Make your own Chile Powder
1) De-stem the chiles (if they have stems). You can remove the seeds too to reduce the heat, but we left ours in. We are using dried de arbol peppers here.
2) Dry toast them on a medium heat until fragrant (about 7-8 minutes.) Keep watch over them, if you overdo it, the flavor will be acrid. (We find that toasting chilies on a skillet works best, but you can toast them in a oven too.)
3) Grind the toasted pepper in a spice or coffee grinder.
4) When you need to clean out the grinder, grind up some white rice and wipe it clean with a dry cloth.
Any bulk dried chilies can be used to make chili powder at home. Dried chipotle chilies, and dried habanero peppers work well. Dried aji panca peppers can be used instead for a more mild and fruity chili powder, and ground thai chilies work well in Asian-influenced dishes.
Grinding into chili powder is a great way to use small amounts of dried ghost peppers in your dishes. Just be very careful to avoid getting the powder in your eyes or lungs while grinding.
If you’re planning on using a lot of chili powder and don’t want to go through this process, browse our bulk chili powders, each made from just one variety of chili for pure flavors.
For some other great dried chili tricks, please read How to Make Your Own Chili Oil, How to Make Chile Pastes, and Rehydrating Dried Chilies.
Uh oh. Didn’t know to heat them and all. However, I must say that we ground the habaneros and used them and the flavor has been amazing. We will never go back to store bought spices for chilies again. So even though I didn’t know the proper steps, I did not manage to ruin the flavor. Just in case someone needs to know. Lynn A.
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:41 pmNice presentation. Keep up the good work.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:53 amAs I understand, the heat is in the capsaisin glands, rather than the seeds. Prior to reconstituting, I like to remove the seeds and stems being careful not to remove the membranes where the heat lives. This is a little work, but worth it in the end if you want to preserve the fire and still lose the seeds.
December 14th, 2009 at 1:07 pm