I have a bunch of jalapeños from the garden that have now reddened. I’d like to smoke them and make my own chipotles. For anyone who has done this before, do you dry the peppers in a dehydrator prior to smoking them or just smoke them fresh? What temp do you smoke the chiles at? And what type of wood is appropriate for making chipotles (I’m thinking mesquite)?
I can’t help you with the specifics, but I bet cherrywood would make for some tasty chipotles.
According to wikipedia, The chiles are smoked for several days until most of the moisture is removed. In the end, the chipotles have dried up in a manner akin to prunes or raisins… In recent years, growers have begun using large gas dryers. So either technique would probably work.
I would think the fresh ones would take on the smoke better, but if you have enough you could try it both ways.
I smoked fresh poblanos then put them in the dehydrator.
You have to smoke them low and slow. Mine were around 200-225. A couple hours at least and they collapsed, got all wrinkled but still fleshy. Then overnight in the dehydrator. Quite tasty.
Can’t see why it wouldn’t work for the humble jalapeño.
What kind of wood did you use euge?
Oak lump charcoal with some oak chunks.
Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I think I’ll smoke 'em tonight.
mesquite is usually what they use. smoke em around 200-225F for at least several hours. Make sure to poke a hole in them with a knife to keep em from exploding.
Tried cold smoking fresh jalapenos a year ago…ended up having to be dried in an oven later, then ground into powder. Had a strange raisiny taste…I was not a fan. My two mistakes assumedly were in using green jalapenos, as well as doing a genuine cold smoking, as opposed to the hot smoke that will dry them out properly.
This is what I do. It works for green or red. Hard to get red ones here. They have a tendency to go bad (get rot) before they trun all the way red.