When we left we drove back to Las Cruces for the best meal that we've had in this town: the Tacos al Carbon Platter at Andele's Dog House. As Will said, the meat was delicious as were the tacos we made with it. We were stuffed (we probably ate 12 or more tacos between us) we sat there picking at the leftover meat while waiting for the check, we pretty much cleaned the plate it was that good!
Definitely come here if you are ever in Las Cruces (or El Paso, its only 30-40 minutes away).
On my way home at El Paso Int'l Airport. From the waiting area I have a good view of the Franklin mountains. This view is what I saw every day for 8 weeks in the summer of 1987 when I went through basic training at Fort Bliss.
Smokin-It 3D
Weber Kettle with an SNS
Masterbuilt kettle that I call the $30 wonder grill
Bullet by Bull Grills gasser
Anova WiFi sous vide machine
Thermoworks Thermapen and Chef Alarm
We added some great photos of the event this past weekend, but if you would like to see some video, the YouTube host Marcy Inspired posted a video as she normally does, providing another perspective of the fun weekend!
Hope everyone enjoyed the photos of the 2026 Hatch Chile Festival!
Smokin-It 3D
Weber Kettle with an SNS
Masterbuilt kettle that I call the $30 wonder grill
Bullet by Bull Grills gasser
Anova WiFi sous vide machine
Thermoworks Thermapen and Chef Alarm
Figured I would add one more post here, although it’s not from the Hatch Chile Festival and the chile is from a different area, it’s still in the spirit of the festival!!!
I went to Wagner’s Farm near the house to get our yearly loot of the good stuff. Not sure how much of a crop they are producing because they seemed a little low today. Not sure if that is because they are holding back a little for tomorrow being a Saturday, but no canvas sacks of chile like normal, just baskets. So two baskets of medium green chile, 40lbs total, is what I went with, along with roasting. Gonna let these sit in the big trash bags and steam for a few hours now. But here’s a few photos as well as a video…not sure if you can hear the song going but…I thought it was funny and fitting for green chile time!!! 😂 and if I could…I’d bottle up the aroma of this place and sell it! I’d call it Verde - For Men 😂
Looks good. I have a hard time peeling, ended up tossing half of mine because they wouldn't peel - but mine are much more blackened than that. I don't have a roaster, just did them on the kettle. Maybe I'm doing them wrong, I don't know. I have always tried to get them pretty blackened, the ones this time that weren't so much were even worse about the skin not coming off easily, or really, at all. I'm sure I'm doing it wrong. Maybe you'd like to do a 'tutotial' thread? For those without roasters
I haven't done this myself yet but have been reading about it because I plan on doing it at some point. My understanding is that once the chilis are removed from the heat they are placed in a large bowl and covered with plastic wrap or placed in a large sealed ziplock bag and allowed to cool. This is supposed to steam them so that they peel easily. Like you, I'm eager to hear from the members that have done this to get their take on it...
Last edited by Ace; Yesterday, 02:43 PM.
Reason: Spelling...
Smokin-It 3D
Weber Kettle with an SNS
Masterbuilt kettle that I call the $30 wonder grill
Bullet by Bull Grills gasser
Anova WiFi sous vide machine
Thermoworks Thermapen and Chef Alarm
realdocBBQ - I’ve never had to roast them on my own, i know….spoiled rotten 😂! But, there really isn’t much of a peel left after these are hit with that flame thrower on the backside of the roaster. I think it blisters and then just burns off mostly, as you can see all the remnants on the ground underneath the roaster. Which is also why they don’t look black. This place doesn’t do this, but a number of the shops in Hatch use a somewhat pressurized water stream attached to the roaster that removes even more of the peel.
But high, intense heat with constant movement of the chile to blister and burn off the peel, however you can manage that. Then…which I think is key, letting these sit in a plastic bag for 2-4 hours (this place uses probably 40gal trash bags) to steam helps get most of the remaining peel to release. Then it’s just a process of wiping away what is left on there. Some will need a little more care, but most are pretty easy to clean this way. That’s really what I can provide for the process not actually having to roast on my own. but, between what I know and then even 58limited who does roast on his own quite a bit with other chile, something can be put together.
I've thought about building my own roaster. I really ought to, since I've got everything I need and the ability - but I'd only use it once or twice a year, probably, so that's kept me from it. Not the cost or the hassle, but the need to STORE it and keep my wife from killing me for another accessory,.
For years I roasted the peppers on my kettle. They often got pretty black but after steaming in deep steam well pan covered with foil they usually peeled easily although sometimes I had trouble. I would still use the ones that still had some peel on them but I would finely dice them. The problems with the kettle are: smoke in your eyes, getting burned when flipping the peppers (I use tongs but if I reached across I'd get singed, and takes over an hour to roast 25 lbs.).
The roaster is the best accessory that I've bought in a few years. I can divide a 25lb case of peppers into three batches, each batch takes about 5-8 minutes to roast, and I don't burn myself. The peels are usually already falling off when I dump the peppers into the steam well pan. You can use the roaster to roast other vegetables throughout the year if you wish.
I'm gonna need to watch some videos to see exactly to what 'level' to roast them, and probably see about building myself a roaster. I dunno, we'll see.
I have roasted them a couple of times on the kettle and it is a pain. I used welders gloves and long tongs to turn them both times and I had to constantly remind myself to walk around the kettle and not reach over it. And the first year, I didn't wear gloves to peel them and burnt my hands up. I eventually got most of the skins off, but it took awhile to get it done. Like 58limited mentioned, the ones that still had skin got chopped up for use.
Smokin-It 3D
Weber Kettle with an SNS
Masterbuilt kettle that I call the $30 wonder grill
Bullet by Bull Grills gasser
Anova WiFi sous vide machine
Thermoworks Thermapen and Chef Alarm
Last post of the loot, as well as a video to show how well these peel when roasted and steamed. I let these steam in the bag for just about 3 hours and the peel that is left just wipes away. Bagged these in sandwich bags, about 8.5oz per bag. Then a little snack afterwards! Took my wife and I about 90 minutes to do 40lbs. Green chile is in the freezer getting acquainted!
40lbs of goodness right here!
and our snack - green chile hit with some salt and garlic powder, with queso fresco on the tortilla!
I've got 25 lbs of mild and 25lbs of hot in the freezer; 50 lbs of red Hatch chilies are on order, they usually arrive mid-September, maybe a little later. One problem: I use most of the red for my hot sauce production. This year I'm having a bit of a crop failure, hopefully the plants will rally as milder weather moves in.
Ok, yeah my kettle-roasted peppers most assuredly did not peel that easily. I did notice the ones that were more long and straight did peel overall better than the ones that were crooked and/or twisty. I don't know if that's because they were a different variety (all in the same bin at the supermarket), or that they roasted more evenly due to their shape being more conducive to laying flat or whatever. A few of mine peeled nearly that easily, but it was a SMALL portion.
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