Re: [CH] Calvin's Powder - Reproduced

J. Patrick Donohoe (donohoe@ECE.MsState.Edu)
Tue, 15 Jun 2010 16:08:35 -0500 

Tom Greaves wrote:
> 1. Just about every combination we tried (about 10) was awesome!  
> There is something about combining the powders that makes the result 
> far superior to any of the peppers used.  We dried and ground all the 
> peppers in a coffee grinder (cleaned between each variety). Each 
> powder was stored in a Freezer Zip Lock bag and they filled a 5 gallon 
> can.  The absolute best fragrance comes when you remove the lid from 
> the can.  The fragrance fills the room.
Tom,

I have been doing this very thing for three or four years now (grinding 
a blend of dried peppers), and my experience has been the same.  But, I 
am much less meticulous about the makeup of the blend.  I typically grow 
one or two plants of a wide variety of peppers each year (about 20-25 
pepper types).  I just pick everything that's ripe, throw them in the 
dehydrator, and grind whatever I have.  The results are very consistent 
irregardless of the pepper types used, unless there are Habaneros in the 
mix.  The distinctive flavor of a raw Hab is still there in the dried 
version, and it does tend to dominate the overall powder flavor.  That 
is too bad for me, since I love the heat of a Hab, but Habaneros are way 
down on my list of favorite pepper flavors.  A Habanero has an 
"artificial" or "chemical" type taste to me.

One thing I have done the past couple of years is to add ground oatmeal 
to my pepper powder (as a natural dessicant) to keep the powder from 
caking together.  The ground oatmeal doesn't affect the powder taste 
much, but it gives the powder an almost fluorescent glow and a real 
silky texture.  I use about 1 part ground oatmeal to 4 parts ground 
peppers. 

A good pepper powder is by far the easiest and tastiest way to add heat 
to absolutely any food.

Pat

-- 
____________________________________________

J. Patrick Donohoe, Ph.D, P.E.
Professor
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Mississippi State University
Box 9571
Mississippi State, MS 39762

       Email: donohoe@ece.msstate.edu
              j.donohoe@ieee.org
      Office: Simrall Hall, Rm. 312
       phone: 662-325-2180
         fax: 662-325-2298
____________________________________________