Chile puree

[cook987654]

I have these Dried red new mexican chiles , that I soaked in hot almost boiling water for around 20 minutes , then pureed it in a food processor.

And I dont know if it's because the chile's are old (they were brittle) or something I did wrong. I think it's because their old and brittle.

The chile skins were mixed in with the puree (not a soft fluid consistency).

Does anyone know the reason ?

 

[AllenOK]

If I remember right, that's just the way chile pepper skins are. You can try to scrape the flesh off the skin of the pepper after you soak it. Or, you can just grind the pepper into powder without soaking it. You'll need to remove the stem and seeds. You can toast the pepper before grinding if you want, as that will improve the taste. However, you'll need to make sure you have a really powerful grinder/blender/processor to do this.

 

[Mel!]

reply

i think it is exactly as u say. The chilles are old and brittle. Not the best for puree.
I think the best thing to do with dried chilis is just to crumble them over dishes.

Mel

 

[Andy M.]

Run the puree through a seive. The puree will pass through and the bits of skin will remain behind.

 

[cook987654]

i think it is exactly as u say. The chilles are old and brittle. Not the best for puree.
I think the best thing to do with dried chilis is just to crumble them over dishes.

Mel

So you mean if I had the freshest dried chiles , they would come out a perfect consistency?

 

[jennyema]

So you mean if I had the freshest dried chiles , they would come out a perfect consistency?

No. The outer skin of a dried chile is always going to be (relatively) tough. Just as it's tougher than the soft inside of a fresh pepper. If you don't like that, then either do like Andy says and run it through a food mill or (next time) before you puree it, scrape the soft rehydrated inside part off and only use that.

You might find that (depending on what you are making) the tougher outer skins disintegrate. This will probably happen if you make chili, for example, and cook it for a few hours.

 

[Mel!]

Reply for Cook98

Hello cook98

I think fresh chilles are better for puree. Fresh, as in not dried.
I dont know what u would call a perfect consistency. The puree may still have pieces of skin in it, but they would be soft, instead of hard brittle bits.

Mel

 

[skilletlicker]

I have these Dried red new mexican chiles , that I soaked in hot almost boiling water for around 20 minutes , then pureed it in a food processor.

And I dont know if it's because the chile's are old (they were brittle) or something I did wrong. I think it's because their old and brittle.

The chile skins were mixed in with the puree (not a soft fluid consistency).

Does anyone know the reason ?

Some dried chiles do that. The ones I use that do are guajillos and cascabels. Both have smooth outer skins. You can push the puree through a sieve like Andy said or you can use a knife to carefully scrape the meat away from the cellophane like skin.
Anchos, pasillas, and chipotles have heavily wrinkled outer skins that don't seem to peel away.
In my limited experience it doesn't have much to do with the age of chile.

 

[Nicholas Mosher]

Great use for a fine-mesh sieve!

I've been playing with chili recipes lately. To make my chile powder, I snipped off the top of each chile and cut them in half. Next I pulled/shaked out the seeds, and then snipped them to pieces into a pan. Roasted 'em in the oven or a bit to waken up the oils, and then into a spice grinder.

Even after a good whirl in the grinder, I still poured the powder through a fine mesh sieve as roughly 15% of the powder volume was actually little pieces of cellophane like particles... the skins.
-----
I'm planning to make chile puree this week as well, and a fine-mesh sieve will be on the equipment list for sure.

 

[Flourgirl]

I agree with everything said here, I have found that when toasting and pureeing dried chiles, you have to use a blender, the kind used for mixing frozen drinks and such, not a cuisinart type food processor. I blend on high until they are pureed as smooth as possible and then also run them through a strainer.

 

[karadekoolaid]

If I stuff Guajillo or Ancho chiles, I soak them overnight.
That doesn't guarantee your purée would be any better, but the chiles are definitely more flexible!

 

[skilletlicker]

If I stuff Guajillo or Ancho chiles, I soak them overnight.
That doesn't guarantee your purée would be any better, but the chiles are definitely more flexible!

Clive, as always I'm delighted to learn from your experience. Clearly overnight soaking will make both of these chiles, probably any dried chile, more flexible. Do you you think it would have any effect on the smooth outer skin of the guajillo?

 

[karadekoolaid]

I've never used soaked chiles to make a purée - only for stuffing. I'd use fresh chiles to make the purée.
Having said that - hey, give it a try! It might work perfectly.