1. Cut a piece of thread at least 3 feet long. You will need at least 1/2 a foot of string for each pepper.
2. Using a needle, thread the peppers by running the needle through the center of the pepper. After you have the pepper positioned on the string a few inches above the last pepper, wrap the string around the pepper and thread the string under the loop that you have just made. This will keep the pepper in place on the string and allow the air to circulate easily around them.
3. Leaving at least six inches of string at the top. Hang your peppers on a door or in a sunny window to dry.

Dried chili peppers can be soaked to bring them back to their original form. Dried chili peppers that have been properly prepared, stored, and refreshed are just as tasty as the day they were freshly picked. To bring the dried chili peppers back to life, soak one cup of chili peppers in approximately two cups of cold water for about one hour or until they become tender and appear as they did before drying.

If your dried chili peppers are too hot and spicy for you,  boil them on the stove to remove some of the fire. The longer they are boiled the less spicy they will be. Rinse the peppers, change the water, and boil them again if necessary. The peppers will retain most of their flavor, but they will be more tolerable for those who prefer a milder pepper.

Now, when you are cooking with dried peppers keep in mind that dried peppers aren’t as sizable as fresh peppers. One half cup of dried chili peppers equals approximately one cup of fresh ones. Reconstitute the peppers and grind them when necessary. When using them in hot dishes containing a lot of liquid such as soups and stews, it isn’t necessary to reconstitute them first. Just drop them in when the liquid begins to boil, and turn the temperature down so they can simmer until the food is fully cooked and the peppers are tender and hydrated.