The skin of a pepper is not simply thin and shiny. It is a waxy layer of cutin and pectin that catches in the mouth and makes soups, spreads, and sauces visibly tough. That is exactly why we have been peeling peppers for years before they go into ajvar, tomato soup, or an antipasti plate.
In the oven, peeling takes 25 minutes under the grill plus turning, plus an oily dish to wash afterwards. In the Varoma®, the same process happens without fat, without charred patches, and without the flesh burning. We use 500 g of water in the mixing bowl, four whole peppers on top, and 20 to 25 minutes at Varoma speed. Nothing more is needed, and less is not enough.
Peeling Peppers in the Varoma® (Thermomix®)
Ingredients 0 / 2 ✓
- 500 g water
- 4 peppers
Instructions 0 / 2
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1
Add water to the Varoma.
Add water to the mixing bowl.
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2
Steam and peel the peppers.
Place the peppers in the Varoma and steam for 20 to 25 minutes / Varoma. Once done, the skin can be removed from the flesh with ease.
You can also peel peppers using an oven. Place them under the grill until the skin blisters and chars. Leave them under a damp cloth for one minute, then start pulling the skin away from the flesh.
Video
Nutrition per serving
Why the skin loosens after steaming
The skin sits on a thin layer of pectin that bonds the flesh to the outer skin. Pectin is sensitive to heat. At around 95 degrees of steam, which is exactly what the Varoma® delivers, this bond softens within 15 to 20 minutes to the point where the skin is barely attached. At the same time, the pepper’s own moisture evaporates directly beneath the skin and lifts it away from the flesh like a blister.
This is where the second step comes in, the one most guides leave out. After steaming, we place the hot peppers in a freezer bag for 5 minutes and seal it. The trapped steam, which can no longer escape, releases the skin completely from the flesh. When we take the peppers out of the bag, the skin can be grabbed at the stalk end and pulled downwards in one piece. With good specimens, the skin comes away like a thin sheet of cellophane.
Which peppers peel most easily
Pointed peppers and organic red peppers release their skin most readily because their outer layer is smooth and uniformly thick. Green peppers are unripe, their pectin layer is firmer, and they need closer to 25 rather than 20 minutes. Yellow and orange peppers fall somewhere in between. Italian pointed peppers often need only 18 minutes because their walls are thinner.
What we have learnt: do not halve the peppers before placing them in the Varoma®. A whole pepper retains its internal steam and loosens the skin from the inside as well. Once halved, this effect is lost immediately and the skin can then only be removed in strips rather than in one piece.
Where we use peeled peppers
Peeled peppers are the base for any serious pepper spread, for ajvar, for a smooth pepper soup, and for Mediterranean antipasti. In our tomato soup, we occasionally replace 200 g of the tomatoes with peeled red pointed peppers, which gives the soup depth without any skin trailing like a thread in the spoon. In carrot spread with ajvar, peeled peppers keep the texture creamy rather than grainy.
Peeling is also worthwhile for stuffed peppers, especially when they are to be roasted in the oven at high heat. A peeled pepper absorbs the flavour of the filling more readily because the waxy outer layer no longer acts as a barrier. We have collected more pepper recipes for the Thermomix®, and many of them benefit noticeably from peeling beforehand.
What happens after peeling
Depending on how they will be used, the peeled peppers are either processed further and jarred, or added directly to the next recipe. In the fridge they keep for 5 days in a sealed container. Marinated in olive oil with a little salt, a garlic clove, and a bay leaf, they keep for 3 weeks and develop more depth over time. We loosely fill the pieces into a jar, pour cold-pressed olive oil over them until everything is covered, and store the jar in the fridge.
Freezing also works, but only makes sense if the peppers will later be blended. Once thawed, they become soft and lose their bite. For soups, spreads, and sauces, that does not matter. For antipasti or salads, we prefer not to freeze them at all and simply marinate fresh peppers instead.
The oven method compared directly
In the oven at full grill setting, the peppers take around 20 minutes, need turning several times, and the skin turns black and blistered. They then go under a damp cloth or into a bag for 1 to 2 minutes until the charred skin can be peeled away. The result has a lightly roasted flavour, which can be desirable for ajvar or antipasti. For soups, baby food, or pale spreads, however, that roasted note is a drawback. There, the Varoma® delivers the clean, pure pepper flavour without any bitterness.
The second point is the effort involved. Preheat the oven, line a baking tray, turn every 5 minutes, have a cloth or bag ready, then scrub a sooty roasting dish afterwards. In the Thermomix®, it all happens in one step: add water, place peppers in the Varoma®, close the lid, and leave for 25 minutes. While the peppers steam, we prepare the next recipe in parallel, peeling garlic, chopping onions, and weighing out spices.
Mistakes we made at the start
Too little water: with 300 g of water in the mixing bowl, the steam lasts barely 15 minutes, then the bowl runs dry and the heating element shuts off before the peppers are soft. 500 g of water is the safe minimum. For larger quantities, we use 700 g.
Not steamed long enough: at 15 minutes the skin only loosens partially, sticking especially at the tip and the stalk end. We prefer the full 25 minutes and avoid having to use a knife afterwards. There is no such thing as a pepper that has been steamed too long. At worst it becomes a little softer, which is actually an advantage if it will be blended later.
Peeled straight from the Varoma®: if we handle the peppers immediately after steaming, the skin is cooked through but still clings firmly to the flesh. It is the 5 minutes in a sealed bag that releases it completely. Anyone who skips the bag step will rightly find themselves picking off fiddly little scraps of skin.
Also works well with: Hummus, Ajvar and Feta.
More basic Varoma® techniques can be found in our collection of pepper recipes for the Thermomix® and in the Varoma guide.
