I used a small backyard
smoker and I used charcoal for heat and mesquite wood for the smoke, but
hickory, pecan or apple wood would work.
Smoke them on a VERY low temp for a long time and check them often. You
will be able to tell when they are dry. I still use some that I have in a
spice jar which I smoked over 5 years ago.
good luck!

I'm still not sure what approach I'll take. I don't have a dehydrator
or a smoker and don't want to fumigate the house buy using the oven. I
may throw some in the freezer for now and experiment on some others
with a charcoal grill.

And everybody is ignoring my canning suggestion.... :-(

Thanks.

IMHO freezing ruins peppers.
I've ended up tossing every frozen pepper me or my mom every tried.

They are......

gross.

I have a dehydrator. Drying in small amounts should be no big deal.

If the smell is that bad, do it out in the garage or a sheltered outdoor
area with an extension cord.

I dry peppers every year, Jalapenos, bell strips and chili petins and
feed most of them to my cockatoo. They are a rich source of vitamin C
that birds need.

She loves them and fresh citrus is messy and attracts fruit flies.

But I'd never offer her an Habanero. ;-) That'd be mean....

Her favorite is a handful of fresh chili petins in her food dish. She
ends up with a pink beak and I refuse to play "kissy bird" when she has
pigged out on them. G I have a hyooge bush of them in the yard that is
a perennial.

Gives a whole new meaning to the concept of "hot lips". ;-)
--
Peace!
Om

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch"
-- Jack Nicholson