My Favorite Pepper: Cayenne
I picked this great cayenne pepper in the garden yesterday, I thought it looked like a big waxed mustache. I tried to get Lucy to oblige me for a photo, but she doesn’t like to have her photo taken, so this is the best I could get as she tried to bite the stem.
I grew cayenne peppers this year because I love love love hot food, and I find myself often adding cayenne powder or red pepper flakes to my food. I’m not a huge pepper fan, they give me terrible indigestion, but cayenne peppers are a different story.
I’ve been drying them whole and in slices dehydrator. I’m planning on crushing them all to make red pepper flakes.
I also dried some jalapeño slices. I’m still harvesting and drying, but I think I should have 3 cups of pepper flakes before the end of the season. That should last me till next year.
Have you ever grown one of your favorite spices/herbs?
Filed under Edible, harvest, Harvest Keepers Challenge, Peppers | Comments (20)
I grew cayenne last year. I ended up with enough for me and a few friends. I always grow basil, oregano, mint, parsley, sage, thyme etc.
.-= Heather´s last blog ..Cough, cough, hack,hack =-.
to Heather's comment
I love hot stuff, always have since I came to the USA from Seoul, Korea when I was 9 mos. old.
Amy
.-= Amy´s last blog ..Julie’s Prayer =-.
to Amy's comment
I grow most of them!
I just wish I could grow peppercorns.
SOOOOOO tasty! I normally dry a lot of cayennes, but this year I am thinking of making some hot sauce as a method of preservation. There are some great sites out there!
.-= Chicago Mike´s last blog ..Pumpkins Uber Alles =-.
to Chicago Mike's comment
I wish I could grow peppercorns as well. I hear there’s a local berry you can use like peppercorns.
to Susy's comment
I really did not end up wth anything hot in the garden this year. The Early Jalepenos are very mild – some heat but not much. I am going to grow something different next year to ensure I get some heat – but I have to find a variety that grows to maturity in a relatively short period of time because our “hot part of the summer” is very brief here.
to KitsapFG's comment
Ours is too, I’m just starting to get some ripe peppers. Next year I’ll try to grow some small cayenne’s they should ripen earlier.
to Susy's comment
We grew some cayenne peppers too. We don’t use them in a lot of stuff but occasionally like them in stir fries and fajita type things. My favorite herb this year is sage.
.-= Dave´s last blog ..Fall Color is Coming! =-.
to Dave's comment
I agree, sage is wonderful. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!
to Susy's comment
I have a whole bunch of cayennes drying on a ristra. They are so pretty. I’ll be sad to use them up and grind some of them, but I will. Spicy is good. I’m not sure what my favorite herb is that I grow. It isn’t the cayenne. Maybe rosemary or thyme. Or cilantro in the spring. Yum. Or basil when the tomatoes come in. Then again what would chicken be without sage or cucumbers be without dill? There are so many good herbs and spices. I wish I grew more.
.-= Daphne´s last blog ..Fall Comes to the Garden =-.
to Daphne's comment
I do love to grow herbs, I like sage as well, although I never got any started this year. I have a rosemary plant that I bring inside during the winter and I dry oregano from the garden.
to Susy's comment
Can you recommend a more mild pepper for us to try growing for use in salsa next year? I like heat, just not too much.
.-= Mike´s last blog ..Saving Seed – Belgian Endive & Red Giant Celery =-.
to Mike's comment
I would try to find some mild jalapeños. I’ve heard you can buy seeds for them, and I’ve bought a few a the market that were really tame.
to Susy's comment
I love hot food too. This year serrano peppers came to be my favorite for salsa making. I have bell peppers, but they are a bit sensitive to the hot sun we have so much of in the San Joaquin Valley.
Herbs that I currently grow: basil, parsley, chives, thyme.
Thanks for the cayenne suggestion. I think I’ll try them next summer and look forward to learning how your dehydration works out.
.-= MAYBELLINE´s last blog ..Fall Planting Part II =-.
to MAYBELLINE's comment
Funny, I’ve always had a wimpy mouth. But lately I want to push it hotter and hotter. I’m sure it’s mild to someone who really wants it hot, but I’m getting there.
Want some dried orange Thai chiles? I’m not going to eat them, but man were they cute to grow! Email if you do.
.-= stefaneener´s last blog ..Saving Eggs =-.
to stefaneener's comment
Orange Thai Chiles, how interesting. I would love some!
to Susy's comment
[…] has that perfect sweet tanginess that I love, it might even be better with some heat added (perhaps some of those cayenne’s I’ve dried). Of course if you’re expecting the texture of the stuff from the grocery you’ll […]
to Homemade Ketchup Recipe | Chiot’s Run's comment
[…] full sun conditions in my mom’s garden and the few plants I had here at Chiot’s Run as well. I dried the ripe cayenne peppers and have them stored in a big jar in the basement pantry. Every so often I add a few to my spice […]
to Grinding Your own cayenne pepper | Chiot’s Run's comment
We have our first cayenne plant, ( a few others too) and have an abundance of green cayenne. We don’t have a dehydrator (yet). How long would you recommend baking in the oven for? We’d love to have green pepper flakes. Will green peppers eventually turn red?
Thanks for your time.
to Michelle's comment
The green peppers will get red, it takes them a while to do so. You can hang them in a warm dry place to dry if you have one, like an attic. If you live in an area where it’s not as humid you can simply hang them in the kitchen. It’s too humid here in Ohio for this, they simply mold. I’m going to attempt drying in my attic this year. If drying in the oven, set oven to about 130 and bake until dry and brittle.
to Susy's comment
can you dry these in the oven? I don’t have a food dehydrator yet….
to angie h's comment