Dehydrating Chilies: Avoid These Common Mistakes

Dehydrated chilies might not look so bad, but making them can be a nightmare. I'm here to walk you through the biggest mistakes when dehydrating food and how to do it better next time.

Hey there, my name is Ben, and welcome to Impossibly Kosher. I love dried foods—whether it's nuts, fruits, vegetables, or jerky. I've experimented with different methods but never invested in a proper food dehydrator. I've tried all the shortcuts, like the oven, air fryer, and toaster oven methods. Honestly, none of these tricks are great.

When I got my Ninja Air Fryer Indoor Grill and Instant Omni Vortex Toaster Oven, I noticed both had a dehydrate mode. I thought it would be easy to dehydrate chili peppers. I tossed them into the Instant Omni Vortex toaster oven, set it to dehydrate mode for 6 hours, and waited. After 6 hours, there was zero progress. I kept resetting the time. Six hours turned into 12, then 48, then 72, and finally, after 80 hours, they were done.

Eighty hours to get dried chilies—was it worth it? They came out well, and I could keep them for months, but was the time spent worth it? Honestly, no. Looking back, I made some critical mistakes.

Biggest Mistakes When Dehydrating Chilies

1. Overcrowding the Trays

   • After 6 hours, I realized they weren't dehydrating because I had overcrowded the trays. Proper airflow is crucial. Each piece needs enough space for complete air circulation.

2. Not Cutting or Making Incisions

   • Chilies have a tough protective barrier. Drawing out the moisture takes much longer if you don't cut or make small incisions. Puncturing the top or bottom, or slicing the top off, would have sped up the process.

I've since learned from my mistakes. I've dehydrated a few things in both my Ninja Air Fryer and Instant Omni Vortex with better results. I tried fish jerky, but it didn't turn out well due to the high temperatures. I eventually got a Sahara Food Dehydrator, which works much better.

Check out my video review of the Sahara Food Dehydrator here.

I'm not in a rush to dehydrate chilies again because I have plenty. Instead, I'll be making fruit roll-ups, dried mangoes, dried shiitake mushrooms, and more. Whenever I make soup, I'll just toss in the dried vegetables. And of course, I’ll make my favorite—beef and fish jerkies.