Nutrition
| Per 100 g | Per 1 oz (28 g) | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 311 kcal | 88 kcal |
| Protein | 11.7 g | 3.3 g |
| Fat | 16.9 g | 4.8 g |
| saturated | 3.2 g | 0.9 g |
| Carbohydrate | 21.5 g | 6.1 g |
| sugars | 10.1 g | 2.9 g |
| Fibre | 26.6 g | 7.5 g |
| Sodium | 29 mg | 8 mg |
Estimated from the ingredients, for the finished dried product. Actual values vary with the produce you use and how far you dry it.
Ingredients
- 1.6 kg fresh cayenne peppers
Instructions
- Wear gloves. Cayenne oil stays on skin for hours and finds your eyes later.
- Rinse the peppers and pat them dry. Discard any with soft spots or split skins — those spoil rather than dry.
- Leave small peppers whole and pierce each one once with a knife tip so steam can escape. Halve anything thicker than a finger lengthwise; a whole thick pepper can take twice as long as a halved one.
- Lay them on the trays in a single layer, skin side down, with space between them.
- Dehydrate at 57 °C for 10 hours. They are ready when a pepper snaps rather than bends — any that still feels leathery goes back on for another hour.
- Let them cool completely before they go anywhere near a grinder. Warm peppers carry steam, and steam in a jar is what spoils a batch.
- For flakes, crush the dried pods by hand, still gloved, and keep the seeds if you want the heat.
- For powder, work in a ventilated room, grind in a spice grinder, and let the dust settle for a minute before opening it — airborne cayenne is unpleasant to breathe. Sieve, and put the coarse remainder back through.
- Store in an airtight jar out of the light. It keeps its heat for a year and its colour for about six months.
