I'm a first-time gardener and I have a single cayenne pepper plant that's produced about 5 or 6 fully ripe peppers, but I need more to make hot sauce. Can I pick the ripe ones now and store them until the others ripen, or should I use them right away? What's the best way to store them if I can?
4 Answers
Yeah, freezing works great! I usually don't bother with blanching either, and I've had no problems at all. Just toss them in the freezer whole or sliced. They'll be fine for a while.
If you're making hot sauce, I'd recommend starting the fermentation process with the peppers you have now, then just keep adding to that as your peppers ripen. But if you want to go the freezing route, just clean them up, slice them, and toss them in there!
Absolutely, you can freeze your peppers! It’s actually pretty easy. Just blanch them in boiling water for a minute, then drain them and spread them out on a cookie sheet to freeze for about 90 minutes. After that, transfer them to containers, and they’ll keep for up to 6 months. You can either thaw them when you’re ready to use them or throw them directly into your dish while frozen!
I like to harvest and hang my early peppers to dry. Once I have enough ripe ones and some time, I’ll gather the dried and fresh peppers to make my hot sauce. It ends up thicker and more flavorful since you’re reducing the water content!