yes they work well for the job i have 5 of them .

Yes, I use a coffee grinder. I have one for coffee and one for peppers (For obvious reasons). Cut the peppers open, dry them in a dehydrator or air dry. Then put them in a grinder and you have pepper powder. I suggest some of the varieties with thinner skins such as cayenne, Habanero, and most of the super hots. They dry and grind better but you can use any pepper really.
There is no need to invest a whole lot in a special grinder. A $15 coffee grinder is all you need.
Bruce

And a gas mask. Whatever you do, don't open the lid and deeply savour the aroma.

Yes coffee grinder is the way to go. This is the one I use and it works great nothing fancy.

thanks guys, that powder looks a lot better than the stuff I made, although I left the seeds in. That powder looks gorgeous.

haha, yeah, I know better mctiggs, actually, I just let it sit a long time (at least when I used the blender) before opening. Heck, even when I slice up peppers they can make me cough. Seems silly to like something so much when it causes such great pain. ;-)
Pam

If your blender has a screw on base type (like mine) then you might have the best option.

Instead of using the container that came with the blender use a mason jar. You can pack the mason jar full, screw the base/blades on and pulverize the contents. I even pick the whole thing up and invert it several times for a really fine powder.

Best of all, no gas mask needed. You leave the jar/base screwed together until the contents settles.

Pam: I use a processor to grind to small pieces. Then pack the grinder to powder.

Some peppers, I dry whole and leave that way until I want to use them. Especially like guajillos, japones, anchos, and chiles de arboles -- then I toast them, use boiling water to reconstitute, and in the blender they go with some of the liquid. All depends on what dish I'm preparing.

Kevin

ah, so you guys are pretty much telling me I can use what I have been using? and don't need to go buying one more item to sit in my kitchen. ;-) Interesting, I had never thought of screwing a mason jar onto the blender.

Sounds like you do yours about the same way I do mine Kevin. although I usually dry them whole then when I want to use them crumble them up and put them in the dish. Why would you toast them? I have never had good luck reconstituting, that's the only reason I just toss them in crumbled. I never thought of drying anchos... what do you use dried anchos for? I usually freeze my anchos.
Pam

Pam:

Toasting them in a dry skillet is the equivalent of toasting spices -- it brings out essential oils and "adds another level of flavor"... as the TV chefs would say.

To reconstitute--- After toasting, put in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let sit for about 15 mins, throw in blender with some of the liquid and voila... pepper slurry! Add it to roasted salsas, chile, moles, enchiladas, etc. Powder for rubs, etc.

Rick Bayless does a Chile Relleno with Anchos. Pretty damn good.

Anchos are real popular dried here in SoCal. In the Mexican section of the grocery stores, they're sold in bag and bulk along with those I mentioned in the previous post.

Btw, I'll do the toasted thing sometimes and not reconstitute, just grind.

Kevin

This post was edited by woohooman on Fri, Jul 19, 13 at 1:51

coffee grinder.
You can rinse (upside down) and dry it.
There is another type of food processor, with several screw-on attachments and cup. one attachment is just like coffee grinder and the other is like blender. this is what I use for everything from coffee to blending, mixing, chopping.

Coffee grinder works well..also rubber gloves..mask..and do it outside..If you grind morugas,ghost peppers,douglahs and any high caliber pepper do it outside..if your slightly Sweaty it will stick to your face and go up your nose..yeah not fun like powdered pepper spray

Yep, the coffee grinder is the way to go. Just make sure you scratch out the word "COFFEE" on it and write "PEPPER" so there are no accidents. I made a pot of Naga Pepper coffee by accident a few years back. It was hot, not terrible, but combined with the real heat in the coffee, it had a bite. I really don't think a pot of coffee is a good match for hot pepper seasoning.
One other thing. The drier the peppers are before you start, the better.
Bruce

Thanks guys. haha, Bruce, no need to worry about accidents, my husband nor myself drink coffee YOW Naga coffee, no thank you.

