Easy Homemade Chili Powder (Oven or Dehydrator)
Make easy homemade chili powder by drying peppers in the oven or food dehydrator. Use just one chili pepper variety or mix several (e.g. spicy and sweet) to create a more complex, balanced, flavorful chili powder.
Equipment
- Food Dehydrator, or Oven
- Blender, food processor, coffee grinder, or other appliance for grinding
Ingredients
- Chili peppers of choice
- Optional: sweet and mild peppers
Instructions
- Use caution when working with hot peppers! I recommend wearing gloves, and opening windows (or dehydrate them in a separate room/garage with the door close and windows open.
- Wash chili peppers of choice. Select peppers in good condition, free of disease or damage.
- Cut off the top stem portion, then cut the peppers in half lengthwise.
- Remove excess seeds and membranes from inside the peppers (unless you want it extra spicy).
- Optional blanching for maximum color/flavor retention: bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Add prepped chili peppers, and blanch for one minute.
- Remove peppers from hot water and immediately into an ice bath (ice water in bowl) to stop the cooking process. Once they're fully cool, strain peppers from water.
- Spread blanched (or raw) peppers in a single layer on dehydrator trays, or on baking sheets for the oven. Do not overlap.
- In the oven, dry the peppers on 150-175F until they're 100% crisp and dry. This will take several hours. Flip and turn the peppers once every hour or so (or use a slotted oven rack to increase airflow). You can try turning up the oven to 200F, but keep an eye on them so they don't burn!
- In a food dehydrator: dry chili peppers on 125F for until they are completely dry and crisp with no moisture left. They should crunch, crumble, or snap when bent. Time will vary depending on peppers and dehydrator use, but should be done within 12-24 hours. (You may want to to rotate your dehydrator trays every few hours if the fan is in the lid or bottom.)
- Once fully dry, either store whole dried peppers in a jar with a tight-fitting lid until needed, or grind into chili powder for immediate use.
- Grind dry peppers into a powder using a blender, food processor, coffee grinder, or mortar and pestle. The flavor is best if chilis are ground in smaller batches, one spice jar worth at a time, and store extra dried chilis whole until a refill is needed.
- Store in a glass container with an air-tight lid in a moderately cool, dark, dry location. It will be good for over a year stored in the pantry.
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