Chili Powder Start to Finish.

[Worth1]

Here I am going to show how I make chili powder from the beginning to the end.
The two players for the Chile's will be Chile de Arbol and Guajillo both dried and seeded to a point you just cant get all the seeds out.
Both are around 12 ounces or more of dried chilies/peppers.
Chili chile chilies what ever.
As I am de-seeding and removing the stems I put them in the food processor as it is running.
When I am finished with that I will come back and show what I do next.
If anyone so desires feel free to make comments or post pictures or anything on how they do it too.
Worth
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[kunosoura]

Lookin' good. In addition to these I like to add some anchos - I'm crazy about the fruity, almost smokey notes that they add.

[Worth1]

It came downpours two days an a row here, now the peppers re-hydrated a bit.
Going to have to dry them out some.
While I am waiting for that to happen there is a Mexican market up the street I am going to get some Chili Pasilla and Anchos if they have them.
Worth

[Worth1]

I got the Chili Pasilla and Anchos and and I still dont have all of the peppers ground up yet.
Decided to make some chili.

I have bowls and peppers scattered everywhere.

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[swellcat]

Some of the best aromatherapy I know is sticking one's head/nose in a bin of dried pods at an Hispanic-oriented grocery store. Guajillos smell as good as unlit pipe tobacco.

By the way, many of those chiles are sun-dried, thus, the seeds are viable.

One more factoid: Guajillos seem to be a Mexican staple, yet every pack of pods I've bought in "Mexican" grocery stores (here in a state bordering Mexico and that used to be Mexico) has been from Peru.

Now, back to you, delicious powder.

PS: Guajillos are pretty and taste OK fresh, but dried on the plants, they take on a new colour and world's more flavour.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by swellcat

Some of the best aromatherapy I know is sticking one's head/nose in a bin of dried pods at an Hispanic-oriented grocery store. Guajillos smell as good as unlit pipe tobacco.

By the way, many of those chiles are sun-dried, thus, the seeds are viable.

One more factoid: Guajillos seem to be a Mexican staple, yet every pack of pods I've bought in "Mexican" grocery stores (here in a state bordering Mexico and that used to be Mexico) has been from Peru.

Now, back to you, delicious powder.

PS: Guajillos are pretty and taste OK fresh, but dried on the plants, they take on a new colour and world's more flavour.

Aromatherapy?
Is that that this is called.
My nose is running and I have peppers powder all over me.

I have all of the Arbol ground up and am waiting on the last batch of Guajillo peppers to dry.

[Worth1]

What do I do with this stuff, everything.
Here is some three pod habanero hot chili oil in the making.
It is the chili powder and three habanero pods cut up.
You pout oil of your choice in the pan and put it on low so it doesn't burn.
All of the flavors is transmitted to the oil and the habs will dry out and release their flavor into the oil.
When you stop seeing bubbles it is finished.
This will then be strained into a bottle.
The remaining paste will be mixed with salt and spices and put in a small jar.
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[brownrexx]

I made chili powder for the first time last year and I also dried some garlic cloves and added them to the mix before grinding. I used my coffee bean grinder and then ground some white rice to clean it. It was very "pungent" in my kitchen!

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by brownrexx

I made chili powder for the first time last year and I also dried some garlic cloves and added them to the mix before grinding. I used my coffee bean grinder and then ground some white rice to clean it. It was very "pungent" in my kitchen!

Rice does a good job.


Here it is the finished product including the oil that looks like burned motor oil but it isn't burned.
More like a dye.
Salt really brings the flavor out but you cant mix salt with oil.
Right now my nose is so messed up from doing this I cant taste anything.
What I do taste is something very complex.
Nothing like any chili oil I have ever had.
If you have ever smelled chili peppers roasting in one of those big roasting cages this is what it taste like.
Worth
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[Worth1]

All that work and huge mess for one bottle of pepper oil a pot of chili and one quart of highly compacted chili powder.
I thought about adding other ingredients to it like garlic powder and cumin but decided not to.
I already have this stuff in other jars and this way I can just use the powder as I want without other flavors if I dont or do want them.
The cumin they always put in the store bought chili powder drives me nuts.
I dont always want to taste cumin and it seems to over power the other flavors in the mix.

Comparison.
Store bought, cumin.
Mine, fruity sweet tangy with a finish of a little hot but not too much it goes away and the fruity comes back.
This stuff would be great mixed with melted butter and put on a baked potato.
Another option would be to use it with butter and bake shrimp in it in the oven.
I can think of a thousand things to do with it which means it wont last long.

Worth

[MarianneW]

Neat! I need to try that chile oil recipe. That looks good.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by MarianneW

Neat! I need to try that chile oil recipe. That looks good.

Be careful with it.
It is a fine line between toasted and burned so I had the burner on the lowest setting.
Probably best to use some sort of nut oil.

[MarianneW]

I've got a temp-controlled induction burner for brewing so I think that would work & I'd use avocado oil.

[kunosoura]

Love the oil idea. I'll give that a shot sometime. Thank you.

[brownrexx]

My chili powder from last year was MUCH hotter than what I was used to with the store brand and I had to be very careful with it but after I learned how much to use I really liked it. The pepper taste was so much more pronounced than the store stuff.

I will make it again this year. I am also growing Chili de Arbol and I need to experiment with them because I have never grown them before.