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| Chiles after 4 hours in the smoker. |
Once the jalapeños are prepared to your liking, fire up the smoker. I preheated the Yoder to 350 degrees F. and then reduced the temperature to 180 degrees F. and filled a 12-inch A-Maze-N smoke generator with pecan pellets and lit it using a propane torch. When the tube smoker was generating a good amount of smoke (after about 20 minutes or so), I placed the jalapeños on a Frogmat on the left side of the cooker (opposite from the burn pot) and let the Yoder do its thing for about ten hours, replacing the pecan pellets in the smoke generator after four hours. After ten hours of smoking the chipotles were brittle and ready to come off the grill.
(Alternately, you could smoke the chiles for six hours to develop the smoky flavor and then transfer them to a dehydrator or a 200 degrees F. oven to finish.)
For the second experiment I started with about two pounds of green jalapeños (24 chiles), ten habanero (Capsicum chinense) chiles (three ounces) and two poblano (Capsicum annuum) chiles (to make ancho chiles). Instead of coring or cutting the chiles I just washed them and sliced them lengthwise from about 1/4 inch from the shoulders to the end to allow better smoke penetration. Again I used the Yoder YS680 with hickory pellets but used a combination of pecan and alder pellets from BBQr’s Delight in the smoke generator.
I fired up the Yoder to 200 degrees F. and lit the A-Maze-N tube. When the Yoder was up to temp and the smoke generator was producing good smoke I placed the chile combination on a Frogmat so they didn’t fall through the grates and closed the cover. Four hours later I refilled the smoke generator with only pecan pellets and bumped the temperature up to 225 degrees F. The chiles continued smoking for another four hours.
After eight hours of smoke-cooking, the habaneros were done. I removed the chiles from the pellet grill and transferred the jalapeños and poblanos to an Excalibur five-tray dehydrator set at 155 degrees F. to finish. It took another eight hours for the chiles to become fully dried.
The final yield: habaneros, 0.4 ounces; Poblano (ancho), 1.15 ounces; and chipotles, 2.65 ounces.
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| The chiles after 8 hours in the smoker. |
If you don’t have a pellet grill, a charcoal or gas grill will work. Using a charcoal grill, fill a charcoal chimney with hardwood and ignite the hardwood. Transfer the burning hardwood to one side of the grill. If you don’t have a smoke generator, put a couple of handfuls of pecan pellets or chips atop the hardwood. Put the jalapeños on the cooler side of the grill. Open the top vent of the grill slightly. Check on the charcoal every couple of hours, adding more pellets and pre-lit hardwood as necessary. Smoke the jalapeños for about 16 hours (or smoke them for six hours and transfer to a dehydrator to finish drying).
To use a gas grill, preheat the grill with all the burners on. Turn off all but one of the burners and set that burner to low (200 degrees F.). Make a large pouch with heavy duty aluminum foil and add pecan chips or pellets. Poke a few holes in the pouch and place it on the hot side of the grill. Place the chiles on the cooler side of the grill. Smoke/ cook for 12 to 16 hours, replacing the foil pouch every couple of hours.
When the chiles are finished I vacuum seal them in six-chile portions for storage. They may be frozen for up to six months. To use the chipotles, soak them in hot water for about an hour to rehydrate. Alternately, the dried chiles could be ground into a powder.
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