Dried prunes aren't hard or brittle; dried apricots and a host of other dried fruits aren't either. I like my habs (or red savinas) dried (with a dedydrator) but still soft. I goofed on one batch and succeeded on another, the goof being realized when the bottled peppers went moldy about a week later. I just didn't dry them enough. Any good rule of thumb for the earliest time it's safe to stop drying? Frank Munley