Chili is a major ingredient in the Asian kitchen and many dishes are unthinkable without the flavor of the added chilies. Chilies are often sun dried, but during this drying the chilies are losing some of their desirable qualities, including color and some of their capsaicinoids (hotness). Moreover, during slow drying they can get infected by fungi and bacteria and rodents can contaminate these products. We can dry chilies faster, better and further by using drying beads. The chilies will be in a closed environment free from any pests and diseases. The chilies are dried to low moisture contents while maintaining their color and flavors. To illustrate, we dried chilies the classical way (sun/shade drying) versus drying with drying beads. The results were stunning, bead dried chilies maintained their color and their flavor (except for some volatile parts) and were free of infections and fungal growth. The obtained chilies were crispy and easy to apply in different dishes or to transform into chili powders.
