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Appreciation post: figuring out dried chiles without toasting them first
I always thought you had to toast chiles before soaking, but last week I just dropped 8 guajillos straight into hot water for 20 minutes and the sauce was way smoother. No burnt bitterness, just pure flavor. Anyone else skip the skillet?
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willow1141mo ago
8 guajillos is a lot for one batch, but I get what you're saying. I mean, I've definitely scorched chiles before and ruined a whole sauce with that acrid burnt taste. But I still toast mine most of the time, honestly. The skillet brings out a smokiness and depth that just soaking can't match, at least for me. Maybe it's just that I'm used to the flavor profile, but skipping the toast leaves the sauce feeling a little flat or one-dimensional.
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terry_carter151mo ago
Wait, hold on. 8 guajillos for ONE batch? That is a LOT of chiles. My batch usually maxes out at like 3 or 4, maybe 5 if I am feeling wild. You must be making a gallon of sauce or something. I would be worried about the flavor getting way too intense or the sauce getting that weird bitter edge from so much skin. Did you have to strain a ton of solids out afterwards? Genuinely curious how that turned out.
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8 guajillos in a single batch? That is wild. I'd be worried about the sauce turning into a paste. Gotta imagine that much skin would make it gritty as hell.
@willow114 I get the toasted skillet thing, but with 8 chiles you are already maxing out on flavor. Burning that many would just be a disaster waiting to happen. Did you have to run it through a strainer or did it just come out thick?
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