Fino polvo de habanero deshidratado

If you've ever planted manzano habaneros, or, as I call them, extremely hot chile peppers, you'll know that you have to consume them immediately, since they can't be dried the traditional way like serrano chiles. Habaneros bloom from the inside, damaging them and making them impossible to eat. The best way to preserve them is by freezing or dehydrating them, but here we're going to present a much more perfect way to preserve them year-round. This way, you'll have that surplus from the plant you've pampered all summer long, and it'll be impossible to consume everything it has provided unless you're a cookie monster in chili. On the other hand, this way we'll eliminate the small problem we encounter with all chiles: some are hot, others are extremely hot. It's a lottery, and you never know when you're going to hit the jackpot and your mouth will turn into a living volcano. By turning an entire plantation into a fine powder, the heat will be much more stable when you add that pinch of habanero powder, and you'll always know how high it's going to be on the Scoville scale, which indicates the amount of capsaicin in your food. The myths we're debunking about spicy food are: That they cause hemorrhoids or piles; they aren't responsible for these conditions, but if you eat chili peppers with any of these conditions already in your body, it will intensify the discomfort to previously unsuspected levels. It also doesn't cause ulcers; on the contrary, some studies show that it's beneficial and strengthens the gastric mucosa. Among other benefits to keep in mind, which we haven't yet mentioned, is the well-known fact that it helps burn fat, and that spicy food activates our metabolism up to three hours after consuming it. The sweating and sudden rise in temperature we notice is a result of fat burning and is something we can take into account when adding to our healthy diet goals and shaving off a few grams on the scale. We'll share a recipe later so you can familiarize yourself with its use. For now, we'll present the steps to convert these chilies into a powder that will keep perfectly year-round and help us enhance dishes according to our endurance level. Ingredients: Apple habaneros. Materials: Fan-assisted oven or food dehydrator. Coffee grinder. Gloves (optional). Goggles (optional). Mask (optional). Airtight container. The procedure is simple: Harvest the habaneros. Remove the green stem and rinse to remove any dirt. Put them in a food processor until they become a puree. Spread it, preferably, in a wide Pyrex container and place it in the oven between 70 and 80 degrees with the oven fan on. If you can, stir the mixture every hour to prevent it from sticking to the container. When you see that it's quite dry, remove it from the oven. Scrape the entire surface, and the result will be like spicy flakes. When I start scraping the dried habanero pepper out of the Pyrex, I smile as I think of the scenes in Breaking Bad where they cook methamphetamine, when they take those trays out of the drying room and start scraping them on glass. Well, this is the same, only with a completely natural product like chili. I'll stop rambling; now you have to put the flakes in a coffee grinder, and they'll turn into a fine spicy powder. Return the powder to the Pyrex dish and place it in the oven for another hour. This ensures that any areas that remain slightly damp can be resolved with this burst of heat. If you keep it damp, you can ruin the product. Once you remove it from the oven, stir the mixture to ensure it remains as a fine powder and store it in an airtight container to use in recipes that require it. Remember that this powder is extremely hot; you should not touch it during processing; it's much better if you wear latex or vinyl gloves. Protective goggles will protect you from unpleasant splashes in your eyes during handling, and a mask will protect your respiratory tract when you grind the habanero in the grinder and raise the fine powder into the air. Caution will save you some awkward moments, as I speak from experience. If you're making this powder at home, try to find a day when there aren't many people around. If you're not around either, even better. The atmosphere gets a little tense, it's annoying and it stings your nose if you're in the kitchen where it's being made, especially in the early hours, but I assure you the result is spectacular.