Make Homemade Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
Whether you aren’t sure what to do with an overly zealous pepper plant in the backyard or you're trying to think of a creative gift, making homemade red pepper flakes are both fun and truly delicious.
Contents
Steps
Baked pepper flakes
Picking the peppers
- Determine which type of pepper will be right for making your crushed red pepper flakes. With a whole family of peppers you can pick, base your decision on how hot of a pepper you can handle. Pepper hotness is measured by Scoville units--the higher the Scoville unit, the hotter the pepper. For example, a sweet bell pepper has zero Scoville units whereas the mighty Habanero pepper ranges from 100,000 to 350,000. The hottest pepper on the scale is the Trinidad Scorpion Butch at 1,463,700.
- Assess your overall needs. If you're creating the crushed pepper for home use and you like them hot, go for the hottest pepper you can find. However, if you're giving the flakes to friends, you may want to go with something a little tamer.
- Test the pepper before you make the crushed flake batch. What may be considered to be hot to some may not be to others. Or, you may not like the taste of certain peppers.
- Consider how big of a batch you want to make. In general, 71 Serrano peppers can make one cup of crushed red pepper flakes.
Baking the peppers
- Heat the oven to 170ºF/75ºC or a low setting. Although the easiest way is to dry the peppers in the oven, you could also sun dry them, especially if you live in an arid climate.
- Using a knife, carefully cut off the pepper stems. Then, slice the peppers by simply splitting them in half. Don't remove the seeds.
- Line non-greased cookie sheets with peppers. Line the peppers side by side and avoid clumping them together; otherwise, they won’t dry properly.
- Bake in the oven for approximately six hours. To be sure they get enough time to dry, set a timer. Once six hours have passed by, turn off the oven and allow the dried peppers to remain in the oven overnight, so they will continue to dry and dehydrate.
Making the pepper flakes
- Crush into flakes. The next day, place the dried peppers in a food processor or crush them by hand. Only crush peppers by hand if you're wearing gloves and you're crushing the peppers while they're inside a plastic bag. Otherwise, stick with the food processor.
- Once the dried peppers have been thoroughly crushed, carefully pour them into an airtight container for storage. Serve the crushed peppers in a food shaker such as a pepper shaker.
Naturally dehydrated pepper flakes
- See "Picking the peppers" in Method 1 above, to determine which peppers to use.
Stringing the peppers
- String the chili peppers along fishing line. Use a large needle to pierce the pepper. Pierce through the stem to ensure the fruit stays intact.
- Set chilies in a cool, dark, dry as can be environment. This will ensure a mold-free dehydration. Usually, it takes about four months for a fully dried out chili with no preserves, chemicals or treatments.
- Once the chilies are thoroughly dried, remove them from the stem. Simply twist and tug. Pat dry with a towel, to ensure the removal of dust or clinging particles.
Grinding the peppers
- Using a coffee grinder. Snip the chilies with scissors over the mouth of the grinder. You can chop them too but that makes more mess. Less mess is good, as it's less chance of someone getting it into their eyes.
- In small batches, grind the chilies to the texture you desire. They can be roughly ground into chili flakes or ground down further to a heavily seeded powder.
- Store in an air-tight, dry and clean container. Be careful when handling chilies. Avoid contact with anything but the soap after handling chilies. They can be very, very hot and will burn your eyes nose or mouth and even skin if concentrated chilies come into contact.
Tips
- Open windows or try to increase ventilation as the peppers cook; keep more sensitive people out of the way.
- Add a label to the bottle to identify the peppers and the date they were created. All spices decrease in strength and become stale when kept too long, so be sure to use within a few months for optimal taste.
Warnings
- Never touch your face or eyes when working with peppers, as residual pepper juice can cause extreme pain upon contact.
- Some people are very sensitive to the chemicals in heated peppers; you may like to ask them to step outside until you're finished. Keep small children and pets well away from the cooking zone.
Things You'll Need
- Red peppers
- Cookie sheet(s)
- A coarse grinder such as a food processor, blender or spice grinder; the more finely you grind the peppers, the hotter/more powerful the flavor
