Making Your Own Chili Powders

There's nothing like freshly made chili powder.  It's earthy and fragrant and oh so so much better than the commercial stuff.  It's easy and much cheaper to make your own, too.

I first started with the jalapeños I was growing as another way to preserve them.  Next, I added habaneros, which I started growing for Tom and then ghost peppers, scorpions.

To dry them, I wash them, cut off the top stem, and then slice them in half.  I usually use a 9" x 13" baking dish and place all the peppers cut side up.  If you don't want the heat, you can remove the seeds.  Be sure to use gloves when handling the inner seeds and membranes.  

I put in an oven at 250°F and check ever 30 minutes or so.  The peppers will shrink and shrivel and you can tell when they are dry.  Pull out each pepper as it dries out so you don't over cook them.  The hotter peppers will tend to dry out much more quickly than the jalapeños.

Finally, I branched out to other dried peppers ... ancho (a little smoky, mild) , guajillo (deep flavor and some heat), chile de arbol (very hot) ...  and then blending my own chili powder.  You can adjust the flavors then how you like from mild to hot, from bright to smoky.  I don't grow these or dry them.  These I find at a Mexican grocer.  If you have one local, you'll find some good ones.  If not, there are quite a few good ones online now.

Once they're dry, I just put them in very small batches into my blender with a rubber spatula handy.

ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, USE A MASK OR BANDANA OVER YOUR NOSE AND MOUTH SO YOU DON'T BREATH IN THE PEPPER DUST.  If you're especially sensitive or working with especially hot peppers, you may want to use goggles.

Blend and blend until they're nice and fine, jar, and label.

Hope you find this useful. Blending your own chili powder combinations gives you so many more options and makes your spicy seasoning a little more interesting and complex.

Krista