Home Smoked Chile Peppers?

AllenOK

New member
Mods, feel free to move this if need be. I couldn't decide if it belonged in the Ethnic Foods or the BBQ forums.

I've smoked my own Chipotles, once. They were GREAT!! Has anyone else tried smoking their own peppers? Bam?

I would really be interested in how smoked Hab's turned out, or on the opposite end of the spectrum, smoked Poblanos.
 

BamsBBQ

Ni pedo
Site Supporter
nope i havent smoke any habs but i will put it on my to do list tomorrow... i will "fire" up the cold smoker as well tomorrow

i just bought about 25 habs yesterday...good idea

i think joec has though...i could be wrong
 

BamsBBQ

Ni pedo
Site Supporter
i knew i seen them somewhere

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BamsBBQ

Ni pedo
Site Supporter
Any idea what the final product was like?

he said they were smokey and a little overdone..he cooked them too high of a heat but ended up making them into smoked hab powder. he said they were freakin hot still..lol

i just talked to some else about smoking habs and heres what he said.....

"smoke at 135*F, either cut the habs in half or put slits in them, traditional wood for smoking is pecan, he smoke for 3-4 hours and then finish drying in the dehydrator... to make powder out of them he removes the stems and seeds, then grinds.."
 

Derek

Banned
I don't know if this counts, But I've dried habs & red peppers, Arbols, Gulio peppers, jalapenos, serrentos and so on and they turn out to have a smokey taste to them which is good.
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
I make my Chipotle every year and then dry them after I'm done. I usually have one Jalapeño bush set up for just making Chipotle and leave them on the bush until red. I've also done small batches of habaneros and cayenne peppers with good results.
 

BamsBBQ

Ni pedo
Site Supporter
i smoked some today with you in mind Allen.

i didnt dry them in a dehydrator when done because i want to use them for a hot sauce but they turned out great.

they have a nice smokey smell but not overwelming, flavor is still of a hab with a nice smoke flavor. it didnt lose any heat.

4 hours smoke with cherry wood at 130-190*F, not overly smokey,just right


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bagged and ready for the freezer for future hot sauce

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chowhound

New member
So, smoking cooks and flavors them, but doesn't really dry them out for long term storage like a food dehydrator would? They would have a shelf life if only smoked?
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Most pepper can be dried with out a dehydrator really but the dehydrator is faster. Some ovens will go low enough for it and a simple brown paper bag around the peppers and left in a sunny place will also work on some. The main concern would be mold forming on the pepper. I dehydrate due to the simple fact, I often grow more than I could eat before they went bad. I often dry and grind peppers putting them in spice jars which will extend their usefulness a lot longer. I've also dried and put into zip lock bags in my pantry then when ready to use rehydrate with some water in a bowl. You will lose some texture but not much heat or taste.
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
One other thing I assume most do is smoke them before drying them out. Then you can really do pretty much anything with them. They can be dried then smoke but I personally think the smoke flavor is wasted doing that, pretty much like smoking salt it works but not great.
 

AllenOK

New member
I've made my own chipotles, once. The cooking/smoking process did exactly that, cooked and smoked the peppers, but did not dry them. I used most of them within a month.

Smoking food does preserve it a bit. The nitrates present in the smoke will also preserve the smoked item somewhat, but not forever.
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
I only mine about an hour of smoking then followed by the dehydrator.
 

BamsBBQ

Ni pedo
Site Supporter
I only mine about an hour of smoking then followed by the dehydrator.

what kind of wood are you smoking them with?

i found that when i was smoking with cherry, after one hour there was barely any smoke smell on the habs
 

AllenOK

New member
I was using a blend of Oak and Mesquite.

I think the Mesquite would be a little more authentic to smoking anything from that part of the world. I used some oak because I always have some oak in the mix; it helps to cut the cost/extend the supply of my flavoring woods, and the smoke created by oak is nice and sweet to my palate.
 
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