Peppers are not only a star ingredient in many cooking recipes. They also have a certain versatility and the flavor that they impart onto the dishes makes them the lifeblood of multiple food cuisines regardless of whether you’re in Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, or South America.
Unfortunately, despite them being a wonderful addition to your shelf, their shelf life can be pretty limiting. In this guide, we will introduce you to several tried and tested effective methods to keep peppers fresh for the months to come.
What Is The Best Way To Store Peppers?
Whether you got a good deal in the supermarket for a haul or just recently harvested a huge bumper of grown peppers, the question that must surely be on everyone’s mind is to know the best method of storing the peppers.
Our answer to this question is that it depends on how long you want to store the peppers. For the best taste, the peppers are best left untampered however they will have a significantly shorter shelf-life so choose the storage method based on how long you want them to last.
Immediate Use:
If you plan to use the peppers immediately then it’s not necessary for you to go through the extra lengths to modify their form or store them in the refrigerator. After all, as I explained previously, the best tasting peppers are the unmodified ones.
While peppers are always almost guaranteed to stay fresh and last for a week, there are several things that you can do to keep them fresher and reduce the chances of their spoilage while avoiding mistakes that make them spoil quicker.
There’s nothing to this method really, just leave the peppers open on the countertop as it is. You can store bell peppers on the counter for 5 days before you see signs of potential pepper spoilage.
For the least spoilage, choose a spot that stays cool and dry. Do not wash the pepper as the moisture can encourage rot however if you must then you need to pat them dry thoroughly after washing them.
The most essential knowledge regarding the storage of peppers is that good air circulation and high humidity are paramount to keeping them fresh for as long as possible. Keeping them in plastic bags or wraps can result in moisture condensation which can bolster rot.
A mesh bag is ideal as it provides good and thorough air circulation through the entire crop produce. Otherwise, it’s not too different from the fresh method of storing openly on the countertops aside from lasting slightly longer.
While it is important to not wash the peppers for longer shelf life, understand the reasoning behind preventing spoilage even after washing the peppers. Moisture on the surface of the pepper for a long period of time encourages the growth of fungi, bacteria, and viruses.
However, if you dry the peppers thoroughly by dabbing them with towels or using a salad spinner, not only will you avoid moisture-induced rot but also successfully remove pre-existing invisible spores and microbes making your peppers last longer.
Short-Term Storage:
If you aren’t interested in using all your peppers immediately within a few days, then it would certainly do you good to keep the peppers in the fridge. However, simply storing them in the refrigerator isn’t sufficient.
There are plenty of beginner mistakes that will ruin your peppers quicker instead of keeping them fresh for a longer period. The methods mentioned here are all devoid of said beginner mistakes and start from little to no effort to high effort required for preparation.
There’s virtually no difference in effort required when simply placing the peppers inside the crisper drawer or the regular section of the refrigerator. If you aren’t being limited by space, then storing them in the fruit section aka the crisper drawer is a no-brainer as it adds 4-5 additional days of freshness.
Make sure to slide the crisper settings to fruit rather than vegetables by turning the slider to open the holes to create a low-humidity environment and encourage airflow. Make sure to use a container that facilitates ventilation instead of enclosing non-ventilating packaging or wrap.
While washing pepper with water helps remove some of the rot-associated mold and microbes, washing them in white vinegar can eliminate over 90% of the bacteria and viruses present on the surface of pepper.
Dilute 1 part 5% concentrated vinegar with 4 parts water and rinse the peppers before drying them thoroughly. Although an additional 2-4 days may not seem like a huge improvement, a near 0% spoilage rate makes this method simply hard to ignore.
Cutting peppers shortens their shelf life significantly hence it isn’t recommended to cut them before storing them. However, sometimes you just have leftovers due to misjudging the amount of peppers you need.
Rather than having to throw away the cut leftover peppers, store them in an airtight container lined with a kitchen paper towel in the refrigerator to extend their life and prioritize finishing them within the next few days. We recommend making pepper soup to make easy work of the leftovers.
Long-Term Storage:
If you have a truly large haul, then perhaps you might not even be capable of finishing all the peppers within the 2 weeks afforded to you by proper utilization of short-term pepper techniques. If this is the case, then its time for you to check out our long-term storage methods.
All of these long-term methods significantly modify the texture, form, and original taste of the bell peppers so you may want to set aside a small portion of your peppers for storing for the short-term. Preparation for long-term storing is also often tedious but can easily last you for 4-12 months.
Wash and dry all the peppers thoroughly before de-stemming them. Make sure to also remove the seed and the inner white-membrane structure to prepare the pepper for storage. Once all of the peppers have been processed, spread them out on a baking sheet and freeze them.
