Last fall, knowing nothing about chiles, I took a bite out of a red habanero. You can imagine the comedy that unfolded in my kitchen that day. Since then I've been reading everything I can about chiles. I picked my first chile off the plant last week. However, I'm still unsure of one thing. Why dry? I live in the North East US....not the dryest area. I'm hesitant when it comes to making a ristra...suspecting I'll end up with a string of mold. I expect to buy a dehydrator this week, however, what is wrong with freezing the chiles...and not drying them at all? Thank you for accepting my ingnorance as excessive adulation for this new world I stumbled upon.