NEED ANSWER FAST--Help! my peppercorns got wet!

Factual Questions
1

Heh… I’ve always wanted to write a “Need help fast!” thread and now I’ve got a reason to.

Today my Trader Joe’s plastic peppercorn container/grinder fell out of the cupboard into a pan of water resulting in the peppercorns getting wet. I knew I needed to dry them out or they would be pretty much ruined.

So I poured them into a foil lined cake pan and put the in the oven. I set the oven to 200 degrees, but left the oven door propped open a bit. Every 3 or 4 minutes I shake the pan to sort of “turn” the peppercorns. They’ve been in there about 10 minutes now.

Am I doing this right? Is there a better way? How long should they be in there? Is the temperature right? How will I know when they’re “done”?

I say “need answer fast” because I’m already well into the process and I’d like to know if I’m doing something horribly wrong.

2

No one? Oh well… it’s not exactly an earthshaking concern. At this point I’ve turned off the oven and closed the door. I’m going to let then sit in there for a while.

In the meantime, I have to wait for the grinder part of the container to get dry. It’s a two-part construction (with no way to separate the parts) and there is a bit of water trapped in between.

3

You don’t want to toast them. Toasted spices are good but for specific purposes. Have you tried rolling them around on some Bounty too?

4

Thought about that but was afraid I’d get little bits of paper towel mixed in. At any rate at this point I’m done with the oven thing so it is what it is.

Thanks for your response.

5

Humm - I’ve gotten peppercorns wet and just dried them on my counter - they were totally fine.

6

sun and air dried would be the best method.

7

Now I’m curious how toasted pepper might taste.

8

You might try filling the grinder with rice to facilitate drying it out.

9

They grow on vines, which no doubt got rained on many times before they were picked. Why would getting wet ruin them?

10

I have never done it specifically with peppercorns, but 200 degrees should do nicely. It’s not hot enough to toast them. I would probably have gone lower, and kept the door closed (why open it)? I also dry herbs in the microwave at a power setting of 2, which would probably work too.

11

If they aren’t completely dry when placed in a sealed container (like the peppermill), you’ll get a lovely case of mold.

Mold totally cancels out the delightful flavor of freshly-ground pepper.

If they are dried over/under a heat source, and end up toasted, that brings their essential oils to the surface of the peppercorn, and they will become stale much faster.
~VOW

12

Is there any danger of the rice being ground up and ending up on the steak?

(I’m just assuming the pepper will be used on steak. Just because.)
-D/a

13

Thanks everyone. My little DIY pepper-saving project is now concluded. The peppercorns are back in their bottle and seem to be nice and dry after their oven time. I tried to keep the oven around 100-150 degrees and had the door cracked much of the time. I didn’t want to toast or bake the pepper; just keep in a dry and hot environment for a while.

I thought of doing the rice thing. It’s actually the first thing I thought of. But I didn’t know how to best separate the rice from the peppercorns afterward so I abandoned that one.

Thanks again!

14

All’s well that ends well. I love my electric oven (I cook with gas but I bake with electricity) but the lowest temperature is 170.

15

You just tell you pigeon friends to put the rice in one bowl and the peppercorns in another and they’ll do it for you.