Smokers and what to use---Little Chiefs?

10 years ago

Hi all you Smokers out there, here is my question

Have any of you ever used Little Chief smokers to smoke peppers for Chipotle? and how did it work out for you? How long did you keep the peppers in the smoker and did you add chips the whole time?

after I smoke peppers, I finish drying them off in a dehydrator.

I usually have a set-up where I use a wood stove with about 8 feet of horizontal (slightly going up) stove pipe to a regular BBQ pit and entering on the bottom. The problem is I only have alder wood this year to smoke with and alder didn't work out like I had hoped last year. a bit bitter. The second round I drilled more exit holes in the top and it was better, but not what I want. I have run out of pecan wood I had brought up from Texas. Last week I had a sudden epiphany that I could order some pecan chips and smoke in the Little chief after I clean it out of all the Salmon gunk I have used it for. I( guess time will tell, but if there is anyone with experience smoking peppers in a Lil Chief, I would love to hear about it

thanks for any suggestions or ideas----Bob.

but I must admit, it is a lot of fun getting up on a frosty October morning and getting this smoker going and hanging out with it all day....or even a few days at times.....and this year I have way more red and ripe Jalapenos, serranos, and Thais that I plan on smoking up

PS: this system works great, I just need to get some fruit
wood this year for next years smoking

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Comments (10)

willardb3
10 years ago
You're not making chipotle, you're making smoked chiles.
mctiggs
10 years ago
Still! I hope someone knows the answer to this - I want to try smoking some pods but I have the same questions about how long/what type of wood/continuous or intermittent smoke. I have just a charcoal grill with an off-set smoker.

I share your love of the all-day smoke, Bob. One of my favorite things to do is a giant brisket, which means getting up at 5:30/6:00 a.m. for a 9:00 p.m. dinner.
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t-bob
Original Author
10 years ago
Willard3,
what are Chipotles if not smoke dried Jalapenos? Sure, you could say I am making "merican style" by finishing them off with a dehydrator rather than smoking for 4 days, but I have neither the time or wood to do 4 days worth.
Is that what you mean by saying I am not making chipotle?
If not, then please explain what chipotle is.
User
10 years ago
t-bob,

Willard expands on what authentic Chipotle in the thread linked below.

I don't have any experience with the Little Chief smoker. When I first started smoking peppers I warm/hot smoked small batches on my Big Green Egg. As I started smoking larger volumes I picked up a Bradley Smoker and continued to warm/hot smoke (the smoke element would heat up the smoker to 80F - 100F). A couple of years ago I picked up a Bradley cold smoke attachment and have cold smoked all my pods since then. I personally prefer hickory and pecan but have also had nice results with apple, cherry and maple.

How long you smoke them for really boils down to your taste. I smoke mine between 2.5 to 3.5 hours. I finish by drying in a dehydrator set to 95F.

Bill

Here is a link that might be useful: Chipotle discussed

This post was edited by ottawapepper on Tue, Sep 24, 13 at 16:36
willardb3
10 years ago
Chipotle is a way more complicated procedure.and MÃÂ©jicans pretty much have a lock on this market, not likely that you are doing what they are doing.

Just to start, smoke is made and distributed very differently than you are doing.
t-bob
Original Author
10 years ago
well then I am doing it GRINGO STYLE CHIPOTLE , and all the Mejicans ( 3 separate families) that I have given them to think that they are pretty fricking awesome and are always asking if I have any more for them...... so I will continue to do the best that I can and please those that I can, myself included...........that is all I can say---adios amigos y buena dia para todo---Roberto
david52 Zone 6
10 years ago
I've tried using mesquite, and as the above link to the discussion on chipotles sez, over do it a bit and your peppers taste like a garbage tip.

Fruit wood is much better - I am currently using peach wood. I use one of the inexpensive 'Char Broil America smokers, charcoal briquettes, and a lump of wood on top.

This is good stuff. And the smoker works great for roasting lots of green chilies as well - spread out a half bag of charcoal inside the smoker container, and go for it.

Here is a link that might be useful: link to one in Home Depot
mctiggs
10 years ago
Ha, that's exactly what I have. I smoked some red habs/scorpions/red fatali last week for about 3 hours, throwing a handful of hickory chips on about every 45 mins or so (when there was no trace of smoke left coming out). I did so for the purpose of trying to make a smoky sauce, but I was turned off by how smoky they smelled. I threw them in the freezer, I may never use them.

I'll try fruit wood next time, I'm just still not clear on how often to add chips, and how MUCH to add.
judo_and_peppers
10 years ago
I love smoky flavored sauce. but what I did was actually cook the peppers over the fire (to the point of char), so the smoking was only going on for a few minutes. also for what it's worth, they smell much stronger than they'll taste in the sauce, so don't throw them away just yet.
david52 Zone 6
10 years ago
In my humble experience with smoking peppers on the Char Broil America smoker above, a fist-sized lump of fruit wood does a single layer of peppers spread all over the main chamber.

It can smoke like a cheap cigar for 20 minutes, or small wisps for 3 hours, but that seems to be in best amount of wood for my taste.

YMMV, of course.

Smokers and what to use---Little Chiefs?

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