chillis

[Philbasford]

Well ive picked a whole load of chillis, have picked them green, prettyh hot though, as not going to get any riper, had a few red ones, now i am just wondering whats the best way of storing them now?, i could freeze them , but because got soo many, just wondering:)

[Philbasford]

[saddad]

I'd freeze most of them but let some of the bigger ones dry, just hang them up in a dry place and walk away for a month... they will shrivel and change colour..
8)

[tim]

Phil - why no chance of ripening?
Dad - same question again - they ripen OFF the plant??

[Philbasford]

because the weather is changing and i didnt think they would do to well in the cooler wet weather..so ill put the fat ones to ripen/dry and freeze the rest

[Curryandchips]

Just as an observation, I grew some cayenne chillies outdoors two years ago, and the chillies left on the plant continued to ripen up until about the end of October ...

[Philbasford]

oh well these are hot enough!

[MrsKP]

wow !!!!!!!  amazing.

i've left mine on the plants, there's just a couple ripening, but the g/h still get pretty hot if the sun's out so i'm biding my time.  mind you we keep eating them green, not sure if there will be any left to ripen.

;D

[Rosyred]

Cut them up into slices and they freeze ok. Try and few first and see what you think. Use frozen in cooking.

They look brillant what variety are they? Did you  grow them outside?

[Peapod]

They look fantastic! You could try pickling them with salt and fresh lemons plus ginger. This is as classic blend for eating with curry. You will need extra to avoid moulds and the jars will require refrigeration.

[LILACSPLASH]

PUT THEM IN SOME MALT VINEGAR- YOU GET CHILLI VINEGAR GREAT WITH PIE+MASH, PRAWNS AND OTHER SEA FOOD AND INSTEAD OF OR WITH TOBASCO IN COOKING

[Jill]

I'd freeze them in batches on a tray, then bag and keep till needed.  Got some two years old that still spice up a chilli con carne extremely nicely.

[Philbasford]

hey thanks for your comments:), yep they have been grown outside, right next to where we have been building our polytunnel (its extremely useful having a partner who works for the Jewsons group,  Got 100 sqm of polythene for pollytunnel for £28:)

going to freeze most of the chills , but the big ones i shall try and dry out.  If it doesnt work then got plenty left over.  ,  I cant remember what variety they are to be honest

[amphibian]

A word of advise, in future leave them in situ, the plant will survive until the first frost and surprisingly ripening will accelerate as it cools. The plant knows winter is coming and its days are numbered and puts everything into ripening its fruit, it wants to set seed to ensure survival.

With outdoor peppers, I have no greenhouse, I leave the plants outside until the first frost is forecast, when the frost is forecast I move some inside, and back out in the day. I have too many plants to move all inside so the ones with the least peppers I hack down and hang to ripen further indoors. Some pods I freeze green.

If ripened still attached to a hung plant they don't shrivel up and dry while ripening, as quickly.

A select few from the best of the plants after being treated to the in/out routine, will be brought in and kept near a sunny window until they stop setting/ripening fruit, at this point I hack them back hard and put them into a state of dormancy to be revived next spring.

[Marymary]

I've seen reference to overwintering chili plants on another thread here and thought I'd give it a try with my two plants which are ripening nicely.  Just wondered if I can do the same with my lipstick pepper plants which still seem very healthy.

[MrsKP]

i've got various chillis and peppers still in the throws of growing/ripening.  I'm leaving them in the greenhouse until they keel over or are obviously suffering.

[calendula]

I do that as well but make sure the actual chillis don't start to rot, even green I then bring them in and in our warm kitchen I let them ripen red and dry out maturally and use as wanted - I just happen to prefer them red rather than green to look at - there is always chilli jam/sauce, stuff them in oils and vinegars as already mentioned - never dared grow any of the hot hot hot varieties yet, mine are all medium to quite hot  :o

[Jitterbug]

You could also thread a needle with thread and then go through the stalk end of the chilli and make yourself chilli garlands which would be easier to store and dry.... Saw it in a book recently - a spanish way or doing it.  Me I had two cayenne plants and two birds eye and not one fruit.... :'( :'( pulled the bushes up last week to make space in the greenhouse for spring cabbages.

Jitterbug

[pye]

never dared grow any of the hot hot hot varieties yet, mine are all medium to quite hot  :o

calendula, what varieties are you growing? I want to find a prolific, medium-hot, fleshy chilli to try pickling next year. I've tried three this year, two are too small/not fleshy enough, the other one (Pinocchio's Nose) is long and looks promising but only a few fruit and none of them are ripe yet.

Any you'd recommend?

[calendula]

I like the cayennes and also this year guajillo, de arbol and yatsufusa - not tried the latter one before so who knows but the heat units are expected to be resonably high but nowhere near to the rooftop type - remember the chilli fest that homer went on, hallucinating and all, hmm  8)

[joanfoden]

Hi, one word of warning.  Frost  :o  Last year we left our chillis on the plant and had one night of unusually early frost.  The following morning we picked all the chillis and brought them indoors to ripen and dry out.  Unfortunately, we lost 90 percent to either rotting or  going soft and mushy.  This year, we are keeping our eyes and ears out for news on night time temperatures  :-\ so that we dont get caught out again.  I have also picked loads and threaded them on string and they look wonderful hung in my kitchen changing from green to a vibrant red.