Peeling the skins off of roasted peppers can be a chore. One is often left picking off small bits of skin at a time, which is tedious, or peeling away chunks of pepper flesh along with the skin! Here's an easy method that guarantees you will peel your peppers faster and not lose any tasty pepper flesh. This method can be used with any peppers; bell or chiles.
What You Need
Ingredients
Firm, unblemished peppers of your choice
Olive oil
Tools
Sharp knife
Baking pan
Pastry brush
Oven with a broiler setting
Plastic bag
Instructions
1. Preheat the broiler of your oven.
2. Cut your peppers in half lengthwise at the stem.
3. Remove the stems and the ribs. To remove the stem, grab the green tip and pull it up, towards you, and snap it away from the pepper body. Pinch the ribs out with your fingers. Turn the pepper halves upside down and gently tap them against the cutting board so the loose seeds fall out.
4. Brush a baking sheet lightly with olive oil. Place the pepper halves, cut side down, on the baking sheet and brush them lightly with the oil.
5. Place them about 3 to 4 inches under the broiler. After about 10 minutes, the skins will start to blister and blacken. When they are evenly blackened and blistered, remove from oven.
6. Using tongs, place the peppers in a plastic bag and seal it. Set aside. Wait 15 to 20 minutes.
7. After 15 to 20 minutes, the peppers should be cool enough to handle and the skins will easily peel off.
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(Images: Kathryn Hill)
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most people think it is a faux pas, but even rick bayless says it is ok to very quickly put the pepper under running water to get the troublesome last bits of skin off.
I don't see how brushing with olive oil would make much of a difference. I throw mine under the broiler whole(since I am usually stuffing them), rotate to brown all of the sides and then throw them in a bag for a few mins while I get everything else together. It works like a charm every time.
In the interest of not wasting plastic bags, it works fine in any airtight container! I've even used a bowl with a plate over it! I also don't bother with oil.
I don't bother with oil either, and tend to use paper bags, not plastic, although lately I too have used covered bowls.
I usually catch the steam by putting them back on the cutting board under a small glass bowl.
I stack them on top of each other, leave them in bowl with the plate on top for about 15 minutes or so, and then scrape off the skins with the knife at a 90 degree angle. It works really well, and it isn't a big deal. There are a few specks of black skin left on the peppers, but I think it looks nice and rustic. Don't get too emotional about it.
Oh, I also roast them on the gas burner, not in the oven.
i also roast on the gas burner-whole.
If you live in a nyc apartment or an older rental, it's likely that you can't adjust your broiler, and you certainly are using gas. Oiling the peppers is just plain dangerous! So, too, putting them in any old plastic bag.
the plastic bag will be hot but does work - or any other airtight method of trapping the steam to help the skins peel off. I use the same method except I don't oil the skins unless I am conserving them in which I add the oil after. One thing I do to help clean up is to line the pan with aluminum foil.
as far as cutting the peppers first, i saw this on some cooking show, it works great - cut a small slice off the bottom so it stands upright, then slice off each 'lobe' top to bottom. What's left in the middle is just the white membrane, seeds and stem. No scooping or scraping required.