???Chili Powder Question???

[Q-Dat]

Hey folks I'm hoping there's a chili head in the bunch who can help me out here.

I'm re-formulating my rub so that I'm not depending on any commercial spice blends.

I know that chili powder is a mixture of ground chiles and other stuff.(garlic, oregano etc) My question is this. What kind of chiles do the store bought mixtures use? Is it Ancho? Anaheim? Pasilla? New Mexico? Maybe a blend of these or something else altogether?

Anybody know? Or is there really not even much of a difference in any of these?

Thanks in advance for any help.

P.S. If anybody knows what they put in "Lawry's" that'd be cool too!

 

[Saiko]

My guess would be new Mexico or Anaheim for commercial brands. Personally I prefer ancho, with guajillo a close second.

 

[colonel00]

I second ancho chili powder. Hard to say really, though, if you are trying to mimic a commercial rub.

 

[peppasawce]

Ancho here also, and hey there Dadgummit I am glad you are making your own...I'm out and have to make some more LOL

 

[landarc]

I read about this a while back and cannot find the link now. I read that Gebhardt's used a mix of powders. However, there are loads of chile powders out there and all of them have different colors and flavors. I would suggest you start working out your own recipe. I like ancho, cayenne, de arbol and chipotle powders as a starting point. When I make my own powder, I start with these in whole pod form and grind to powder. I remove the seeds before grinding. I generally only add paprika and allspice after that. No herbs or other seasonings.

 

[Saiko]

Don't know if this would be of any help, but here is a link to my post on my chili recipe, where I basically made a homemade chili powder of Ancho, chili de arbol, Mexican oregano, cumin and salt. The only thing missing is granulated garlic, which I don't include for this recipe because the chili uses fresh garlic. Add some granulated garlic to the spice blend I make for this chili and you'd have some pretty good homemade chili powder.
Linky: http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=71047

 

[Wesman61]

I don't have any advice but was excited because i'm in New Mexico and my aunt gave me a ziploc bag full of ground red chile. I can't wait to get home and start experimenting! It smells heavenly.

 

[Q-Dat]

Thanks for the help guys. I'm mostly reformulating because I'm pretty happy with my rub, but three of the main ingredients are Lawry's, Tony Chachere's and commercial chili powder. I know the formula for Tony's but not the other two. I know Lawry's isn't going away but I'd still like to keep my rub as close as possible to what it is now without using them.

 

[mwmac]

For pure chile powders, try the chile shop in santa fe. I have used them for years, (still mourning the demise of rancho chimayo chile powder), with great results.:thumb:Far better than any commercial chile powder blends imho.

 

[Q-Dat]

I think I'll try ancho first and see how I like that.I like experimenting anyway.

 

[Chipper]

Most commercial is probably anaheim. Ours is a blend of 5, including chipotle, ancho, de arbol, and anaheim.

 

[T.K.]

I might get slammed but here is a recipe from Alton Brown & it's a well-rounded chili powder recipe. I changed the paprika from smoked because I prefer the Hungarian stuff.



Ingredients

• 3 ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded and sliced
• 3 cascabel chiles, stemmed, seeded and sliced
• 3 dried arbol chiles, stemmed, seeded and sliced
• 2 tablespoons whole cumin seeds
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon paprika

Directions
Place all of the chiles and the cumin into a medium nonstick saute pan or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, moving the pan around constantly, until you begin to smell the cumin toasting, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Set aside and cool completely.
Once cool, place the chiles and cumin into the carafe of a blender along with the garlic powder, oregano, and paprika. Process until a fine powder is formed. Allow the powder to settle for at least a minute before removing the lid of the carafe. Store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

 

[Sean "Puffy" Coals]

All of the chili powder ingredient labels I have read list paprika as one of them. I would guess its a blend of sweet and hot hungarians. Seeing that paprika is also a major component of most BBQ rubs, I'd say start from there.

What others are saying is true also- it depends entirely on the brand. Ingredients vary widely, which is one of the main reasons I stopped using "chili powder" in my rubs.

 

[SmokeJumper]

I use a blend of Ancho, New Mexico, Cascabel, and Gaujillo peppers and then add Chiltepin or Birdseye to bring up the heat to desired levels.