- When is it time to harvest chili?
- Procedure for harvesting chili
- The right heat for chillies
- Storing and preserving chilli
Help the development of the site, sharing the article with friends!
In order to get the right level of spiciness, you have to be very careful when harvesting chillies. We show how to harvest and store chillies correctly.
Harvesting chilli needs to be learned! Because the crucial heat and aroma of the chili (Capsicum), for example, depends on the correct harvest of the fiery pods. Many chilli lovers ask themselves the question at some point during the summer: when should I harvest my chillies? And what is the best way to store my chili harvest? If you follow a few tips and have a bit of tact, harvesting the chili will be easy. In our article, we tell you everything from the best time to harvest, the right way to harvest, to storing chillies.
Chilis belong to the large family of nightshades (Solanaceae) and like peppers to the genus Capsicum. The hot chillies are cultivated forms or varieties of the following five Capsicum species: Capsicum annum, Capsicum chinese , Capsicum baccatum, Capsicum frutescens and Capsicum pubescens. Experts estimate that there are between 2,500 and 3,000 types of chili worldwide.
What is most appreciated about chillies is their fiery, sometimes fruity heat. However, this is crucially related to the correct ripeness and harvest of the chillies. So to ensure that you are completely satisfied with your chilli harvest, you should consider the following.
When is it time to harvest chili?
Unfortunately, one disadvantage of the incredible variety of chili varieties is that many varieties have different ripening times. A look at the seed package can help here: It is usually noted there how long this particular chilli variety needs to ripen. Otherwise it's worth checking the internet. The ripening times of the most well-known types of chili are easy to find there.
Another important indicator that provides information about the time of harvest is the color of the chili. Chilies first discolor at the crown of the pod. From there she pullsDiscoloration then down. Once the pod begins to change color, it will be completely colored within a few days. Once the chilli has completely changed color, you should be patient and give it three to five days until harvest. This is how it develops its best aroma.
Tip: If your chilli plants are outdoors, the weather sometimes thwarts the full ripening of the chillies. In this case, it is advisable to harvest the chillies before they are ripe, rather than accepting frost damage to the pods.
But not all chili varieties are harvested red. 'Jalapeño' and 'Serrano' can also be harvested green. The varieties 'Yellow Hot Wax' and 'Hungarian Wax' only turn yellow, but never red. Finding the right time to harvest chillies is not that easy and requires practice and experience. Once the chillies have been harvested, they no longer ripen, in contrast to tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum).
The following signals help to determine the degree of ripeness of a chili:
- color change
- The shell slowly shrivels up and contracts
- The flesh yields slightly when pressed
- Small black spots appear
Tip: Before you harvest all the chillies, first take just one pod and taste it. In this way you can be sure that the optimal aroma and the right degree of spiciness have been reached for you.
Procedure for harvesting chili
Once you have finally decided that it is time to harvest, you have already mastered the hardest task. When harvesting the chillies, you should be careful not to injure the chillies. Therefore, the chili peppers should never be broken off just like that. It is better to use scissors or a very sharp knife. Now cut the chillies in the middle between the stem and the plant. Don't be put off by small discolorations and black spots. These do not mean that the chili is sick or even inedible, but is completely normal with chillies. Heavily discolored pods are no longer suitable for drying.
If you want to grow chillies again next year, you can get chili seeds right after the harvest. For this purpose, a chili pepper is halved with a knife andthe seeds are scraped out with a spoon. The seeds are then laid out on kitchen paper and dried. If you win your own chilli seeds, you should know that the next generation of your chillies will no longer be true to type. Tip: Be sure to wear gloves when removing the seeds from chillies. If you are very sensitive to pungency and have a particularly hot variety in front of you, safety goggles may also be advisable.
Summary of harvesting chilies:
- Harvest with scissors or sharp knife
- Don't just cancel
- Cut midway between pod and stem
- Black spots on the chillies are normal
- Combine harvesting with seed extraction
The right heat for chillies
Although determining the correct ripening time for chili is difficult enough, let's add the level of spiciness to the equation. It's true that the chili matures, it stores more and more capsaicin - the substance that makes the chili hot. But when the chili is fully ripe, it hardly stores any capsaicin. Rather, it loses some of its sharpness the longer the chilli sticks. Which harvest time is optimal for each individual chili variety and suits your preferences is best for you to test yourself.
You can read about other factors that influence the heat of chilies in our article here.
Storing and preserving chilli
It is best to store freshly harvested chillies in the refrigerator. The pods should preferably be open and not in a closed container, otherwise condensation and mold can form. The fresh chillies keep for several weeks in the refrigerator.
If the chilli harvest is very rich and you cannot process all your chillies at once, there are many ways to preserve them. Freezing is probably the easiest way to preserve chilies. Chilies take time in the freezer very well, and frozen chilies can be used at any time like fresh chilies. Other ways to preserve chillies include drying, pickling, or boiling. Everything you need to know about preserving chillies is here.
Have you ever made chilli seeds yourself?sown? This is child's play with our Plantura chilli growing set. The cultivation set contains five types of chili with different degrees of heat, as well as all the materials you need to sow chillies: seed pots, substrate, plant labels and a reusable mini greenhouse.