09/12/2026
Our pepper harvest was good this year! These are Gong Bao peppers, and Helmi warned me they were hot…but apparently I needed to learn that lesson myself (idiot 😂). I took a tiny bite from the bottom and thought, “Oh, this is sweet and delicious, kinda like a red pepper!” Then I took a bigger bite closer to the middle. YOWZAS…my mouth and lips burned for HOURS 🔥!!! Really good flavor and heat, but WHOOOAAAA.
I was going to say “we picked these”, but really I watched Helmi pick them while I took photos and probably asked her 1000 questions. After she got done picking the peppers, she took them home and washed and sliced them, dried them in her food dehydrator until completely crisp, then crushed them into homemade red pepper flakes - and then gave me a big bag of them = YUM!!! They are SO much better than anything you can get a the store.
If you try this yourself, wear gloves while handling hot peppers and let them cool completely before crushing and storing them in a jar. And if you use a food processor or blender, take it OUTSIDE before opening it and keep your face away from the lid…unless you’d like to be murdered by a cloud of spice 😂! Easy, delicious, and such a good way to use a big pepper harvest!
Growing Peppers | Gong Bao Peppers | Pepper Harvest | Homemade Red Pepper Flakes | Columbia Missouri Gardening
