Useful info see link below of previous post

Here is a link that might be useful: GW post about powders

Bill Missy, make sure you check the link provided by habjolokia. But as for me, I use a simple coffee grinder. I used the one we had in the house for coffee but after a batch of Nagas, my wife ground a batch of coffee beans and I was immediately told I was allowed to buy a seperate one just for peppers. I bought one from Walmart for about $29 and it has several grind settings on it. I always used the Esspresso setting. I usually grind it longer than that setting gives by default and it comes out in a very fine powder. Some like it a bit more coarse which is fine and the lower settings would do good for that.

I would not invest a ton of money in whatever type of grinder I used unless I wanted to grind huge quantities. But the average guy can easily use a coffee grinder.

The key is not so much the grinder, but is to ensure the peppers are fully dried first. If they are not, they will not grind as well and the resulting powder will tend to cake up while in storage. I suggest you invest in a food dehydrator to ensure you are getting them dried as much as possible.
Bruce

You got a burr grinder for $29? That's quite a price. I still use a Krups spinning-blade-of-death grinder for coffee. Mayhaps I'll retire it for a burr grinder and use for peppers. The blade grinder should be able to handle not-entirely-dry peps and herbs.

Dumb question - do you all ever include 'seeds and all' when grinding? Or just pods only?

...oh and I forgot to comment, coffee grinder works excellent for what little powders I make, and as already been noed the pods must be dry to get a decent product.

sidhartha:
Yes, I routinely grind seeds with pepper flesh. Seeds will provide more heat than cleaned out pepper flesh. Most of the heat is in the white placenta and seeds of peppers. There is significantly less in the flesh. The seeds grind up just fine but if you want powder that is darker (color of the flesh) and milder, you would want to strip the seeds and as much placenta as possible.

DMForcier: The "coffee" grinder that I use is a blade type grinder. Not even sure what a "burr" grinder is. But the blade grinder works great for me.
Bruce

DMForcier, I thought the same thing, burr grinder for $29!!!, after reading Bruce's post.

Thanks for clearing that up Bruce, I was getting ready to head to the nearest Walmart across the border!

Hey, guys!
I like to remove as many seeds as I can without removing the inner membrane.
Seeds, in my opinion, contribute nothing but a bitter edge to powder, sauce, or salsa.

I've been using an old coffee-grinder, but my brother bought me a proper grinder
this year for Christmas....so we'll see how it goes! Still in the box :-)

Hey Josh,

I think I had the earlier model of that grinder. Assuming it hasn't changed much, the nice thing about it is you can take the cup you grind in off and toss it in the dishwasher.

It worked well for peppers but I ended up burning mine out grinding smoked garlic cloves.

Thank you all for the info guys. I will be buying a grinder soon. THANKS. I do have a deyhdrator as I make alot of beef jerky. I have dried all my peppers and just need to start grinding away. Hopefully what I try and grow this year will provide a better yield.

The reason I thought it was a burr grinder is that it supposedly has a fineness setting, which is faintly useless in a blade grinder. The basic problems with blade grinders is that there is nearly no control over the consistency of the grind. There will be small chunks and large chunks, with there being progressively more small chunks - but still many large chunks - as you let it grind on and on.

A burr grinder is two ridged wheels turning against each other. The product must pass between the wheels (and is torn apart in the process) so that the fineness of grind is readily controlled by the distance between the wheels. Screw them a little closer together for a finer grind.

A simplified burr grinder is probably in your kitchen right now - a pepper mill.

I also use a cheap blade coffee grinder. Works great for small batches. If you have quite a bit of volume, you'll probably want something bigger/better.

I agree with Josh about removing seeds. It may not be as hot, but I'm ok with that. I can always add another hotter pepper to the mix if I want more heat.

Oh, and Bill_Missy, you'll want to dry them at a much lower temperature than jerky. They will *look* much nicer - a more natural color rather than darkening - if nothing else. But, if you've already dried them, you probably figured that out. :-)

Thanks, Bill, I'll go easy on the smoked garlic cloves.... ;-)
Between the two of ya, now all I can think about is spicy smoked garlic jerky.

Josh

Thank for all the input guys. Well I finally received my grinder and thought I would post a few pictures. I got it from Wally World for $38. It is nice I think. It has 5 settings from Corase to Fine. Has a automatic timer depending on the "corseness" you select. Removalable stainless cup and plastic lid. One single blade that works well.

Today, I grounded 4 Scoth Bonnetts and 2 Bhuts. They turned out real "fine" which is what I was after. Attached are a few pics.

Again, Thanks for the help and input.

Bill

Dried Scotch Bonnetts

Ground Bonnett's

Dried Bhut Jolokia (I did not grow, received from a relative)

Ground Bhut

I really like this. I dehydrated for 18 hours and the grinder made it very easy. Took about 20-30 Seconds on "fine" to get the above grinds. It is quite, re-tracktable cored. No vibration, little to no "pepper smell leakage"

Nice output.

I wonder how pepper powder and coffee mixes? I bet the result would wake you up in the morning...

Nice grind there, Bill!
I prefer the fine grinds, myself.

Josh

Looks good! That metal lid is nice.