Experiment: cheaper to roast your own chiles, or buy them roasted?

While buying some Hatch chiles at Sunflower Market last week, I noticed the already-roasted chiles were $1.99/lb. The fresh chiles were $0.88/lb, and I thought that there surely was no way the roasted ones could be cheaper.  Right?

But, I weighed the chiles before we roasted them and after so I could know for sure.  And boy, was I surprised!

The chiles started out raw, weighing 2 lbs, 4 oz (total cost = $1.98).  We roasted them on our charcoal grill for about forty-five minutes, and then placed them in a bowl and covered them, allowing them to “sweat” for awhile so the skins would slide off easier.

After roasting and cooling, the chiles weighed 1 lb, 6 oz – nearly a pound less!  That means that I paid $1.44/lb to roast my own – a savings of just 55¢/lb.  Not nearly as significant of savings as I thought, and that of course doesn’t take into account the time it took to roast them or the fuel used.

If you think in terms of percentages, it’s around a 25% savings, but still – not a huge savings considering the low price-per-pound.

So… While it’s still cheaper to roast your own, especially if you’re doing a lot, I probably won’t feel guilty about picking up a package of already roasted Hatch chiles if I just don’t wanna do it myself.

The Pioneer Woman’s Chicken Enchiladas are awesome with Hatch chiles, but that’s about all I’ve tried.  What do you make with Hatch chiles?  Where’s your favorite place to buy them during the short season they’re available?

Helpful info: here’s the best post I could find explaining why the big deal about Hatch chiles.