Of all the peppers that my garden produced this season, these are by far the hottest.  They are insanely hot!  It’s hard to find a way to use them in recipes.  I wouldn’t dare throw one in a stir-fry and I wouldn’t want to take even a small bite of a fresh one.  I like to dry them and crush them into a powder.  Once they are in powder form, I can add a small pinch to sauces or flour dredges when I want a serious kick.

I wear latex gloves when I work with the peppers.  In order to prepare the peppers for the food dehydrator, I cut off the stems and slice the peppers into small rings. 

Then I lay them on the dehydrator tray and I make sure to allow space for the air to circulate evenly.  I put the dehydrator in the garage and ventilate by opening the garage door.  The air that comes out of the dehydrator is nearly lethal.  Seriously.  I take shallow breaths when I am near the chillis. 

I set the dehydrator at 100° and let it run for 12 hours.

Once the peppers are dry and crisp, I put them in a spice grinder and pulverize them. 

I don’t use this spice grinder for anything else because no matter how much I clean it, it still hangs on to some of the oils and residue of the chillis.  I made the mistake of using my coffee grinder once and suffered the consequences.  I cleaned the grinder several times but the coffee beans picked up the heat from the chillis for the next several grinds.  The subsequent coffee brews were painful.

Now I’m ready to make some crazy hot wings!