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Drying Mexican chilies at home

Darienne

By Darienne
in Mexico: Cooking & Baking

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Darienne

Darienne

Posted
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It's only recently that I can buy Poblanos in East Central Ontario and I can also buy dry Anchos and Ancho powder, but at pretty high prices.

Now I'm in the Great Southwest, Moab, UT, and can't buy either dried Anchos or Ancho powder. A friend bought me some Anchos, but not Ancho powder, in Grand Junction, CO, at a Mexican mercado. I know I can grind the Anchos into powder.

Can I dry Poblanos into Anchos?

Can I dry Jalapenos into Chipotles?

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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Dakki

Dakki

Posted
Posted
Can I dry Poblanos into Anchos?

Yes. The chiles are placed in the sun, covered with a thin cloth to protect it from insects, and allowed to dry. This takes several days and I'm not sure this is the ideal season to do it.

I've had good results splitting chiles in half and drying in one of those fan and heater dehydrator gadgets, but I haven't tried it with poblanos.

Can I dry Jalapenos into Chipotles?

This is going to be much more of a project, since a) chipotles are usually dried from chiles that are past market ripeness, and b) chipotles are dried in smoke, not sun-dried. I'm sure it's doable, I've just never seen it done in a home.

This is my skillet. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My skillet is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it, as I must master my life. Without me my skillet is useless. Without my skillet, I am useless. I must season my skillet well. I will. Before God I swear this creed. My skillet and myself are the makers of my meal. We are the masters of our kitchen. So be it, until there are no ingredients, but dinner. Amen.

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andiesenji

andiesenji

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I just string several on dental floss (the unflavored kind) and tie it into a loop and hang the loop in the kitchen during the winter. During the fall, when it is still hot, I hang them out on the deck during the day and bring them in at night.

If you have a lot of birds around, you can cover them with nylon netting - the stuff it cheap enough at a fabric store and lasts forever. I just cut it into squares, nip a hole in the center, put the string through the hole and hang the loop, letting the netting drape over the peppers like a semi-closed umbrella.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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emannths

emannths

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I had good success drying ripe poblanos in a warm oven (~150F, electric). I split and seeded them first to speed the drying. I left them in there for a couple hours, then turned the oven off and left them overnight.

You can buy anchos through Amazon for $9.27/lb, shipped for free. And if you go through a lot of chipotles, you can buy 12 7oz cans for $21.41 ($1.78/can).

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ojisan

ojisan

Posted
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Are the chiles green or ripe red before drying?

Wondering if I can smoke/dry jalapeños in my Luhr Jensen smoker which smoke/dries at 175°, or if that's too high a temperature.

Monterey Bay area

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chileheadmike

chileheadmike

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I smoke dry jalapenos just about every year. I get the best results from splitting them in half and then smoking over pecan in my WSM for about 10 hours or so. If they're still not completely dry, I'll put them in the dehydrator. I only use the ripe (red) ones for chipotles.

That's the thing about opposum inerds, they's just as tasty the next day.

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rancho_gordo

rancho_gordo

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Yes. The chiles are placed in the sun, covered with a thin cloth to protect it from insects, and allowed to dry.

I've been to many a chile-field and I've yet to see a thin cloth or anything protecting the chiles, which is why a wipe with a damp paper towel is always a good idea!

Visit beautiful Rancho Gordo!

Twitter @RanchoGordo

"How do you say 'Yum-o' in Swedish? Or is it Swiss? What do they speak in Switzerland?"- Rachel Ray

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andiesenji

andiesenji

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Yes. The chiles are placed in the sun, covered with a thin cloth to protect it from insects, and allowed to dry.

I've been to many a chile-field and I've yet to see a thin cloth or anything protecting the chiles, which is why a wipe with a damp paper towel is always a good idea!

RG, I cover the ones I hang out on the deck with nylon netting because we have ravens who seem to think I hang them out there for their personal attention. They are very large birds and can pull an entire string of peppers off but seem to be wary of the nylon netting.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Shamanjoe

Shamanjoe

Posted
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If you're like me, and turn everything you try and dry to mush, there are some great mail-order places for fairly cheap. Even though I live in L.A., and dried chilies can be had almost everywhere, I tend to get most of my ground, dried chilies, like ancho, from Penzy's Spice catalogue.

For the harder to find, like Jalapeno powder, check out Bobby Flay's page on OpenSky. Every so often he has a "spice bundle" that's pretty much just dried and ground chilies. It's fairly reasonable (about $30) and is about the only thing that I buy off the site.

I would definitely give it a try yourself, but if your luck turns out like mine, it's nice to have a couple places to go :)

"...which usually means underflavored, undersalted modern French cooking hidden under edible flowers and Mexican fruits."

- Jeffrey Steingarten, in reference to "California Cuisine".

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