Epe & Projects & fall & food 03 Nov 2007 05:30 pm
Mace your kitchen for fun and (no) profit
After years of attempting to dry hot peppers by stringing and hanging them in the loft, we decided this year to go with a more reliable method. Lately it’s been staying warmer longer into the fall and thus the heat isn’t on as much, thus making conditions less favorable for drying…which means we’re lucky if half the peppers are in decent shape when it’s time to use them. Either they turn brown, or they mold, or they just look not so nice; especially the habaneros, which are very likely to mold. So we decided to pick up a dehydrator. A piece of advice…if you’re drying a huge batch of habaneros and jalapenos, you might want to put the dehydrator out on the porch or outside, if possible. Fortunately Pee suggested this ahead of time…our porch is now suffused with a powerful mace-like stench. But a few peeks have verified they’re all drying nicely (cut in half, but so far they’re holding their color nicely). I should try fruit leather next and see if it ends up with a peppery flavor; that sounds so good I might throw a jalapeno in the blender with the fruit!
3 Responses to “Mace your kitchen for fun and (no) profit”
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on 03 Nov 2007 at 8:04 pm 1.gugibufugi said …
I wish I could have a sniff of your mace-porch. It sounds exhilarating. And some of the forthcoming fruit leather as well. Yum. I’ve always wanted to try one of those dehydrators (and the spicy/sweet combo).
(Sorry for being a jerk about the email, I’m such a procrastinator. I love getting emails, and then I’m the ass that never responds! I’ll get back to you!)
I’m so homesick. I wish I could be sitting on your couch under a big licky dog or three. :)
on 04 Nov 2007 at 8:25 pm 2.epe said …
It’s working really well so far! Today I’m trying apple slices (really good without the extra sugar or sulphur they put on packaged dried stuff), applesauce leather (can’t taste the jalapeno, darn), more peppers, and yogurt leather (looks weird, smells good so far).
They must make a ton of profit off these machines…it’s basically a plastic box and trays, fan, heater, and thermostat and they charge a bunch. I hope we get a lot of use out of it.
on 05 Nov 2007 at 3:55 am 3.gugibufugi said …
Yogurt leather… whoa. That, I gotta try.
Yeah they’re totally charging based on what we get out of it, not cost of materials to be sure. And I bet it’s worth it in the end, I mean you’re getting a lot of shelf-stable, preservative/additive-free snacks right? How long does that stuff last?
I’ve been interested in owning one for a few years now. It’s just a matter of whether I’ll put the effort into using it and justify the price, like you said.
Jalapeno applesauce sounds frickin’ awesome. Jalapeno applesauce from Jalapeno Hill! You’ve got a product line all ready for ya right there.