What Do I Do With All The Extra Habaneros From My Garden

I had a pound of fresh habanero peppers! Yes, you hear me right – one pound!!! It would be appreciated if you could do me a favor and don't ask me WHY!

I have very complicated feelings about these orange little babies. One part of me is extremely fond of them as I love the heat they bring to my dishes. The other part of me is afraid of touching them because once I got them in the eye and it turned my day into a dramatic disaster…Good thing was that my eye exam appointment was scheduled for the next day and the doctor said my eyes look very healthy. Thank God! I thought I was going blind…

I still wanted to keep these dangerous little guys for as long as possible. I needed to find a way, a simple and a quick way, to store them. Here's what I did based on my research:

Wash habanero peppers individually. Lay them on paper towel for a couple of hours until they are dry.
Put them in a ziploc bag and zip it up.
Stick the bag of cleaned fresh habanero peppers into the freezer. Done!

I have had them for weeks by now. Every time I want them to flavor my food with the hottest taste, I go take out one or two and rinse them with warm water for a few seconds until they are not rock hard anymore. Well, no matter how badly I want them, I still don't want to touch them because of that remarkable experience. I am totally scared for life…

How To Store Fresh Habanero Peppers

This is when my veggie chopper comes in handy. To minimize my touches to habanero peppers, I always throw things like onions, celeries or avocados, etc. into the veggie chopper together with the peppers. It chops for me. Problem solved!

I am not entirely sure how long habanero peppers can last by freezing them. But as far as I know, I have had my one-pound since July 28, 2013. I just checked my order history in Instacart, a same-day grocery delivery service. Wow, it's been almost a month now. They still have the fresh, orange look and peacefully stay in my freezer. Of course, I don't have one pound of them anymore because I have been using them in my daily cooking.

How To Store Fresh Habanero Peppers

Wait a second, did I just tell you how I got my sh*t load of habanero peppers??!! OK, I accidentally ordered one pound from Instacart. End of story!

You know what I am going to do after I finish the ones in my freezer? BUY ANOTHER POUND! Why not? It's so convenient to have them around, right? 😛

Do you have a better way to store fresh habanero peppers? If so, I would like to hear from you! 🙂