Freezing Chilli Peppers

[antongarou]

I bought too many chilli peppers so I plan on freezing them: does anyone know how it will effect their taste, especially the amount of heat?

[Lioness]

I bought too many chilli peppers so I plan on freezing them: does anyone know how it will effect their taste, especially the amount of heat?

My experience with mere refrigeration of pepper items leads me to suspect it will amp up the heat considerably, so I wait avidly to hear the answer to your question from Those That Know....

[Clarentine]

My experience is with sweet peppers, so measurement of heat is not something I can comment on, but I will tell you I sliced my excess peppers into thin strips and then froze them (as dry as possible before insertion into the zip bag!).  They come out soft, but the taste is reasonably the same as a fresh pepper. 

[InkRose]

From rather limited experience, It's day it doesn't change much. I've only had ones that wegelius frozen whole and fresh, and they had as much fire as fresh ones, albeit first mellowed by the fact they were almost ice cold. Tasted fine, too, but structure was a bit mushy, as one might expect. I'd say drying changes them more than freezing will.

[antongarou]

Thanks- the problem I'm facing is that I'm a chilihead, but my SO very much isn't.

[Lioness]

Wait, nobody but me has experiences where refrigerating chilis makes the heat spike up considerably?  Hmm. Weird.  Emma, don't you remember Bucket O' Fire at the Winnipeg Folk Festival?

That said, a quick Google reveals some suggestions that roasting peppers before freezing them might be a good idea, because apparently some of the fresh frozen ones get mushy or something. Another suggestion was to drop the peppers into boiling water for 2 minutes, then into cold water, then dry them and freeze them. Apparently that solves the mush problem. Most recipes I see for freezing fresh ones suggest chopping them before freezing, saying that that makes the mushiness less a problem. (The mushiness reportedly comes from slower freezing times, what with ice crystals messing with cell walls and so forth.)

Aha! Did find a few people saying that freezing makes them hotter. Can't find any science on it, though. And it's all contingent on leaving the hottest bits (the white pith) in when freezing them.

Hmm.

[jimsmyth]

Another suggestion was to drop the peppers into boiling water for 2 minutes, then into cold water, then dry them and freeze them. Apparently that solves the mush problem. Most recipes I see for freezing fresh ones suggest chopping them before freezing, saying that that makes the mushiness less a problem.

It's called "blanching".  We used to do it when we froze vegetables.  I still have memories of sucking the green-bean-flavored air out of a freezer bag before sealing it shut and popping it in the freezer.

[chicgeek]

I've only frozen sweet red bell peppers. I stem, seed and chop them, and dump in a pseudo tupperware or a freezer bag. Thing is, I only cook with them. Add them to hash browns, eggs,soup, stir fry, chili, ect ect. For that, they work great with no change in taste. Texture? Since I cook them it's a moot point. Not mushy at all, though.
Something I keep forgetting to do is spread them out on a tray to freeze first, then stuffing them in a container. That way they're supposed to freeze in nice individuals bits, instead of stuck together in a mass, like they do now!
Yeah, I loves them, they can be pricey, and when the grocery runs a special, I stock up.

I've found (in my limited experience) that cooked veggies tend to freeze mushy. I tried freezing beef stew once as an experiment. Thought I'd make a huuuge batch, and have a handy meal for later. The potatoes especially, the texture was 'bleagh!' 
And I've gotten off topic.

[jimsmyth]

Food is never off topic.

[antongarou]

Something I keep forgetting to do is spread them out on a tray to freeze first, then stuffing them in a container. That way they're supposed to freeze in nice individuals bits, instead of stuck together in a mass, like they do now!

try drying them fanatically before you freeze them- helps a lot with the chili peppers I freeze. What usually sticks them together is the ice from water drops: This also means that you really don't want to freeze them spread on a tray since they will simply freeze onto the tray.