The Right Grill Temperature For Perfect Charred Peppers Every Time
We never need an excuse to fire up the grill and get the fam and friends 'round for a cookout. Plus, these days, it's no longer a space dominated by meat eaters; expertly grilled veggies are just as popular, sitting like colorful jewels alongside the carnivorous feast of burgers, hot dogs, and steaks. Just as there's an optimum temperature for those burgers, so it goes for achieving perfectly charred peppers. The most important thing is to get your grill good 'n' hot. We're talking around 450-500 degrees Fahrenheit, whether you prefer a little blackening on the skin or want them almost fully charred.
Many cooks preheat their grill before putting on their peppers, where, assuming you're not making the mistake of messing with the lid too much, the direct heat quickly blasts and blisters the pepper's skin to create that all-important char. It's also cooking the food from beneath and imbuing it with delicious, smoky flavor. The high temperature makes all this a relatively fast process, so you should be all done in around just a few minutes, depending on your preferred level of blackening.
Turn the peppers a few times to ensure all the skin is thoroughly grilled before taking them off the grate and popping them for up to 10 minutes in an airtight container, covered bowl, or a paper bag, if that's all you have to hand. This step makes removing those blistered, burned skins easier, though you can leave them on if that floats your flavor boat. Don't be tempted to rinse out the seeds of your grilled peppers with water, as that can wash away all that sweet-yet-smoky flavor!
To cut or not to cut, and what you can do with your tasty, grilled peppers
If you're the green-thumbed owner of a pepper glut, the good news is that you can use a grill to char every kind of bell pepper — including those that look a little past their best — and many home cooks do it for chili peppers, too. What does divide the pepper-grilling community is how to capture the juices that escape from peppers while they're being charred. Some sit their peppers on foil, though others claim it affects the flavor and use parchment paper, raising questions about whether it interferes with searing. Our advice? You do you!
How people prep their peppers varies, too. "To cut or not to cut" won't give Hamlet any sleepless nights, but it's another issue that comes down to personal preference. Some home cooks prefer laying their deseeded peppers flat on the grill for more even charring, so cut them into large pieces, and others leave them whole, carefully removing the seeds after the cooking's done and dusted. Have a go at both ways and see which works best for you.
As well as tasting fabulous straight off the grill, charred peppers make for delicious additions to a host of recipes, bringing zing to sandwich or pizza toppings, or adding complex flavors to sauces and soups. They're also super easy to store. Put cold, grilled peppers in a clean jar with garlic and herbs, and fill it with olive oil for the simplest, tastiest canned peppers. They will keep in the fridge for around 3 months and up to a year popped in a well-sealed bag (either on their own or with the oil and all) in the freezer.