I grow my own peppers and usually dry and grind a fair amount of them every year. Usually I throw them in food processor but it doesn't really get the peppers down to a powder. This year I'm trying the mortar and pestle. Any tips on getting the best grind?
by lightly-buttered
15 Comments
I try to by spices whole if possible. Been making chili powder out of friends dried peppers for a few years now. My brother always sends reaper and a buddy gave me a bunch of birds eyes that I plan on making into a curry.
This year I only grew scotch bonnets and they’re coming in late, don’t think I’ll have enough leftovers to make a powder.
I use a bullet blender after drying of course. Comes out fine as dust if you want it to.
If I need super fine stuff a coffee grinder, if I need a somewhat course thing I use mortar and pestle.
I do my peppers three ways.
-Coffee grinder for fine powder.
-Hand crushed for flakes.
-Food processor for an in-between consistency.
…mostly due to an overabundance of peppers and boredom.
I use a coffee grinder. Load grind and shake
I do. My best tip is only grind a little at a time. A big pile will just grind against itself instead of the stone so efficiency goes way down. Put a pinch in the bottom, crush it then move it up the sides and grind it on the walls. If you’re grinding super hots like reapers, do it under a hood or outside. Even when I do it under a hood my nose and eyes still end up burning a little. If you’re grinding more than just a few peppers at a time, you’re gonna learn whether your forearms are in shape or not lol
I personally prefer the motor and pestle. It does take long, but I’ll just get everything set up on the coffee table and work on it while watching TV.
That’s all I’ve been doing for about 2 weeks now, mortar and pestle works but it takes a long time to get big pieces into powder. I usually grind up the big pieces into littler ones with the M&P and then transfer it to a coffee grinder. Then I take that powder and dump it out on a piece of paper to break it up any lumps before using the paper as a funnel to get it into a bottle.
I have my own dedicated coffee grinder to powderize my dried peppers. No matter how much I wash it, it would still make stuff somewhat spicy. Good thing coffee grinders can be pretty cheap.
I only powder in a coffee grinder (reserved for this purpose) and it works great for me, I normally powder very fine (and bag quickly!)
Oh man the coffee grinder is such a good idea never thought about that.
Yes but not like that.
I used to before my stuff broke
I do when I gave a bumper crop of peppers. Smoke them till dry, then grind to a powder
I have an electric spice grinder. I use it to get dry spices to a powder, and its also perfect to make pastes of ginger, garlic and spices in quantities smaller than a food processor needs.