Grinding whole dried Serrano chiles. Seeds? Heat? Salt? Help.

[dmikecollins]

I have whole dried serrano chiles. Do I remove the seeds? Should I heat the whole dried chiles before grinding them in my spice grinder? If I do not heat them up, should I add salt to help preserve the ground powder? If I do add salt, how much do I add? Any advice would be helpful.

[_John_]

Here is a link to the main site where Meathead discusses making your own chili powder, outlines everything really well, it is the method I use for all of my peppers except hatch chilis. I have a pic on there too in the comments section.

[Strat50]

I rarely grind the seeds from dried peppers for 2 reasons: 1. I don't always like the texture of the resulting powder, and 2. I save the seeds for replanting in the spring.

[troymeister]

Dmike, I have done this many times. My wife and I grow many different kinds of peppers including serranos. Every year we have quite a surplus. I have experimented with this for a few years now. I think I have an answer for you.

Since your chilis are already dried, with a paring knife, carefully cut them in half the long way and scrape away the seeds and the white spine part. This part can be bitter and overly hot. Lightly grind the chilis leaving some small flakes. I think straight powder is very very strong. You don't need to add salt. The pepper powder/flakes will keep for a very long time.

I make pepper flakes with a mix many different kinds of chilis. Some are 3 years old and still pack a punch.

HTH

Troy

[Strat50]

We grow a ton of peppers and tomatoes in our greenhouses. Both the dried peppers and dried tomatoes make for a lot of fine meals.

[_Keith]

I just dry the peppers, remove the stems, and throw them in a spice grinder. Be prepared to cough. The resulting powder goes into an old plastic spice bottle. I sprinkle it on whatever I want to add heat to. Which is to say, everything.

[Dewesq55]

Usually store-bought dried peppers retain enough moisture that they don't grind easily into powder. If the are pliable and leathery, they can benefit from toasting, either on the stove top or in the oven, until they snap or crumble before you grind them. I grind mine in an individual-serving blender cup (like the Bullet) and store them in that cup with a lid. DEW

[Steve Retherford]

End of growing season I remove the stems, split the peppers long ways, and place them in the smoker for 30 minutes.
I then move them to a dehydrator overnight until they are very hard. I store them in that condition for years grinding small batches as needed.