Ground Chile Peppers

Ground Aleppo Chile

I have been trying to figure out how to coarsely grind dried chile peppers. My aim has been to end up with something similar to store bought chile pepper flakes, only better because it would be home grown! I've been using a little coffee mill for a long time, but it produces less than satisfactory results - too powdery. Hand crumbling - out of the question. Chopping with a knife, way too messy. This morning I had one of those Ah Ha! moments - the meat grinder attachment for my KitchenAid mixer. Yes indeed, it works. I used the plate with the small holes. The hardest part was that I had to hold the mixer up in the air so that the last of the chiles would fall through the holes - no problemo, I'm a strong woman.