Drying chillies

Make the most of this hot weather and dry home grown produce eg, fruit, tomatoes, chillies.
I have some chilli bushes and one is a survivor from last year, with a mass of tiny, red, hot as hell chillies. Every year I dry some chillies to add spice to the food, especially during the cooler periods.
Also, they are ideal to add to homemade relishes like green tomato chutney.

How to dry chillies:

• Pick the chillies, leave a small part of the stem
• Discard damaged or poor quality chillies
• Place in a china bowl or saucer
• Position in the sun light - follow the sun during the day
• Bring in at night (avoids bad weather and it does stop night creatures from feasting on them)
• Takes 5-8 days to be dried just right
• Test one by crushing it to ensure there is no moisture left
• Using a china bowl rather than a metal tray avoids burning and retains the red colour
• Or if you're rushed, you can dry slowly in a warm oven - caution, watch it carefully - it is easy to over-cook and they go black
• Pack into a tall jar with a tight lid - a tall jar gives a nice decorative look
• Add 1-2 moisture absorbing packs to the jar - collect during the year from food packets and store in a jar
• They'll last for years 
• Makes an ideal gift for spicey friends

Enjoy.