Dried Green Peppercorns

[JusMe]

I found my sun dried tomatoes turn out so well - plump Romas quartered and simply set in the sun for about three or four days on a small bamboo tray, one kilo becomes about 100 gms - that I decided to try doing the same with green peppercorns.

I did read that they should be steamed or boiled first for about ten minutes, and then take many many days drying.

I tried a small package of them, steamed for about ten minutes, and then out in the sun on a paper towel in a bamboo tray.

Three days and they're hard, so I don't know how much longer they need. Problem is that many of them seem to have turned black, like ordinary black peppercorns.

I'd like to try some more, but wonder if perhaps I'm doing something wrong. Should be boiled, not steamed? Longer?

Any and all ideas and advice welcomed.

[AyG]

What you've done is indeed make ordinary black peppercorns. Green peppercorns require additional processing to stop the green pigments oxidising, such as treatment with sulphur dioxide or freeze drying to keep the green colour.

[JusMe]

I'd read about the freeze drying or pickling, but also about simply steaming or boiling to prevent the enzyme change so they remain green peppercorns.

I didn't harvest but bought a package at Tesco. And I steamed rather than boiled as I'd read somewhere else. Mine took only a few days in our intense Thai sun, not the 14 indicated here. But some of them - not all - have gone quite black, and as you suggest, I think they've become ordinary black peppercorns. I'd like to sun dry and ensure they are green peppercorns.

Boil harvested berries for 10 minutes to begin the fermenting process. Boiling berries also disinfects the hulls.

Dry in the sun for approximately 14 days to extract enough moisture to render the peppercorns ready to use.

[AyG]

I think the source of your information is from the eHow article "How to dry green peppercorns". There are two things wrong here:

(1) eHow is a terrible source of information. It's authors are paid a pittance to churn out vast numbers of article in subjects about which they know very little.

(2) the article is about how to dry peppercorns that are green (turning them black) - not about how to produce dry green peppercorns.

Incidentally, 10 minutes is a very long time to boil. It's usually just for a few seconds.

Personally, I like green peppercorns in a steak sauce which uses green peppercorns preserved in brine. That's what I'd be doing if I had a surfeit of fresh green peppercorns.

[JusMe]

Can't remember my source, but you could be right on that. I was looking at several different sources for drying and keeping green.

The pickled or brine is good, but if I go that direction, I'll head into the shop and just buy. Too lazy for much more than putting 'em out in the sun.

Steak sauce, homemade salad dressing with yoghurt, olive oil, and some herbs and green peppercorns in the blender.

[cooked]

So why are green pepper corns so desirable?

Sent from my GT-S7500 using Tapatalk 2

[wayned]

Why would you want to dry them or pickle them, they're avaiable fresh in the market everyday. The peppery flavor isn't very prominent in the green peppercorns and they are great when used as a supplemnet for the extremely hot tatse of chilis.

[cooked]

I still haven't worked out why, here in Isaan they dump so much chilli into every meal that I can't eat it, but when I cook with pepper corns or ginger to my taste steam comes out of their ears.

[JusMe]

I'd like to dry them here so I can "package" a good lot and take them back to North America with me, where buying in jars, etc. is incredibly expensive.

[JusMe]

SUCCESS!

Rather than a small package from Tesco, and doubtful freshness, I bought a big bag from my favourite vegetable vendor in our local market. Same price as that tiny Tesco package, and absolutely fresh.

Immediately on arriving home, I got a pot to a rolling boil and dropped the lot in. Let 'em go for about five minutes, and then into a sieve.

Put them out in a paper lined bamboo tray, and two days later, all of them are still pale green but totally dry. Into a plastic bag in the refrigerator, and ready for another batch.

Tricks maybe? freshness #1; no steaming but into an already boiling pot of water.

[rice555]

Hello All, I can find fresh most of the time here in Korat, but after reading this

thread, thought I'd try drying some.

I use sulfur dioxide(smoke) like we use to do cots when I was growing up in

San Jose.

This is Bt.50 worth of GPC's from Crown Plaza Market. The pic's tell the rest

of the story, Not drying in direct sunlight. Another day drying and the a taste

test.

The box was closed during the smoking!(3rd. pic)

rice555