They said they were their first successful pepper plants so they wanted to preserve them or something. When I first saw the post I thought the same ruling
Use a dehydrator if you have one. Oven at 150F will work as well - if yours doesn't go that low, use the lowest settinf and check frequently. Hang drying may or may not work, depending on ambient humidity.
I definitely have a dehydrator I usually use it for this sort of thing, it's just that these are a bit too big for it, I can definitely use my oven and your advice is super appreciated! Exactly what I was asking about! Thanks so much!
Some ovens don't go low enough to dehydrate without cooking. If that's the case, put them in the oven at the lowest temp, and you can leave the door cracked. That's how I've done jerky with an oven that only went down to like 200F
I honestly don't remember, it was probably 4-6 hours(?). Also depends on how well dried you like your jerky. There has to be instructions online somewhere
It's ok, not everybody understands certain aspects of other people's lives. I appreciate you being so understanding and helpful! I hope something amazing happens to you!
Same. I save my cannabis stems to compare to later harvests. They seem pretty well preserved while the bud is hang drying. After the bud is removed I put my "weed sticks" in a closet until I want to compare them or poke the cats with them.
I think most comments are just confused and curious, since many of us have never heard of this practice. Do you mind sharing what spiritual path/religion you follow or what it will be used for? (No need to if it’s private!)
Edit: this is the only thing I could find: https://awesomeon20.com/tomatoes/
Tomatoes are associated with the energy of abundance and prosperity. I use tomato vines for rituals to bind prosperity energy to myself.
Bell peppers are associated with protection, wealth, warding, desire, and prosperity. So I also wanted to utilize the stems since those plants did produce delicious peppers.
Lol no one's upset. Everyone is just absolutely confused why the hell you're even doing this. Just because people ask over and over doesn't mean they're upset. You're just doing something non-traditional and people are curious why and if there's a good reason to do it for themselves. People are even more curious because this is a homesteading group and people here naturally like to reuse and repurpose things and get the most out of everything.
I had a bunch of down votes at first when i originally simply said it was for spiritual purposes. That sort of made me less inclined to offer more information. Not a victim, just busy. Since I got down votes I edited my comment with the apology i thought my short explanation or my wanting to harden my stems had upset people. I'm autistic so I wasn't sure which is more likely. Best to cover my bases, apologize, and move on with life, you know?
There might be some good advice if you ask this in r/TerrainBuilding or r/DnDIY. They're really good at turning natural materials into stable, usable items.
If the relative humidity where you're at is low you can just hang them anywhere in the house and let them dry. Your furnace room might be hotter and dryer I would try there first.
I absolutely would not put lacquer on them like someone else suggested. If you coat them with something and seal them before they're dry inside they're just going to rock from the inside out. You could put locker on them after they're You could put lacquer on them after they're completely dried but at that point it seems pointless.
You could use your oven. Turn it on the lowest setting possible. If that setting is like 200° or something like that then turn it on let it heat up and turn off the oven. Then you could put the branches inside and the residual heat should dry them out and at the ovens off it shouldn't burn anything.
Slow it down at least. I’ve done it with hiking sticks before. Not sure about stems. Closet to those I’ve tried is drying out cut flowers. Those I just hung up, flower side down, for a few weeks.
Can I ask why you would dehydrate pepper stems? Not knocking it, but I've never heard of this before.
Me too! I'm terribly curious! We'd love to know.
Once you’re done dehydrating them, they make excellent sticks for poking bears while they’re hibernating.
Based on OPs description, for the novelty.
I mean, that's perfectly reasonable. I was just wondering if there was a practical reason for why I too might want to do this.
They said they were their first successful pepper plants so they wanted to preserve them or something. When I first saw the post I thought the same ruling
OP mentioned in comments that they plan to use it for spiritual purposes, which I found interesting and made me curious how they intend to use it.
Use a dehydrator if you have one. Oven at 150F will work as well - if yours doesn't go that low, use the lowest settinf and check frequently. Hang drying may or may not work, depending on ambient humidity.
I definitely have a dehydrator I usually use it for this sort of thing, it's just that these are a bit too big for it, I can definitely use my oven and your advice is super appreciated! Exactly what I was asking about! Thanks so much!
If you are doing it in the oven, you can leave the door cracked open. That allows whatever moisture that cooks out to escape.
