The 2024 New Mexico chile harvest has begun, and by all accounts, it is going to be a fruitful year. Despite it being a staple of our regional diet, many in our broader community have never attempted to process or store freshly roasted green chile. While store-bought options exist (from frozen to canned), nothing rises to the level of flavor of freshly roasted, processed and promptly frozen New Mexico green chile.
A Las Cruces Digest Report
Photos By: Kcenia Gwaltney
Without a doubt, roasted green chile is at its peak flavor if consumed immediately after roasting; however, the roasting process is time consuming, and the season for local chile is short. The next best option to fresh-roasted chile is fresh-frozen chile.
To stock up on green chile for the winter months, it can seem to be a daunting task. To accomplish this safely, it is a commitment.
NOTICE
This is not a definitive guide to processing roasted green chile. Every family has a different way to process and freeze.
It is worth the time to take advantage of any opportunity to listen to how others do it. (We are confident there will be at least a small amount of chatter on the Socials.)
Please keep the food safety recommendations presented here in mind when trying something new.
Why is food safety a concern with commercially roasted green chile?
Roasted green chile is unique. [We already know this, and it is why it is such a popular staple in so many families’ menus.] It is the only item able to be purchased raw and roasted in a commercial roaster right at the local grocer. As a fresh produce product, safe food handling is regulated and guided by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. (See the FDA circular, Selecting and Serving Produce Safely.) These guidelines are an excellent source of information; however, they become less relevant once 20 to 25 pounds of chile is tumbled and roasted.
The roasted chile ceases to behave like fresh produce, and starts to take on the characteristics of meat products–at least in terms of foodborne illness. Roasted chile has a high water content. Roasted chile is a low acid fruit. Roasted chile can sit in the temperature “Danger Zone” (40-140 degrees F) for a long time because it is cooked in bulk, and takes a long time to cool down to room temperature.
During the roasting process, moisture is released from the chile pods and the natural protections from bacterial growth are greatly diminished. While fresh raw chile pods can sit at room temperature for a very long time, roasted chile can become a place where bacteria can thrive. Because of this, the “4 Easy Steps” to food handling promoted by the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service become more applicable to roasted green chile. Yes, these food safety guidelines were designed by the USDA for use with meat; however, we have modified them to make them relevant for roasted green chile.
Clean, Separate, Cook and Chill
- Clean: The USDA recommends washing your hands before and after you handle roasted chile or raw meat (of any kind) and clean all surfaces, utensils and plates they may have come in contact with. [There is another reasons to not disregard this step when dealing with roasted green chile–the spice factor. If your roasted green chile comes into contact with other foods, or your hands if not using gloves, you can expect some of that spiciness to transfer to those foods.]
- Separate: Use different cutting boards during meal prep. One for either raw meat (beef, poultry, pork or goat), another for ready to eat meals (salads, fruits, breads and cheese) [and one for processing roasted green chile.] You don’t want any cross contamination between raw meat juices, [chile spice] and your ready to eat foods.
- Cook: [This point is good information, but less relevant when processing roasted green chile.] Cook to safe internal temperature using a food thermometer. All whole meats (beef, pork and goat) need to reach 145 degrees Fahrenheit (with a 3-minute rest time afterwards). All ground meats (beef, pork and goat) need to reach 160 degrees. All poultry (ground or whole) needs to reach 165 degrees. Any leftovers (beef, pork, goat and poultry) need to be reheated to reach 165 degrees. [Reaching a specified temperature when roasting green chile is not nearly as specific as when cooking meats. Also, since it us usually roasted in a commercial roaster by a trained operator, it is not something the consumer would have much control over. Green chile starts the process as a fresh, raw vegetable, so there is not as much need to kill any existing bacteria on or in the chile. The concern with bacterial growth and foodborne illness becomes a concern once the chile is roasted.]
- Chill: Make sure that your prepared food [including roasted green chile] does not stay out at room temperature for more than 2 hours (1 hour if you’re outside in 90 degree temperatures or above--[pay attention all of you DIY grill roasters out there]).
NOTE: Immediately freezing roasted green chile while it is still hot does not remove the roasted chile from the temperature “Danger Zone”. It is 20 to 25 pounds of heat, and the bags in the middle of a large stack will remain in the temperature “Danger Zone” for a considerable amount of time. Steps must be taken to cool the roasted chile prior to stacking in the freezer.
[Information about “Leftovers” has been omitted for this post, but can be found at the USDA website, here.]
How we process and freeze roasted green chile in our home
Typically, we purchase our fresh green chile inside the local grocer, and after checkout we meet with the roaster/operator who then roasts our chile. [You can tell them how you would like it roasted, if you have a preference.]
The roaster/operator pulls the roasted green chile from the commercial roasting tumbler into a box lined with a plastic bag. [Some choose to start the cooling process immediately and transfer the freshly roasted chile to an ice-filled cooler for transportation home. We did not do this, and understand that the roasted green chile will continue to cook until it is cooled off. This was not a problem this year because the chile was very “meaty”; however, if there is a larger percentage of “thin” pods in the batch, they can tend to cook to pieces in the time it takes to get from the roaster to the kitchen.]
Once in your kitchen, the roasted green chile is cooled on a bed of ice (we use the sink) and peeled. [Some years, they peel really nice–like this year. There are years, and sometimes late in the season, when they do not peel as neatly. For those years, we use a “Quick and Dirty” method of processing by not peeling the chile at all before putting into bags. They are placed into freezer bags “flat”, so (after frozen) each pod can be easily broken away and removed from the bag for recipes that do not require more than one. Freezing them “Quick and Dirty” saves the flavor of the pods by avoiding too much water in the peeling process–the last thing we want is water logged chile. Once frozen, a pod can be removed from the freezer bag and peeled under cold water to easily remove the skin without washing away any of flavor still frozen inside the pod. “Quick and Dirty” wasn’t necessary this year.]
Once the peels have been removed, the chile pods are placed in freezer bags. We use two types of bags: Gallon (for “flats”) and Half-Gallon (for “bulk”). There have been years when it was necessary to sort out the relleno (or high quality) chile from the rest. A relleno chile is very meaty and makes a pretty, and tasty, relleno. This year, they were almost all relleno quality, so there was no need to sort them. [We ended up with about half of a quart bag of “uglies”, and they were put into the mix of some ground beef burritos made later that night.]
Once bagged, the sealed bags are placed on ice until cool. They were then placed in the freezer for storage.
Now you have chile ready for recipes, or to simply put on top of your morning eggs. [As for me, there is no substitute for scrambled eggs topped with green chile.]
A Local Secret…
Save your skins. Las Cruces Digest will be sharing an amazing “trick” using the skins. Simply collect them and put them in a freezer bag and in the freezer. Recipe to follow soon. Take a moment to subscribe to the Daily Las Cruces Digest, above, to make sure you don’t miss out on any recipes or secrets to come.
