New Mexican chiles have been grown and harvested for centuries here in the Southwest. They can be harvested at any time, but generally, when a fruit reaches its ultimate size, it’s ready to be harvested.

Green chiles are simply unripe peppers that provide a particular flavor preferred by many people and are used for canning, roasting, freezing and more.

Red chiles are simply green chiles that have been left on the plant to mature. These chiles mature from a green color to a red, usually have a fruitier taste and are mainly used for dehydration, grinding or color extraction.

New Mexico is a perfect place to dry chile peppers; hot sun, dry air and warm nights with little or no chance of precipitation provide the ideal conditions. Drying has been the oldest and most common way to preserve red chile pods.

One of the oldest methods of drying peppers in the Southwest and Mexico is to string chiles onto ristras (strings) and hang them in the sun to dry or to clear off a hill top or rooftop and spread the chiles out to sun-dry. The size of the chiles, its thickness and weather conditions determine the drying time, which can vary greatly.

Over the past 50 years the process of drying chiles in New Mexico has changed from sun-drying to the use of dehydration plants which have now become the main method of drying chiles. Ristras, however, still remain very popular.

By watching the video on this page you can get a preview of chile processing in New Mexico.

Biad Chili Processing Plant near Mesilla, NM

Chile harvesting in New Mexico

Red Chile Ristra