How do you store your ancho chiles? I found myself with an abundance of
them, and I want to store them safely. I will freeze them unless I hear
otherwise.

Becca

Ema Nymton wrote:

>How do you store your ancho chiles? I found myself with an abundance of
>them, and I want to store them safely. I will freeze them unless I hear
>otherwise.

You have pablanos, dried they're called anchos. I would dry them...
if you live where it's hot and dry you can dry them outdoors. I've
dried various chili peppers by passing a thread through the stems with
a sewing needle and hanging the bunches in my kitchen, worked fine.
http://www.happynews.com/living/cook...li-peppers.htm

"Brooklyn1" <Gravesend1> wrote in message
...
> Ema Nymton wrote:
>
>>How do you store your ancho chiles? I found myself with an abundance of
>>them, and I want to store them safely. I will freeze them unless I hear
>>otherwise.
>
> You have pablanos, dried they're called anchos. I would dry them...
> if you live where it's hot and dry you can dry them outdoors. I've
> dried various chili peppers by passing a thread through the stems with
> a sewing needle and hanging the bunches in my kitchen, worked fine.
> http://www.happynews.com/living/cook...li-peppers.htm

That's what my FIL did with his. Mostly he did the needle and thread thing.
He was given a dehydrator as a gift and it is the same one that I have, the
Nesco round. He disliked it because it did so little at a time. What he
did not seem to know is that you can buy a lot of extra trays which is what
I did. I never used mine to dry peppers because I never got a bumper crop
of those. But I did dry mushrooms only because at the time I was using
dried mushroom powder as a thickener and unless I got the mushrooms at
Costco, they could be very expensive. But it was also rare for me to be
able to use the huge jug from Costco before they went bad.

On 12/21/2012 8:46 PM, Sqwertz wrote:

> Anchos are dried poblanos. I store them in a ziplock. Sounds like
> you might have some sort of fresh pepper? If they are poblanos, then
> roast and freeze them just like Hatch chiles.
>
> -sw


Thanks everybody for your suggestions. The anchos I bought are dried,
but a couple of them were just a little bendy, I was afraid to store
them in a closed container. I used a couple of them cooking mole, then I
spread the rest out on the counter top, now they are nice and hard. I
put them in a ziploc bag in the pantry. We could blame this on the
humidity being too high.

Becca

Ema Nymton wrote:
>
>Thanks everybody for your suggestions. The anchos I bought are dried,
>but a couple of them were just a little bendy, I was afraid to store
>them in a closed container.

They're supposed to be a bit flexible/leathery. I buy them from
Penzeys and they are leathery, all their dried whole chili peppers are
leathery. And from what I read yesterday that's how they are supposed
to be... place them into a sealed container to prevent their drying
further... I keep mine in glass jars with screw caps. Rather then use
them whole I almost always dice/slice them for cooking, slicing
wouldn't be possible if they're bone dry, then they'd just shatter.
The ones from Penzeys are flexible enough to tear by hand... I first
tear them open to remove the seeds and stem, then I slice n' dice.

On Sat, 22 Dec 2012 09:42:10 -0700, Christine Dabney
> wrote:

>On Sat, 22 Dec 2012 10:23:04 -0600, Ema Nymton >
>wrote:
>
>>
>>Thanks everybody for your suggestions. The anchos I bought are dried,
>>but a couple of them were just a little bendy, I was afraid to store
>>them in a closed container. I used a couple of them cooking mole, then I
>>spread the rest out on the counter top, now they are nice and hard. I
>>put them in a ziploc bag in the pantry. We could blame this on the
>>humidity being too high.
>>
>>Becca
>
>Actually, in my experience you do want the anchos nice and bendy. They
>shouldn't be hard, but indeed should be a bit bendy as you say. I just
>put mine in a glass jar, and they stay good for some time.

That's what I do. Peppers are no different from other dried fruit, so
long as the majority of water is evaporated and they're protected from
rehydrating they will keep indefinitely. The only time chili peppers
need to be fully dried is if they will be ground/crushed.

On 12/22/2012 12:09 PM, Brooklyn1 wrote:

> They're supposed to be a bit flexible/leathery. I buy them from
> Penzeys and they are leathery, all their dried whole chili peppers are
> leathery. And from what I read yesterday that's how they are supposed
> to be... place them into a sealed container to prevent their drying
> further... I keep mine in glass jars with screw caps. Rather then use
> them whole I almost always dice/slice them for cooking, slicing
> wouldn't be possible if they're bone dry, then they'd just shatter.
> The ones from Penzeys are flexible enough to tear by hand... I first
> tear them open to remove the seeds and stem, then I slice n' dice.


Ancho chiles are sold in supermarkets, here, I did not know Penzey's
sold them. I usually simmer them for about 30 minutes, then I puree them
with a stick blender. I sit a metal colander on top of the pot to keep
the chiles under water.

Becca

On Sun, 23 Dec 2012 13:30:46 -0600, Ema Nymton >
wrote:

> Ancho chiles are sold in supermarkets, here, I did not know Penzey's
> sold them. I usually simmer them for about 30 minutes, then I puree them
> with a stick blender. I sit a metal colander on top of the pot to keep
> the chiles under water.

Using a colander is a good idea. I don't make red sauce enough to
care, so I just open a can... but DD makes a to die for chili colorado
sauce (from Cooking Light) that if I didn't know how much work it
entails would spur me on to making it from scratch.

Is this how you do it?
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chil...0000000550023/

--
Food is an important part of a balanced diet.

On Sun, 23 Dec 2012 13:30:46 -0600, Ema Nymton >
wrote:

>On 12/22/2012 12:09 PM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
>
>> They're supposed to be a bit flexible/leathery. I buy them from
>> Penzeys and they are leathery, all their dried whole chili peppers are
>> leathery. And from what I read yesterday that's how they are supposed
>> to be... place them into a sealed container to prevent their drying
>> further... I keep mine in glass jars with screw caps. Rather then use
>> them whole I almost always dice/slice them for cooking, slicing
>> wouldn't be possible if they're bone dry, then they'd just shatter.
>> The ones from Penzeys are flexible enough to tear by hand... I first
>> tear them open to remove the seeds and stem, then I slice n' dice.
>
>
>Ancho chiles are sold in supermarkets, here, I did not know Penzey's
>sold them.

Penzeys sells several kinds of chili peppers. I think they are better
than the ones sold at supermarkets, not all dried out and much
fresher. Check their catalog.

>I usually simmer them for about 30 minutes, then I puree them
>with a stick blender. I sit a metal colander on top of the pot to keep
>the chiles under water.
>
>Becca

On 12/23/2012 2:56 PM, sf wrote:
> On Sun, 23 Dec 2012 13:30:46 -0600, Ema Nymton >
> wrote:
>
>> Ancho chiles are sold in supermarkets, here, I did not know Penzey's
>> sold them. I usually simmer them for about 30 minutes, then I puree them
>> with a stick blender. I sit a metal colander on top of the pot to keep
>> the chiles under water.
>
> Using a colander is a good idea. I don't make red sauce enough to
> care, so I just open a can... but DD makes a to die for chili colorado
> sauce (from Cooking Light) that if I didn't know how much work it
> entails would spur me on to making it from scratch.
>
> Is this how you do it?
> http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chil...0000000550023/


I have never made chili colorado, but it looks good. I have made an
enchilada sauce that is similar. You are right, it is easier to just
open a can.

Becca