- Cayenne peppers, also called red peppers, grow on any number of various Cayenne capsicum plants. They are usually farmed in warm climates in tropical and sub-tropical regions, but are also farmed seasonally in cooler climates. Pepper farmers allow the peppers to mature on the plant for 100 days once they appear. The longer they stay on the plant, the redder their color gets, although the green peppers are as hot as the red ones.
- After harvesting the peppers by hand, the farmers spread the peppers out to dry. The peppers can also be dried on the vine. If they are spread out to dry, it is done in a single layer in shallow boxes with bottoms made of wire screens. These wire screen help the peppers dry from the bottom and ensure that the peppers are never left sitting in any moisture that they may exude. Once the peppers are thoroughly dry, farmers can grind their own cayenne pepper or ship the peppers to spice makers.
- Spice makers usually grind the cayenne pepper pods down into a fine, pungent, hot powder. Sometimes, spice makers also grind the pepper's seeds down with the pods, making a spicier powder. Alternatively, some spice makers harvest the peppers before they've dried. They pulp the peppers into a mash, form them into cakes and dry them. The spice makers grind the cakes down. Once the cayenne chili pepper powder is ground down as finely as possible, it is then sifted and only the finest grains are sold as cayenne pepper.
