No, you wouldn't get a leathery pod floating on top - the pickling juices will reconstitute it BTW - I keep crushed peppers in my freezer and pour a little [at a time] into a smaller jar I keep close by the stove - I found out the hard way to keep my distance [and to hold my breath & exhale] when doing the procedure - this small amount of movement can generate "fumes" that can get in your eyes. . . Sharen Rund Bloechl Lockheed Martin Enterprise Information Systems Sunnyvale Data Center sharen.rund.bloechl@lmco.com <mailto:sharen.rund.bloechl@lmco.com> Phone: 408-756-5432 [or] Fax: 408-756-0912 srund@svl.ems.lmco.com <mailto:srund@svl.ems.lmco.com> LMnet: 8-326-5432 Pager: 408-539-5146 web: http://webpager.lmms.lmco.com/perl/mtrocall.cgi <http://webpager.lmms.lmco.com/perl/mtrocall.cgi> [or] Operator Assist: 1-800-725-5079, pin 408-539-5146 ---------- From: Alex Silbajoris[SMTP:72163.1353@compuserve.com] Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 1999 6:07 AM To: Chile Heads Subject: [CH] grinding chiles Sharen wrote: . . .and, you don't have the fumes burning your eyes (unless you grind downwind. . .) Hey, the first person to perfect the radio-controlled chile grinder is going to make a fortune! Or, for the high end of the market, maybe something more like one of those remote-controlled bomb neutralizing robots. These days I'm leafing through the Ball company canning book, scanning for recipes using what's coming from our garden now. I see a few recipes calling for optional whole dried chiles - I'd never thought of putting a dried chile into a pickling mix. I always thought drying was a way to save them in itself, but maybe that's exactly how it is that you might have them available in place of fresh when you're pickling. So I wonder what you get, a leathery pod floating on the top of the mix? Alex Silbajoris 72163.1353@compuserve.com packing pickled peppers: "the Wall of Ball"