Wow, congrats on scoring that many chiles! I haven't been fortunate enough to have that many green chiles at once but if I did, I would either make my own chile roaster or if I was feeling extravagant (and I planned to roast chiles every year), I would pick one up online for a couple hundy.

If you have a large charcoal bbq, you could use that (with the coals close to the grate). You could probably buy a low budget model grill for really cheap this time of year.

Keep us posted.

Here is a link that might be useful: Arizona Chile Roasters

WOW! Nice! not cheap!

Thanks Peppermeister, it's a blessing and a curse. The biggest bag is green pasillas, don't know if they will turn or not, the next biggest is green guajillos... I don't know if they are any good green, I'd much prefer red. Luckily the poblanos are fine. I might try frying them, someone... was it DMF??? said that frying in oil makes the skin soft so you don't have to worry about skinning....

Not me. I just asked the question that got that answer. I don't think the temp was specified, but I would imagine that 340`F would be in the ballpark. For a large quantity you would need a healthy amount of oil and a big burner to keep the temperature up.

IIRC, the conversation was in the Peppers for Chili thread.

The easiest way... have a friend who spent some serious coin on a 3 propane burner / electric drum stainless steal roaster ;-))

My friend is a market farmer who offers customers the option to roast the peppers he sells.

Sorry, I know it doesn't easily solve your problem. I don't have a solution that doesn't require plain old time and effort.

Every farmer's market and roadside vegetable seller in New Mexico has someone with a gas-fired rotating roaster on a trailer, and so do the supermarkets.

I needed to talk to the produce manager of a Walmart, and he was out back, roasting chiles.

It's a bit of a construction setup, but you can make a lightweight cage out of meshed chicken wire (or similar) that you can cut/fit to the size of your grill, sandwich pods in between, and roast/flip a good amount with one turn.

You'd have to build a handle mechanism, too...some large clips/clamps or whatever McGuiver construction ideas you can come up with.

Pam:

"Luckily the poblanos are fine. I might try frying them, someone... was it DMF??? said that frying in oil makes the skin soft so you don't have to worry about skinning.... "

It was me. That frying thing, I only do for smaller peppers like Jals, serranos and habs. And it's not actually frying, It's more like a saute, like you would with onions or other veggies. But with peppers, I only do it if I'm going to be pureeing them. What I found out with larger ones, like Anaheims, is that If I oven roast them when coated with oil and I don't let them get black, they PUREE up fine also -- That tough skin doesn't need to be removed.

That's only if I'm pureeing.

If you want to keep them whole, or chop up softened ones for things like New Mexico green chile, you're going to have to fire roast or grill (you know, the traditional ways).

When I have a bunch like you do and I want them whole, I either broil in the oven or throw on the gas grill until black. Throw in a bowl with plastic wrap for 20-30 mins and then get to skinning.

If you don't want to invest in a roaster like Peppermeister and Ottawa, you're next best bet would be one of those flamethrower gadgets that you attach to a propane tank. You know, those things they use out on farms to kill weeds.

Kevin

You mean one of these?

[Note: This pic is from a quickly-defunded DARPA project to control the effect of the US dairy herd on greenhouse gases, i.e. methane. The practical application as an energy - or cooking - source were never explored.]

BOY DMF and you give me a hard time about a possible drool emoticon. ;-)

thanks guys, (just got to work and on line, lost internet connection friday and I've been in severe withdrawl ever since.)

I actually tried frying them in olive oil and guess what? it worked. Could have left the skins on, they were pretty soft, but I went ahead and skinned them and the skins came off easily... don't know if it was any easier than roasting, although I didn't have to put them in a bag to steam, just put them on a plate to cool. You could tell by looking at them that the skins were already loose. fingers got oily removing the skins, but heck, olive oil's good for you.

next year I may have to invest in one of those little roasters. broiling is such a pain, and it heats up the kitchen.

woohooman... yep, I went back to the original post and saw it was you, thanks for the tip!!