Cooking frozen whole chilli peppers

[uclown2002]

OK I have some frozen whole chilli peppers I want to use in  2 hrs or so.  I pricked them with a knife before freezing as I read somewhere they turn out better.

Am I OK leaving them out at room temperature before cooking them or is there a better method? 

If I had prepared better and had more time, what would otherwise be the best method for defrosting them prior to cooking?

[fried]

Put them in a cup of hot water for a few minutes.

[uclown2002]

Ah nice one!!

[curryhell]

I would use them stright from the freezer as they go a bit limp when defrosted

[Naga]

I would use them stright from the freezer as they go a bit limp when defrosted

+1 - that's exactly what I do with mine.

[uclown2002]

I would use them stright from the freezer as they go a bit limp when defrosted

+1 - that's exactly what I do with mine.

That is certainly what I will do if adding the chilli to the dish whole.

I didn't say at the outset that I wanted to slice and de-seed them prior to use, and that looked difficult in frozen state!

So I tried the hot water method but they turned out a little limp and mushy!

So, if I intend to do the same next time and slice and deseed, is it possible to retain that firmness with a different method for defrosting?

[fried]

I find it depends on their condition when they're frozen. Small ones retain more bite, ones that are a bit less fresh tend to be soggier or the seeds turn black. I usally use frozen chillis for slicing finely, so I'm not to bothered too much by that. I'd probably try to buy fresh if I was doing a Jalfrezi or something like that.

And red ones seem to freeze better than green probably due to their size.