So, do you guys dry your peppers to brittle dry?

Thanks for the info Kevin, I wasn't thinking along the lines of grilling first to enhance the flavor, duh! I love Chile Rellenos, and I love anchos, I only use mine fresh, and since we can buy fresh year round, I never thought about using them dried. What's the difference? Wouldn't they be better using fresh vs dried? (another dumb question)

As close to brittle dry, also just to let you know the fine powder posted above included seeds, can't tell though. One mix was Ghost, Trinidad 7 pot, and Trinidad scorpion. The second and third was Habanero, Chocolate Habanero, Thai, and cayenne.

I let mine air dry covered with a paper towel for a few weeks, these are thin walled varieties though.

Mark

Wow! that included seeds? mine sure doesn't look like that, the seeds are obvious, maybe I just didn't pulse it long enough. I guess I'll go buy a coffee grinder, heck, as cheap as they are, it's probably worth it... I'd hate to use my blender to make a mudslide only to end up like Bruce and the coffee.
Pam

I've laid a damp rag over my coffee grinder to help keep the 'dust' from escaping, especially on an older grinder.
I've also ground a small amount of rice to help clean the grinder between uses before I had a second one just for peppers as I also used it for seeds and spices in addition to coffee.

It's too humid in Florida to consider air-drying....I'll usually smoke my peppers for additional flavor.....then:

Brittle dry......in the oven at 170 degrees (lowest temp)

Blender/Blades with the pint Mason Jar

The photo-op is a time-exposure of grinding dried onions and parsley

doug

Pam: regarding anchos(poblanos)...consider them TWO totally different peppers. That's the difference between a dried pepper and a fresh one. Flavors, and USES, vary as much.

Some peppers, like Chile de Arbol and Guajillo are mainly used dry. Some like Jalapeno and Serrano are mainly used fresh. Some like Poblano/Ancho are used both ways equally as much. All depends on what flavor(and heat) is brought to the party in the form they're used. Drying not only intensifies the flavor of peppers but also changes the flavor profile of the original pepper.

Take a green bell and a red bell for instance. Totally different flavor and that's when they're BOTH in a FRESH state.

The complexities of flavors in a dried pepper is not as straight forward as it is in a fresh pepper.

I still make a point of trying each variety of pepper i grow in a fresh GREEN state, a fresh ripened state, and a dried state to see what sort of dishes I might find them to work well.

Frozen mushy peppers have a very limited usage. Those same ripened and dried peppers have possibilities that are endless.

Just my opinion... and my taste buds.

Kevin

I use my food processor with serrated blades circa 1995! Pulverizes and powders as well as keeping the toxic lung agitators at bay!

Multi-taskers rule! Make the best with what you have!

Good powdering to you!

hahaha, I'm sorry Kevin, as usual my typing can be confusing (my hands are typing something while my mind has moved on to other topics). Yep, I know that Anchos and Poblanos are the same while not the same (I never understood why the plant is called Ancho and not Poblano, since it's not an Ancho until it's dried... seems illogical to me to not just call them dried Poblanos ;-) and honestly, I get the names turned around all the time... maybe it's early alzheimers). I've just always used mine fresh and wondered how you use them dried. - in fact last night I stuffed yellow marconis, red marconis, Beaver Dam, and large Mexican Anco with ground goat meat, chopped tomatoes, and cheese. Luckily I have left overs.

I have used my guajillos fresh and dried and honestly I can't say that I've noticed any difference, but I have eaten a fresh guajillo and the dried I put into my chili never tasting it by itself...

I mainly use my jalapenos pickled. ;-) unless it's summer and I can go pick one.

I also freeze a lot of peppers, but like you say, those aren't much use except in a cooked dish. I've even frozen some jalapenos when I didn't want to spend time pickling... honestly, I think those got thrown away.

Pam