Oh, my favorite chile, the mighty habanero!  I have four habanero plants in my garden and they have been pumping out delicious chile peppers for several weeks.  But, all good things must come to an end, and it is no different for the beautiful and spicy habanero. 

I might get another month or two of limited production but, I know there will soon come a time when I won’t be able to go out to the yard and pick some fresh peppers. 

So, now it’s time to make salsa but, even the best salsa doesn’t compare to the fresh flavor of the chile, as it is plucked from the bush.

I’ve dehydrated habaneros, in the past, but grinding them into a powder only results in a powder that is nearly unusable.  The heat is too intense and the bright, sweet, fruity flavor of the habanero disappears, after it has had the moisture sucked out of it.

Freezing them hasn’t produced much better results.  The fruit loses its lovely orange color and the flesh of the pepper is mushy. 

This year, I decided to freeze them in water, to help preserve their natural flavor and color.

Directions:

Rinse the habaneros in cool water.  All them to air-dry on a towel. 

Trim the stems off, exposing the inner cavity of the pepper.

Put them in ice trays and fill with water.  Stack another ice tray on top, to keep them from floating.  Freeze for a few hours and remove from the ice trays.

Store them in a plastic bag and keep in the freezer.  These should keep in the freezer for several months.

Just thaw them out when ready to use! 

I just hope that 48 habaneros will last me through winter!