I want to make a good deal of dried hot pepper powder for cooking and making my homemade hotsauces.

Can someone tell me:

1) The best way to dry peppers (long jalapeno [sp?], habaneros, and others?

2) Best way to cruch them into a fairly fine powder? (coffee grinder.....???)

3) Other suggestions on making hot powders (types of peppers, seasonings to add, how to do it quickly?????))))

Thanks : e3

 

Found these answers at a few different websites hope they help

1. You can dry your peppers in one of several ways: ristras, rack drying, dehydrator, or oven drying. Always use fresh, firm, unblemished peppers for drying. If air-drying, ensure that the racks or ristras are placed in an area that is dry and has good air circulation.

Ristras are the strands of dried peppers that hang in many southwestern kitchens. They can be made from red, green or yellow chilies or any combination of these. To make a simple ristra use a needle to thread the stem of each chili pepper so that the chilies form a spiral, then hang from the ceiling. Chilies drying in ristras or on racks may take several weeks to dry completely. While using a dehydrator or oven is definitely faster, the chilies don't retain the bright color seen in chili peppers that are air-dried.


2. If you do use a coffee grinder, I would suggest having a separate machine for doing coffee. The oils in some of the spices will be hard to remove and could taint the taste of your coffee.


3. CHILI POWDER: with this recipe you will have to experiment to find the perfect combination of dried chilies for you. I have just used two different types of dried chilies as an example. If you grow your own chili peppers, dry your own then turn them into home made chili powder.


2 large dried pasilla chili peppers

1 large dried ancho chili pepper

2 teaspoons cumin

1/4 teaspoon cloves

½ teaspoon coriander seeds

1/4 teaspoon whole allspice

2 tablespoons oregano

1 tablespoon garlic salt


Remove the stems and seeds from the chili peppers. If you want hotter chili powder, leave several seeds. Tear the flesh of the chilies into small pieces. Combine the chili flesh in a skillet along with the cumin, cloves, coriander and allspice. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until there is a popping noise and you can smell the peppers. Remove from heat and cool completely. Combine in the spice mill with the oregano and garlic salt, grind into a fine powder. Store in airtight containers.

 

Please tell me exactly how to dry pablano peppers in the oven. Do you remove seeds and stems? What temp? How long? Do you wait till they turn red on the vine? Help! I have a lot of them and not sure what to do with them.

Thanks