HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN CHILI PEPPER POWDER

This time I used Serrano peppers but you could use any kind you like.  I've done this before with other peppers and they all come out great.

I cut the Serrano peppers in half and put them in the dehydrator.  I wanted this to be hot so I left all the seeds in too.

Serrano peppers start out green but if you let them stay growing they turn to red.  The red is hotter.  You can see I do have a few green ones too.  I just mixed them in with the red as it doesn't really matter.

This is the kind of dehydrator I have but all brands look a little different.

I do my hot peppers outside because the steam (that you don't even see) gets in the air and you will feel it in your eyes, nose and throat.  This of course causes watery eyes, runny nose and coughing.

I did 6 racks of peppers this time.  I started them out on low for several hours and then as they were pretty close to being all dry I kicked it up to high so I wouldn't have to leave the dehydrator on all night.

However, I did search on line and found out that you really can't over dry these.  If you want to rehydrate them, you may wish to be a little more careful but to turn them into pepper you are good to go without the worry of over drying them.

Mine took about 12 hours.  It would be faster if you turned up the heat.  Just be sure to follow the directions on your dehydrator as they are all different.

I ended up getting one quart and one 1/2 pint full of dried peppers.  Be sure to keep the seeds if you want your powder to be a bit hotter.

I tried to blend peppers up using a food processor before but they didn't get fine enough for my liking.  So I went out and bought a spice/coffee grinder.  This works wonderful and it was about $11 so, to me, it was fully worth it.

Again, I take the peppers outside to grind them up.  The powder will fly around and you will cough, get the runny nose and burning eyes much worse then even when you dehydrate them.  You may wish to even wear a mask. 

I didn't do this.  Being outside, really helps and I didn't need it.

Grind the peppers up in batches.  I ended up getting a full pint of Red Serrano Pepper Powder.  That's a nice amount.

This can now be used in soup, stews, salsa, as a rub or what ever you want a little kick added to your dish.

It's also a great and easy way to have all those peppers last a lot longer then if you left them whole and tried to use them up all at once.

This jar is going to my brother as he is the one who grew them.  I'm sure he will be thrilled to get this.

You can also do this with onions, garlic and about every type of veggie to make powders.