How To Freeze Hot Peppers

Hot peppers are amongst the most common ingredients used to spice up recipes. Available in a wide range of shapes, sizes and colors, they vary in their hotness (spiciness) quotient as well. The most common types of hot peppers are Bell pepper, Cherry pepper, Anaheim pepper, Jalapeño pepper, Serrano pepper, Cayenne pepper, Tabasco pepper, Thai pepper, Rocoto pepper, Habanero chili pepper and Ghost pepper. The best part about all these peppers is that they can be easily frozen and used at a later date, when they are out of season, to spice up your food. In case you want to know how to freeze hot peppers, the procedure listed below will surely prove useful.

Freezing Hot Peppers

Items Needed

Hot Peppers
Colander
Cotton Dishtowel
Thin Latex Gloves
Paring Knife
Freezer Bags

Instructions

You will start the freezing process by placing the hot peppers into the colander and rinsing them thoroughly with water.
Place a clean cotton dishtowel on a flat surface and spread the peppers on it, in a single layer, allowing them to dry.
Before you start actual freezing of peppers, it is advisable to wear latex gloves. This is to protect you from capsaicinoids, a compound in peppers that causes burning sensation in any body part that it comes in contact with.
Take a small, serrated paring knife and insert it in the pepper, at the place where the base of its stem meets the top.
Working the knife around the entire edge of the stem, cut off the stem of the pepper.
Pull out the stem and throw it away. Through the opening that you have just created in the pepper, shake out as many seeds as you can.
You can either freeze the peppers whole, just like they are now - with the stem cut off, or slice them further.
Take a ½-quart or 1-quart freezer bag and put the peppers, whole or sliced, in it. Make sure to leave ½ inch of headroom at the top of the bag.
Next, you need to seal the bag, squeezing out as much air out of it as possible.
Finally, place the bags into the freezer.

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