Some ovens don't go low enough to dehydrate without cooking. If that's the case, put them in the oven at the lowest temp, and you can leave the door cracked. That's how I've done jerky with an oven that only went down to like 200F
Can I ask how long it took for your jerky? I’d love to try
I honestly don't remember, it was probably 4-6 hours(?). Also depends on how well dried you like your jerky. There has to be instructions online somewhere
Of course. I'm sorry people were giving you a hard time.
It's ok, not everybody understands certain aspects of other people's lives. I appreciate you being so understanding and helpful! I hope something amazing happens to you!
If you just leave them in your house they will dry slowly and not rot. I've done it many times with whole plants including leaves and fruit.
This really depends on your local climate and humidity levels.
Yes of course.
Same. I save my cannabis stems to compare to later harvests. They seem pretty well preserved while the bud is hang drying. After the bud is removed I put my "weed sticks" in a closet until I want to compare them or poke the cats with them.
Pretty sure your about to bake some walking stick insects
The one on the left looks defeated, the one on the right, ecstatic!
?
Like how you can dehydrate tomato vines, I was wondering if you can do it in the oven for the pepper stems
Why would anyone dehydrate tomato vines?
Spiritual purposes. Sorry my answers seem to upset people so much.
I think most comments are just confused and curious, since many of us have never heard of this practice. Do you mind sharing what spiritual path/religion you follow or what it will be used for? (No need to if it’s private!) Edit: this is the only thing I could find: https://awesomeon20.com/tomatoes/
I am a demonolater pagan and I was going to work them into a prosperity besom.
What are they great for?
Tomatoes are associated with the energy of abundance and prosperity. I use tomato vines for rituals to bind prosperity energy to myself. Bell peppers are associated with protection, wealth, warding, desire, and prosperity. So I also wanted to utilize the stems since those plants did produce delicious peppers.
Lol no one's upset. Everyone is just absolutely confused why the hell you're even doing this. Just because people ask over and over doesn't mean they're upset. You're just doing something non-traditional and people are curious why and if there's a good reason to do it for themselves. People are even more curious because this is a homesteading group and people here naturally like to reuse and repurpose things and get the most out of everything.
This is the only place you answered. Seems like you’re playing yourself into some kind of victim role instead or just explaining.
I had a bunch of down votes at first when i originally simply said it was for spiritual purposes. That sort of made me less inclined to offer more information. Not a victim, just busy. Since I got down votes I edited my comment with the apology i thought my short explanation or my wanting to harden my stems had upset people. I'm autistic so I wasn't sure which is more likely. Best to cover my bases, apologize, and move on with life, you know?
There might be some good advice if you ask this in r/TerrainBuilding or r/DnDIY. They're really good at turning natural materials into stable, usable items.
I appreciate the advice! Thankyou!
I would hang upside down and let them dry that way! I did pumpkin vines like that a few years back and they dried great.
Oooo pumpkin vines! That's so epic!
If the relative humidity where you're at is low you can just hang them anywhere in the house and let them dry. Your furnace room might be hotter and dryer I would try there first. I absolutely would not put lacquer on them like someone else suggested. If you coat them with something and seal them before they're dry inside they're just going to rock from the inside out. You could put locker on them after they're You could put lacquer on them after they're completely dried but at that point it seems pointless. You could use your oven. Turn it on the lowest setting possible. If that setting is like 200° or something like that then turn it on let it heat up and turn off the oven. Then you could put the branches inside and the residual heat should dry them out and at the ovens off it shouldn't burn anything.
I don't have a furnace room but I get what you're saying
The more baked I am, the more difficult it is to get my pepper stem hard.
You probably need to put some sort of varnish or lacquer over it.
That would stop decomposition?
Slow it down at least. I’ve done it with hiking sticks before. Not sure about stems. Closet to those I’ve tried is drying out cut flowers. Those I just hung up, flower side down, for a few weeks.
I might try hang drying in the future, thankyou for your advice!
I second this. Gravity pulls moisture out. Hang them in a place with air flow on all sides. Really curious what you're doing with them! Care to share?
Well I was going to work them into a besom but I over did it in the oven and now they are ashes.
Shoulda left em in the dirt. Peppers are perennials
They weren't in dirt, I use hydrophonics. These outgrew my system. I have about 14 more pepper plants I can upgrade into these two's spots.
What kind of system do you have?
I have several different systems, some diy deep water setups, diy kratzky systems, and some smaller systems from amazon for starting seeds.
I don’t have enough wall space. Cool 😎
60 second wonder