Preserving The Harvest: Dehydrate Jalapenos

by Texas Homesteader
*this post contains an affiliate link

I’ve been using my solar oven pretty heavily this year and I’ve finally dehydrated all my excess garden tomatoes for the summer.

(again for those of you asking, I have a *Sun Oven and I love it!)

I’ll use the dehydrated tomatoes in numerous ways. To make tomato paste for homemade pizza and to thicken my homemade blender salsa, among other ways.

This late into summer is usually so very hot and dry that the garden stops producing and I just try to keep the garden watered enough to struggle it along in hopes of getting some kind of tiny fall garden production.

This time of year 99% of my garden is out of production. But we do have one last veggie going strong – FIERY-RED JALAPENOS!

(Note: Some links in this post are for further information from earlier posts I’ve written. But links preceded with * are affiliate links. If you click them and buy something (almost anything, not just the item noted) I could receive a small purchase. But the price you pay will NOT change. It’s an easy way to support this blog without anything coming out of your pocket. So click often! Thank you!)

How To Dehydrate Jalapenos

I harvested all the jalapenos remaining on the garden plants and brought them inside. After a quick wash & dry I set out to cut them thinly and uniformly.

I’ve learned from past mistakes that no matter how well or often you wash your hands, processing jalapenos will leave your skin burning for days.

Slicing Jalapenos Requires Care!

So I have incorporated this clever way of slicing the peppers: I use a sharp shrimp fork to pierce the pepper on the very edge of one side & start slicing the pepper longways in thin slices.

Now that my peppers are all sliced I use the knife blade to transfer the jalapeno slices to a rack topped with parchment paper, sliding the pepper slice from the blade with my shrimp fork.

Using this minimal-touch method keeps those jalapeno oils from soaking into my skin and burning for days.

Place Sliced Jalapenos on Parchment Paper

I’ve been dehydrating tomatoes lately. So after I pull those dehydrated tomatoes from the parchment paper I just add the jalapenos using that same paper.

Reduce – Reuse – Recycle. (does anyone know if parchment paper can go into the *tumbling composter after these peppers are dehydrated?)

Anyway since the rack is topped with parchment paper the jalapenos won’t fall through the grills as they dry & shrink.

Now that they’re all prepared I place my rack of peppers into the solar oven. The door is left unlatched to allow some of the heat to escape and I point the oven’s reflectors toward the sun.

Using The Power Of The SUN To Dehydrate Jalapenos

At first the temps will soar pretty quickly even with the door unlatched. If it gets too high I’ll move the oven so it’s not as directly aligned with the sun, which will gradually reduce the inside temps.

Although I don’t mind an initial internal temperature of about 300 I like to keep the inside temps to around 200 after the first hour or so.

Depending upon cloud cover and how well you monitor the temps inside the oven, these slices will slowly dehydrate in about 5-6 hours.

Now I just bring in the brittle dried jalapeno slices & grind them into a flavorful powder. And I’ll use this powder to spice our food with a little home-grown sizzle!

When I dehydrate jalapenos from the garden none are wasted. And no plastic bottle of commercially-produced seasoning entering the house. Win/Win!

~TxH~

Links In This Post:

Preserving The Harvest: Garden Tomatoes
* My Favorite Solar Oven
Quick French-Bread Pizza
Enjoy Your Veggies! Fast Blender Salsa
*Tumbling Composter

35 thoughts on “Preserving The Harvest: Dehydrate Jalapenos”

Helen at the Lazy Gastronome at

I love that solar dehydrator – Thanks for sharing on the What’s for Dinner Link up.

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Katy at

Hubby’s been pickling our jalapenos. I’ll have to see if I can divert the next batch to make these! Thanks for sharing at the #WasteLessWednesday Blog Hop!

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1. Texas Homesteader Post author at
  
  LOL – give it a try, Katy. It’s sure a handy thing to have.
  
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Katrin at

I have to go check out your solar oven that sounds so interesting, I haven’t heard of it ever before! The cutting board idea is also great, it bugs me when the whole counter gets dirty with juice and what not, so using the lids is really clever!

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1. Texas Homesteader Post author at
  
  I beg for these lids from my baby sis, Katrin. Like you, I hate when the juice from a sliced tomato or juicy fruit goes off the cutting board. These lids are perfect in my kitchen.
  
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Brittany at

That fork idea is genius! Also I’m definitely checking out that solar oven. I’ve never heard of anything like it!

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1. Texas Homesteader Post author at
  
  I hear the voice of painful experience in your words Brittany. I (for one) feel your pain! LOL
  
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Lisa M at

I love the cocktail fork idea. I always wear gloves to do mine….isn’t that the worst when you get it on your face before you wash your hands?? ugh!

Thanks for linking up with Green Thumb Thursday. I hope to see you back this week.

Lisa

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Quinn Caudill at

That is a lot of jalapenos. Thanks for sharing with us @ThrowbackThursday. Hope to see you next week.

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Kathy at

Wonderful – and great tips! I do appreciate you sharing with Home and Garden Thursday,
Kathy

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Kimberly at

Thank you for sharing this! Pinned. Lou Lou Girls

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Deb at

Wow! You’ve got peppers coming our your ears! Love your dollar cutting board and thanks for sharing your slicing tips! I grew very few peppers this year but enjoyed what we got in quiche, and salsa! Happy Harvest Season! Deb

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1. Texas Homesteader Post author at
  
  Jalapenos are one of my favorites Deb. I pulled up & brought in my jalapeno plant last year to overwinter it in the garage. I replanted it this spring thinking it would be ahead of the game in the garden but it’s really taken until fall for it to find its own – that plant is as high as my waist now! I’ll be preserving lots of jalapenos this year for sure, gotta love it!
  
