Making Chile Powder (How-To)
I love browsing the spice isles in specialty food stores and am tempted to buy ground chile powder (not chili -- the spice blend). But I question the freshness and am turned off by the price. I can buy whole dried-smoked chiles, like ancho, very easily and affordably.
Now my question, can I take whole dry chiles and grind them myself? How would I go about that, should the seeds be removed or included? Will have a higher quality product than the spice jars?
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6 Comments:
Get it at Penzeys.com making chili powder is messy and it can be noxious. If you are using a spice grinder and you breath in pepper it can make you choke, your eyes burn. Penzeys I swear by. Lots of ground and dried peppers ready to use. I recommend the chipotle and ancho ground peppers and they also have jalapeno. In combination these 3 make a rocking chili. They have a great ground cumin too.
JerzeeTomato at 8:59AM on 02/14/08
I have done it with pasilla chiles. They are hard to find and harder to find as powder. It worked fine, but messy and I found that the powder was more moist than pre-packaged ones.. I've since found pasilla chile powder at Dean and Deluca as well as in the southwest. That's my preference.
bearwithmoi at 11:48AM on 02/14/08
I make my own chili powder about once every two months. It is easy and delicious and although you do have to watch out how much breathing you do and maybe wear gloves depending on the chiles you use, it never seems that messy and I like the way toasting chiles make the house smell (especially if I have some coffee brewing in the presspot too, it smells really good together, really).
First remove the seeds from a number of different chiles,--anchos, pasillas, guajillos, colorado, and a couple of arbol for heat, I mix and match, sometimes use only a couple, depends on what I find at the store or what flavors and heat level I want (smokey, earthy, mild or hot,) or whatever. Use some scissors and use gloves maybe. Then toast the chiles in a hot, dry, cast iron skillet, then toast some cumin seeds and maybe some Mexican oregano if you have some, put it in a blender and grind it to a powder. Leave the lid on for a minute after you grind it to let the powder settle.
Seems like I use 8 or 10 chiles, a couple spoons (maybe tablespoons, but probably not quite so much) cumin seeds, and a teaspoon of oregano, but you can probably find better proportion instructions on the internet.
intheyearofthepig at 11:50AM on 02/14/08
Any spice you grind yourself will be fresher than anything you could buy. And you can make small amounts. I've never found grinding chiles to be any messier than say chopping a lot of garlic or leafy herbs. And you can tailor the flavor profile to suit your needs. For a good primer on dried chiles, see Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill website here. Check out some recipes while you are there. Almost any will have instructions for toasting and grinding spices. His Peanut Mole is great and relatively quick for a mole -- most are long cooking and have lots & lots of ingredients. It is wonderful with chicken or turkey too. Make extra and freeze for a quick meal.
kjgibson at 12:19PM on 02/14/08
I like to grind my own in a coffee/spice mill. Just be sure to have two mills, one for coffee and one for spices. Toasting the chiles will get rid of any moisture, and help to develop flavor. Remove the seeds because they can be bitter. I usually grind my chiles right before using, but making a mix would save time. Mexican/Latin markets have an amazing variety of dried chiles that you can't find in a jar.
jhendricks215 at 1:41PM on 02/14/08
i make a jarful of chili powder every year. i brought over my collection of dried chilies when we moved to scotland and so far, with just a few additions of chilies that friends have mailed me, i've been able to keep it going.
i like to use lots of pasilla and chipotle. to be honest i don't even know which varieties i have anymore -- the packaging is long gone and they're kept in air tight plastic jars.
i just heat the oven up, put them all on a baking tray and once i can smell em they're done. i keep the kitchen door open when i'm grinding them in the food processor -- it can get really intense! i try to remove most of the seeds but always keep a few in to keep the powder hot hot hot.
astarteny at 2:51PM on 02/14/08