Hello Kay,

I have been smoking Jalapeno peppers for Chipotle powder for a few years now. In fact, this past summer I entered into a partnership with a local garden farm where they supply Jalapenos for me to smoke. We share the grinding into powder and split the profits on sales.

HereÂs what I do:

1. Stem the peppers;
2. Cut in half lengthwise;
3. Place on medium mesh trays;
4. Smoke at 150F to 160F using Hickory in an electric or a lump charcoal smoker for 3 Â 4 hours (smoke time);
5. Leave in the smoker at same temperature to complete drying them for another 10 hours or depending on volume, place in a dehydrator for 10 hours.

When grinding, I use a coffee grinder, wear eye protection and a mask if you have one. The powder is fine and spreads easily. Whatever you do, donÂt sneeze! You will spoil the powder and cause yourself some stress (donÂt ask me how I know this).

If they are properly dried, the peppers will have shrunk to about 20% original size and snap when you break them. If they donÂt snap, dry them more.

When you bottle the powder (or dried pods if youÂre not grinding), after filling turn the bottle or jar upside down and let rest in a dark place for a few day. After a couple of days, if no condensation formed on the top, you have successfully dried and stored your powder or pods.

Here are a few links I found helpful when I first started out doing this.

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/chipotles.html

http://www.randyq.addr.com/chiles/chipotles.html

Hope this helps.

Bill

Not that it matters that much, but Mesquite is the traditional wood for Chipotle. It gives a really dense, thick, clinging smoke - if you use it for meat, it can be overwhelming. But for peppers, it will really flavor them well.

I'd try a bit first, because Mesquite is one of those things where you either like it, or you don't.

I like to use apple wood.

Oak is good too, as well as corn cobs. I use mesquite when I did my roasted pepper spread that also had roasted onions and garlic. They were all done on a gas grill.

And my favorite wood is Texas pecan. Corn cobs... I use field corn, not sweet corn. A very sweet result though.

I think chipotles were originally cold smoked in pits. The smoke was tunneled from the fire pit to the smoking pit in order to cool it. Possibly more as a means of preserving the jalapeños than flavoring them.

Kay,

What brand and kind of smoker? I might have some suggestions if I knew.

jt

David, I have used mesquite in the past as well. I personally like it but as you suggest, others are not partial to it.

jt, IÂve never tried corn cobs. I will definitely be trying a batch this year with peacan though. My, albeit limited, research into the chipotle indicates that it was the wood of choice when jalapenos were first smoked by the Aztecs in order to preserve them.

Apparently, chipotles date back to region that is now northern Mexico City, prior to the Aztec civilization. Although no one really knows for sure, it is assumed that the early Aztecs smoked the chilies because the thick, fleshy, jalapeno was difficult to dry and prone to rot. They used the same "smoke drying" process for the chilies as they used for drying meats. I to think that cold smoking is the most authentic way to go but, I find smoking at a higher temperature produces really good results and saves a lot of time.

Ken, IÂve never tried oak but will give it a shot this year as well.

Bill

Oak that was from old whiskey barrels, or Jack Daniels barrels also has a good flavor. Applewood is good to, but is usually for smoking poultry. I recall someone offering a half dozen different kinds of woods for smoking, and that included cherry, apple, the hickory, mesquite, and a few others I can't recall. One time, I bought some wood chips, of supposed hickory, but after using some, the item being smoked smelled and tasted more like somthing burning in a dump. Trust me I know, some years ago, I had to fight a fire in the town dump, as we were volunteers. The terrible smell didn't go away for several days later, and it smoldered there for about a week afterwards.

Several years back I was sent some sample pkts of this brand pellets from the mfgr's wholesaler and am totally sold on them. The pellets are heat compressed to eliminate toxic chemicals released during first stages of burning wood. One of the problems of smoking pods (peppers) is the imparted bitterness that you can get. If using wood logs or chunks it helps to let them burn for some time before adding the pods. That is the reason I use lump charcoal (add the pecan logs or pellets) for all my smoking using off-set firebox smoker. In my electric smoker I use the pellets.

Wood Flavors

How to Use Pellets

jt

Ken, I have a bag of french wine barrel oak chips that I havenÂt opened yet. It was thrown in with an order I made for some BBQ stuff. IÂll give it a shot for a batch of chipotle. (IÂm not a tree hugger but, I personally have not "bought" anything french since their secret service sank the Rainbow Warrior a number of years ago but I digress)
I have used apple chunks to smoke in the past but primarily for pork chops, ribs and roasts.

jt, I have used similar pellets. I concur, they work nicely. When I BBQ, lump charcoal is the only thing I use. I have a ceramic smoker / barbeque / grill and use it year round. When I struck a deal with a local farm to produce chipotle powder, I purchased a Bradley electric smoker due to the volume and lack of attention required. Yes, IÂm lazy! LOL

Bill

WOW. Great stuff. Hubby has a rather large collection of wood, including a huge chunk of mesquite that his uncle brought up from Texas a few years back. He has used it very sparingly and for the most part mixed with milder woods. It is that traditional chipotle flavor I am going for, but I am always open to different flavors -hence the other peppers I intend to smoke as well as the jalapenos.

I have no idea about the brand of smoker we have. Hubby is not home and the smoker is currently put up for the winter. I'll ask him when he gets home.

As I mentioned, Hubs likes to smoke a lot during the warmer months (we are almost done with all the pulled pork I froze - yum!) and I was thinking of piggy-backing on some of his creations. Would that be OK? I personally wouldn't mind a little pepper kick, but I am wondering will the steam coming off the peppers have much affect on other things in the smoker?

Thanks so much for this discussion so far. I can't wait to plant my seeds!....Kay.

Chipotle ham?? Maybe like a hot Italian Cappacola...

I use apple most of the time. In addition to drying the smoked peppers, you can simply put them in the freezer right out of the smoker to use later in whatever recipe you want. I also have one of the aftermarket propane burners for my firebox. It's great!
John A