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Nicole Ramage at

I’ve found that sometimes when cooking with jalapenos, they leave a lingering flavor in the pan even after it’s been washed. Does that happen in the dehydrator too? Thanks for sharing these with #yuckstopshere link up. Please come share again next week.

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1. Texas Homesteader Post author at
  
  Nicole, I know what you mean but these peppers were dehydrated on parchment paper so there was no residual pepper heat remaining in the solar oven when they were done. I will warn to hold you face AWAY when opening up the unit when dehydrating – jalapeno fumes will send ya coughing!
  
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Pingback: Fall-Back Friday: Dehydrating JALAPENOS
Amanda @ The Kolb Corner at

My Jalapeno plant just got a second wind with the cooler temps in South Texas and it looks like I’m in for another good amount! I love the fork idea! I always wear gloves when I slice mine up, but they are so bulky I find it hard to get a good groove. Thanks for sharing your tips and ideas!

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1. Texas Homesteader Post author at
  
  I always wore gloves too Amanda but after the first several jalapenos the gloves are always coated in slippery juice & it gets harder & harder to grip the jalapenos. The fork trick worked great.
  
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Heather at

I freeze all of my jalapenos. Mainly because it is the easiest thing for me to do 🙂 Just wash, dry, and put in a bag. Then throughout the winter I will take them out and put them in crock pot meals for some heat, or just cut them up. Surprisingly they still make very delicious stuffed jalapenos 🙂

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1. Texas Homesteader Post author at
  
  I’m with you Heather, I always have a bag of frozen jalapenos in the freezer too. I’m surprised they still stuff well though, may just have to give that a try.
  
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ColleenB.~Texas at

I looked to see if you had a tried and true hot salsa recipe for canning? Wasn’t able to find any on your blog except for these hot peppers.
Me and hubby don’t eat the Hot stuff but do know some that do and wanted to can some up to give in gift baskets.
I know there are many recipes on the internet but I like using recipes that someone else that I kinda know who have made it themselves. :}
Thank you

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1. Texas Homesteader Post author at
  
  Colleen, we have canned salsa before years ago – like the pasta sauce you have to be very careful to NOT add any more veggies than the recipe calls for to ensure the safety of your canned product. Anyway, the salsa we canned was beyond hot, incorporating the hottest peppers we could get our hands in (which included home-grown habaneros – whew!) I much prefer to freeze my tomatoes and make blender salsa fresh:
  
  https://texashomesteader.com/recipe-blender-salsa-easy-and-healthy/
  
  I know that doesn’t answer your canning question but maybe gives you something to try. We love it!
  
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  1. ColleenB.~Texas at
    
    This is great and gives me a good start. Thank you.
    I also will be using the Hottest peppers possible. The people that I will be giving the canned salsa to like their salsa Hot so I want to see the sweat running off their forehead when they eat it. ………Fiery Hot. :}
    Your recipe here; does it make a pint or a quart size?
    Hope to get some fresh tomatoes at the Farmers Market this weekend.
    Thanks again for the recipe
    
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    1. Texas Homesteader Post author at
      
      Hummmm Colleen, I’ve never measured, it just makes a large bowlful of fresh salsa – maybe between a pint & quart although it depends on how much liquid you drain out of the tomatoes. We like ours kinda chunky so I drain most of the moisture off. Let me know how you like it!
      
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Robin at

While it makes holding a knife a little tricky, I coat my hands in olive oil before handling peppers. Keeps off the burn while it moisturizes!

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1. Texas Homesteader Post author at
  
  I had never heard of that Robin, although I do use olive oil to moisturize my hands from time to time.
  
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Feral Turtle at

I love your Sun Oven and your amazing crop of peppers!! I have to wear those disposable gloves when I work with hot peppers. I always tend to put my fingers in my eyes and feel like I’ve just been pepper sprayed….lol. Visiting from the Mellywood Mansion. Cheers

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1. Texas Homesteader Post author at
  
  I’ve used disposable gloves as well and they were certainly a lifesaver when processing jalapenos, but I didn’t like the way they felt on my hands so I started looking for another solution. But you’re right – I can almost FEEL the pepper-sprayed feeling you described – YES! LOL ~TxH~
  
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Mel at

We were still getting them in winter I dehydrated a bunch of chilli a while back I kind of hope this years crop is a little less. I’m so jealous of that sun oven, I want one!

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1. Texas Homesteader Post author at
  
  I sure enjoy mine Mel, and I love that it does such an awesome job a dehydrating veggies too. I’m HOOKED! 🙂
  
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Nikki at

I’m visiting from Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways blog hop. LOVE your cutting board! lol. I hadn’t thought of using plastic lids, but it makes a lot of sense.

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1. Texas Homesteader Post author at
  
  LOL Nikki – I truly do prefer to use these lids as cutting boards, especially with juicier fruits/veggies. Plus I’m a repurposing fiend sometimes. 🙂 ~TxH~
  
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Candy C. at

Love, love the fork for holding the peppers! I always end up with burning fingers for days and days! LOL!!

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Emily @ Simple Life Of A Fire Wife at

Oh my gosh I still have jalapenos coming out like crazy too! Great idea for using them! I love your high-tech cutting board too 😉

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1. Texas Homesteader Post author at
  
  Emily – LOL! I love my hi-tech kitchen implements… ~TxH~
  
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