Give them a good grind for a minute or so. YES! I love ghost peppers because they have an excellent heat level and they’re also quite fruity and flavorful. A little goes a long way, of course, which is why I wind up dehydrating them. The plants are SO productive, it’s hard to use them all up. Learn more about the ghost pepper. Dang! So many ghost pepper hot sauces! Haha! I can’t help myself. I do LOVE my ghost peppers. All you really need to make your own homemade ghost pepper powder is a dehydrator and some ghost peppers, of course. Let’s talk about how we make it, shall we? Remove the stems and slice them open lengthwise. I recommend wearing gloves when handling ghost peppers. The oils can get onto your skin and cause a burning sensation. If this happens, see - How to Stop the Chili Pepper Burn on Your Skin. Next, set the ghost peppers onto dehydrator trays. Dehydrate the ghost peppers at 135 degrees F for at least 5 hours, or until they are completely dried through. It could take up to 8 hours or longer. Just follow the recommendations of your dehydrator. You can speed up the drying process by chopping them into smaller pieces before dehydrating. Once the ghost peppers are completely dried, grind them down in a mortar with a pestle, or add them to a spice grinder and grind them to either a powder or a coarse grain. I use this: Magic Bullet MBR-1701 17-Piece Express Mixing Set (affiliate link). If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! – Mike H. Sift that powder out and process any remaining chunks until only powder remains. Store your freshly made ghost pepper powder in airtight spice containers. Use it as you would use any spice.
A Note About Seeds
Some people find the seeds rather bitter in chili peppers. When you crush them, you may release that bitterness into the final powder. I have made powder both ways, both with and without the seeds and enjoy them both. However, if you note a bitterness in the seeds, remove them before grinding. Some people do not enjoy the bitterness. I’ve used my dehydrator to make all sorts of interesting seasoning blends from peppers and other ingredients I grew in my own garden, but one of the most interesting things I’ve begun to do is to make spicy homemade seasoning blends from discarded items. I recently posted an article on How to Make Seasonings from Hot Sauce Pulp, and got a good reaction from it. Basically, if you strain the solids out of a homemade hot sauce recipe of yours to thin out the hot sauce, you might normally throw that pulp away. However, that pulp still have a lot of life and flavor left to it. Dehydrate it and turn it into a wonderful seasoning blend. It will very likely take longer than 5 hours, but much depends on the thickness of the pepper walls and how many peppers you’re working with. I personally turn mine on when I go to bed and check it in the morning. The peppers are usually dried by morning, but if not, just leave them in longer until they are dried. Need help? How to Stop the Chili Pepper Burn On Your Skin. Also, the powders are quite fine and may get into the air if you are not working in a well ventilated room, so you may want to wear a mask and goggles. Superhot chili peppers, truly, are called superhots for a reason. After drying and grinding, my yield was .75 ounces, or 3 tablespoons, of finished ghost pepper powder, a but under the 4 to 1 ratio of fresh to dried, likely because of the thin walls. Your results may vary. These are the products that I use to dehydrate chili peppers and make blends, and I personally recommend them. They are affiliate links - just an FYI. If you use them, let me know if you have any questions and I can help. Email me anytime. The Nesco is a smaller dehydrator that is perfect for general home use: Nesco FD-75A Snackmaster Pro Food Dehydrator, White The Excalibur is a larger 9-tray dehydrator that is ideal for larger batches: Excalibur 3926TB Food Dehydrator, Black I use and highly recommend both of these.