After they are frozen solid, transfer them into airtight freezer bags or containers before storing them in the freezer. This technique has the longest shelf life with good preservation of nutritional value however, the altered texture of thawed peppers can be a deal breaker for some people.
Another way people keep fresh peppers in store is by drying peppers which keeps both their texture and flavor relatively at the cost of being more tedious to prepare than simply freezing them. Additionally, there are several methods of drying that you can choose from.
You can either hang whole peppers to dry in a well-ventilated area, place them in a dehydrator at 125°F (52°C), or use a tray and an oven. Pepper contains only 11% water so it’s pretty easy to dry compared to the likes of strawberries and grapes.
If preserving the texture is of utmost importance for you then you can consider canning the peppers. It might change their taste slightly but they are guaranteed to last a very long time despite not refrigerating.
Prepare some sterile jars and fill them with peppers after washing and chopping them. To prevent any contact with air, fill the container with water or brine and process the jar in a pressure canner by following the canning guides.
If you love pickles, then you can also preserve hot peppers by making pepper pickles out of them. The process is rather straightforward aside from requiring the specialty equipment to can this mixture with a water bath canner.
Pour sliced peppers with a pickling solution of vinegar or brine along with optional spices to create your favored flavor profile. After covering with the pickling solution, use the boiling water bath canner to prevent any spoilage in the long term.
If you don’t have the canning equipment nor the brine and acids necessary to create a pickle, you can still recreate a similar sour and tangy flavor by fermenting the peppers instead of pickling them. Pickling relies on food acids while fermentation relies on contact with air.
After preparing the peppers, pack them into a specialized fermentation jar and fill them with water, salt, oil, and some spices. The fermentation process can produce gases that need to be vented through an airlock present in fermenting jars. Transfer jar into refrigerator after 1-4 weeks of fermenting.
A good way to preserve peppers and retain or enhance their taste if you prefer spicy foods is by making pepper paste. Pepper pastes can be used as a readily available seasoning ingredient while cooking or as a condiment.
Roast or grill the diced peppers after washing them then peel off their skins, seeds, and membranes before putting them in a blender. Add some oil, salt, and vinegar as per your taste preferences before blending it into a smooth paste. Refrigerate the paste in a sterile jar.
A key point to making your peppers last for as long as possible and enjoying the greatest health benefits of pepper is picking the freshest looking ones in the market of course. Even if you’re new to picking out peppers, you can easily become an expert with some practice.
Color: Good peppers’ colors should be saturated consistently all over deeply into either green, red, or yellow depending on their cultivar.
Firmness: Ripe peppers should also look and feel plump and firm. If it falls apart easily under slight pressure, it could indicate old or overripe peppers.
Stems: Look at the stem attachment. They should be bright green to indicate that they have been freshly picked. If the stems are starting to dry, then it’s not a big deal if there is no alternative.
Glossy: Peppers have a thin skin and 11% water content. The water content isn’t a lot when compared to other fruits, but peppers have a very glossy skin due to their thin papery skins.
No Wrinkles: Wrinkles are proof of age. Wrinkles are formed as the peppers go beyond their peak ripeness and start losing moisture from their skin. Look for unwrinkled and taut skin on your peppers.
Soft Spots: Although peppers are weak and delicate, once they become overripe, their membrane-like structure loses strength and can be easily punctured with a light squeeze when compared to a ripe pepper.
Although already mentioned previously, it is worth reiterating due to the sheer impact it has on the longevity of the peppers despite being a minor change. You can forego this rule when washing in vinegar solution but it should still be dried thoroughly.
2. Humidity Control
Peppers thrive when stored in a low-humidity well-ventilated environment as the air circulation which is only possible in low-humidity crisper drawer prevents the build up of moisture on its skin.
3. Regular Inspection:
Inspect and check on your peppers regularly. No method and technique is perfect, some pepper can end up with rot or mold quicker than others. Act quickly to prevent the single pepper from ruining the entire batch.
4. Crisper Climate Control
Most crisper drawers have a slider which is meant for controlling the climate and airflow. A fully closed slide produces a highly humidity climate with no airflow while an open slide creates a low-humidity climate with good airflow.
5. Use Paper Towels:
Place paper towels at the bottom of a pepper container or bag in the bag or container in the refrigerator to absorb excess moisture and condensation to delay the initiation of the spoiling process.
6. Avoid Overcrowding:
Allow some spaces between the peppers and avoid overcrowding to ensure that there is better air circulation between all the peppers in a container or bag to further reduce the risk of rotten peppers.
