Separating red pepper flakes from seeds

[coolgeek]

Sorry if this has been posted before, but it's my first post and I'm still finding my way around.

Anybody know an easy (or at least reliable) way to separate and discard the seeds from the flakes themselves?

Thanks in advance.

[guajolote]

why?

[torakris]

I am not sure why you want to do this, but might it not be easier to take the seeds out of whole dried chilies and then chop them up?

[coolgeek]

For the same reasons that people remove tomato seeds from red gravy, or pepper seeds from roasted peppers.

I don't like the way they look, taste or feel in my mouth.

[coolgeek]

I'm talking about the red pepper flakes that you buy in a jar.

[Kenk]

Keep the seeds and in the pepper.

Go buy a pack of red pepper flakes from a Korean market. On of the standard products found there are seedless red pepper flakes. These have and excelnt flavour.

[fifi]

I buy dried peppers and make my own "pepper flakes" or powders. Or I buy my powders at my Latin market. I am not sure why you would want to try to separate the seeds. I use the pepper with seeds on pasta, pizza, etc. and that is just part of it. Pepper powder or flakes with seeds is just another product.

[Stone]

For the same reasons that people remove tomato seeds from red gravy, or pepper seeds from roasted peppers.

I don't like the way they look, taste or feel in my mouth.

Dude, you're a geek.

[coolgeek]

Stone - But I'm a cool one.

Kenk - I'm in downtown Philly, so there's lots of asian markets. I'll check one of them out.

Thanks all.

[Katherine]

Keep the seeds and in the pepper.

Go buy a pack of red pepper flakes from a Korean market.  On of the standard products found there are seedless red pepper flakes.  These have and excelnt flavour.

These are great. I use them in everything. Wonderful pepper flavor, nice color.

[jsolomon]

Get a saucer, a crochet hoop, some cheese cloth, and a fairly strong fan. Put the cheese cloth through the crochet hoop so it's like a butterfly net (make sure you have lots of cheese cloth). Put the cheese cloth net on a counter and put the saucer through the hoop so it's just inside your net. Put some of the chile flakes on the saucer and stand up the crochet hoop so it's perpendicular to the counter surface. Put the fan a fair distance away and turn it on. Progressively move the fan closer so it blows off the flakes but not the seeds.

Then, shut off the fan and remove the saucer. Finally, shake the "chaff" out of the cheese cloth net.

Et voila!

[elyse]

AND we have a new geek!

[fifi]

I am still trying to picture this process but I keep getting the giggles.

edit to add: The scary thing is, I am getting really curious as to whether or not it would actually work. I have this visual of my kids catching me doing this and yelling their usual... "Quick! Get mom's medication!"

Edited September 6, 2003 by fifi (log)

[Alex]

Hire a neighborhood kid to separate them manually. Remember to tell him to not touch any part of his body until he's finished and washes his hands.

[coolgeek]

jsolomon - That's almost worth trying!

Alex - Where's the sport in providing a warning?

[schnitzel]

I don't usually remove the seeds from the flakes but...

Try using a colander with holes smaller than the seeds. The smaller flakes will fall through (although so will some smaller and broken seeds), most of the whole seeds and some large flakes will remain in the colander.

Caution: this action allows chile dust to become airborne, hence, the sneezing reaction.

Geeky enough?

[Jon Tseng]

Find a mate with a centrifuge in their basement?

This may be useful, although you may have to modify it a bit for your purposes

Edited September 9, 2003 by Jon Tseng (log)

[Ruth]

Go buy a pack of red pepper flakes from a Korean market.  On of the standard products found there are seedless red pepper flakes.  These have and excelnt flavour.

I ditto that. I have never been quite sure how the Korean red pepper flakes are processed (anyone know? I'm curious) but I use them all the time. They have a better flavor than the supermarket jarred flakes which have often lost most of their zip.

[Alex]

Alex - Where's the sport in providing a warning?

Yeah, I know. What can I say? -- I'm just a nice guy.

[MatthewB]

Just PM NeroW. I'm sure she can tell you how to quickly remove seeds from dried herbs.