Grinding Ancho Chilis

Cymbaline65

Ok. I took the bait and tried Mickey's Coffee rub and it's delicious. I have a heck of a time finding Ancho Chili powder in my area but I DID find some whole Anchos.

Now, I've read that some folks here grind up their own. So what is the preferred method? I have a coffee grinder that I use for spices - chop it all up into small pieces and grind? Use my food processor? Remove the seeds? My biggest concern is getting the grind fine enough to blend into the rub.

Thoughts on this are greatly appreciated.

tkleager

Interested in this also.  Found whole Anchos at Safeway.

Eggcelsior

Spice grinder/coffee grinder or mortar and pestle if you want Popeye forearms.

nolaegghead

Take the stem off (obviously) but you want the whole pepper ground - seeds and all.  Eggcelsior studied ethnic underwater pepper grinding in college - heed his sage advice.

sumoconnell

If they are still soft, you can toast them on a griddle, gets a good flavor out of them and crisps right up. They turn to powder easily.

GrannyX4

I toasted the whole bag of peppers in a dry skillet until they became aromatic and then into the food processor. ;;)

fljoemon

Definitely dry roast them in a pan and then use a coffee grinder to grind them fine.

Griffin

Grind 'em outside with plenty of airflow? Not sure if that's needed with anchos, but heard you really need to with habaneros.

Cymbaline65

Excellent advice, everyone. Thanks. I'll hopefully knock this out by the weekend.