Whole Pods Crushed Threads or Powder Choosing a Chili Format
One pod, five products. Beijing Red goes out whole, as 0.4 mm thread, as 3 to 5 mm crushed with seeds, as 40 to 60 mesh crushed flake and as 40 to 120 mesh powder. Choosing between them is mostly two questions.
Question one: do you mill in house?
If you have a mill, buying whole pods is almost always cheaper per kilo of finished powder, and it puts the colour clock in your plant rather than in ours. Whole pods also give you complete control of the mesh.
If you do not have a mill, there is no advantage to buying pods, and a specified mesh from us removes a variable you would otherwise have to manage through a third party.
Crushed chili at 40 to 60 mesh. Coarse enough to stay visible in a salsa, fine enough to disperse through a paste.
Question two: should the chili be visible?
A powder disappears into the product and gives even colour and heat. A crushed flake at 40 to 60 mesh stays visible in a salsa or a kimchi paste. A 3 to 5 mm crushed grade with seeds is coarse enough to read as chunks in chili oil. A 2 mm ring reads as a recognisable ring on a pizza or in a noodle sachet. A 0.4 mm thread is a garnish that sits on top of the finished dish.
Each step up in visibility costs more per kilo of heat delivered, because you are paying for appearance as well as for chili.
What stays the same across the formats
Colour. Our ground and cut chili grades all share the 100 to 220 ASTA band, so switching format does not force a colour change. Whole pods are quoted at 60 to 180 ASTA because the measurement is taken differently on an unmilled pod.
A practical route
Start from the finished appearance you want, then work back to the format, then set the colour band, then set the heat. Doing it in the other order tends to produce a specification that cannot be bought.
Questions About This Guide
Is it always cheaper to buy whole pods?
Only if you have a mill. Per kilo of finished powder it usually is, and you also start the colour clock in your own plant. Without a mill there is no advantage.
Which format keeps the chili most visible?
Thread, then 2 mm rings, then the 3 to 5 mm coarse crush, then 40 to 60 mesh flake, then powder. Each step up in visibility costs more per kilo of heat delivered.
Does changing format force a colour change?
No. Our ground and cut grades all share the 100 to 220 ASTA band. Whole pods are quoted at 60 to 180 ASTA because the measurement is taken differently on an unmilled pod.
Put These Numbers on a Purchase Order
Send us the colour, heat and mesh you have settled on and we will quote it landed at your port.