Would need to know first exactly how you are dehydrating them, what instructions are you using? Are you blanching them first? That is what destroys the enzymes that create the odor. Are you chopping or slicing them? Makes a big difference in drying time. Are you drying them to the snappy crisp stage as recommended? What temperature are you using? 12 hours may not be long enough. And what variety? Thick skinned ones don't dry well as thin skin varieties do.

Dave

In addition to the questions Dave asked, although I've never blanched my peppers before drying, are you using green peppers or fully ripe/colored peppers? Even when they are fresh a green pepper smells different than a red one (or orange or yellow) and that isn't going to change when they are dried.

Rodney

Thanks Dave and Rodney!

I've tried to let dry with air flow and that didn't turn out. I've tried to trial and error and see what works best, no real recipe that I have been able to find. I am not blanching peppers, these were small peppers of all colors. I'm using an actual dehydrator outdoors, cutting peppers in smaller pieces, in a single layer. And letting it dry in hydrator for 12 hours they seem to be possibly thicker skin, almost like a bell pepper, but these are jalapeño. Last night they were definitely chrisp. I ended up putting them into mortal and pestal to see if that would help blend the smell. They did break down into powder. Thanks so much for your help!

Alanna

NCHFP provides all sorts of info on dehydrating. Well worth checking out. Not all dehydrators are equal and while I certainly recommend drying onions outside it doesn't always work well for everything everywhere simply because of humidity differences.

Dave

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/dry.html

Annie, you have inspired me. I have jalepinos that I just don't know what to do with anymore... too many. I'll try drying them and then grinding to powder.

My Nesco dehydrator specifies to dry vegetables at 135 degrees. I use that setting for garlic and onions and they take around 15-18 hours depending on thickness and the size of the batch. To grind into powder they need to be very brittle. Freezing after dehydrating seems to also remove any remaining moisture. If not fully dried it can lead to clumping in the finished powdered product.

I've never dehydrated peppers but I have a few dozen Jalapenos left on my 2 plants that I either need to dehydrate, make/freeze poppers, or feed to the chickens.

LoneJack, I fed all the jalapeno scraps to the chickens, and then wondered if I'd have Huevos Rancheros ready made for breakfast, LOL.

Kate, I made a mixture of herbs/spices/peppers last year and made my own chili powder. It was inferno hot, though, I've got to work on that and make it tolerable for wimps like me!

Annie

LOL Annie - I know that birds in general have no aversion to capsicum but I do suppose that it could affect the taste of the eggs. Right now we only have 3 old biddies left in the flock and with them molting we are getting nada as far as eggs and probably won't until March.

For what it might be worth, I find that blanched peppers dry faster. I think the blanching breaks the cellular surface tension so that the moisture can evaporate faster.

Dave

So I tried doing blanching and already have some with no pretreatment jalapeño , to see difference and I say blanching seem to stay more true to size and dried better than no pretreatment. Neither really have a great smell at first but as i give it time it's getting stronger

Here are mine, very dried and not pre-treated. They keep their color well, although they did shrink in size a lot. I didn't really care about that, as I intend to grind them to powder anyway.

I did leeks too, with no pretreatment. I had dried leeks last year and they were the hit item in my pantry, everyone loved having them on hand, so I did it again. Plus, they got a Grand Champion ribbon at the county fair, double bonus! As you can see, the color is a bit off in this picture, as those are canned collard greens to the right of those leeks...

Annie

I did another batch of Candy onions over the weekend and ended up with a quart jar full. I was wondering if dehydrated onions could be used to replace the French fried onions in a green bean casserole? Not quite the same texture so I'm think not.

Now I might give leeks a try but I only have 10-12 left in the garden. How are they reconstituted Annie? Would they still work in a stir fry after being reconstituted?

LoneJack, I've been just tossing handfuls into whatever I'm cooking without rehydration at all. Mostly soups and sauces or potatoes for mashing, with plenty of cooking liquid, but I've tossed a handful into the beaten egg for a quiche and they were fine too. I think they'd be fine reconstituted and added to stir fry, although I should have been more diligent in removing the papery outside layers, I got a few that were a bit tough.

Annie

Thanks Annie...I will give the stir fry a try and report the results sometime this winter.