Everything You Need To Know About Smoking Chillies

OK, you want to smoke your chillies to make your own chipotles (pronounced chip-ote-lays).

Here at Chillies-Down-Under.com I believe that the chipotle is the ultimate chilli. The complex, smokey flavour and medium level heat are, without argument, the perfect combination to go with just about anything.

Smoking chillies is an ancient way of preserving them that, as far as I can tell, was started by the Teotihuacan Indians in central America around 500 BC. Their civilisation peaked around 200 AD and the Aztecs subsequently adopted chipotles and took them to the art-form they are today.

There are an enormous number of variables that can change the results you get, however, a willingness to experiment a little will take you through to a successful technique that works for you.

Equipment

I have used three different pieces of equipment in my quest for the home made chipotle.

The Portable Fish Smoker

These little guys are approximately 40cm x 30cm and 20cm high. They are made from galvinised steel aso the body will not rust, however, make sure you oil the internal rack as that is not galvinised and will rust.

The base of the unit is about 5cm above the 'bottom' and has air holes in the sides so that the methylated spirit burner can be placed underneath.

Inside the unit, wood shavings or saw-dust(see wood further down this page) are scattered across the base, which is heated by the burner underneath. The rack sits inside, above the wood shavings/saw-dust and the unit is closed with a tight fitting lid.

Because of the size, you won't be smoking vast quantities of chillies, but they are a good, inexpensive tool for starting to learn what works, what doesn't, what you like .... and so on.

If you already have one of these smokers and have used it for fish or other foods, we strongly suggest you give a good wash before smoking your chillies. Otherwise they will pick up all sorts of odd flavours.


The Hooded Gas Barbecue
These babies are great. Chances are you've already got one, and if not, you should consider making it a priority. It is my preferred way of cooking virtually anything; grills, roasts, baking, stir-frys, .....

You need to have at least one of the plates inside to be a bar-grill type (i.e. one that is not a solid plate) so that the wood can be exposed to the flame.

Wood used here comes is usually in the form off of small blocks of a 3-10 centimetres square. It must be soaked in water before use.

If the wood or chillies to be used are small, we make up flat-bottomed wire mesh baskets (about 20cm square with sides 3-5cm high) to hold the prevent them falling through the grill. It also makes it a lot easier to move things around.


Kettle Barbecue

Virtually everyone is familiar with these barbecues. They were a must have item in the 80's and while their popularity has faded a little, they are still a great product to cook with.

We are considering only the charcoal ones here as we are not sure why anyone would bother with a gas one. If you want to cook with gas, get a hooded barbecue. While the charcoal does take a long time to cook meat (the main reason for it's popularity drop-off), it also imparts a great flavour that is unique to the charcoal.

Fortunately for you, if you still have one, they are ideally suited to smoking chillies.

Once the charcoal is burning, it is a simple case of putting wet chunks of your favourite smoking wood on the coals, put your chillies on the rack or in wire baskets (see above) and putting the lid on.

Commercial Smokers

Unfortunately I don't have one of these and we apparently can't afford one (something about clothes for the kids) - hence, I am not going to cover them here. If you have one, know that I'm extremely jealous.

Woods

To make smoke you essentially need to apply heat to wood, without setting it alight.

We've discussed the heat sources above, so now it's time to look at the wood.

There are a number of options available that are not particularly hard to lay your hands on.

• apple
• mesquite
• pear
• hickory

Are generally available at the bigger hardware stores (Bunnings & Mitre 10 in Australia & New Zealand) and barbecue stores (Barbecues Galore, K-Mart, etc).

Also, if anybody else has a different type of wood they use I'd love to hear about that too.

Whatever you use, there are a couple of things you need to know;

• if you are using a fish smoker, the wood needs to be in the form of saw-dust or fine shavings,
• if you are using a hooded barbecue or a kettle, the chunks need to be soaked in water for at least an hour before.

• Get your wood chunks soaking if that is what you are using
• De-stem your clean chillies and then slit them in half and de-seed. Most instructions tell you simply to put a slit in the chilli, however, once they are smoked they become quite leathery and it is a 'pain in the bum' to try and remove the seeds then.
• Fire up whatever type of smoker you are using. If it's a portable fish smoker you don't need much time as it heats up very quickly. If it's a hooded, pre-heat for 5 minutes, and if you are using a kettle, it will take 15 minutes for your charcoal to be properly burning.
• Put on your wood. In the portable fish smoker, scatter the saw-dust/shavings evenly across the bottom about 0.5-1cm thick. In the hooded bbq put the chunks over the open grill, and in the kettle, put them straight onto the coals.
• Put your chillies in. Whatever you are using, put them straight onto the rack or grill plate, or into wire baskets and then onto the rack/grill plate.
• Close the hood/lid and check them every hour. For the portable fish smoker, you may want to check them every half hour for the first couple of hours to get a feel for how they are going (it's a small unit and cooks a lot faster).
• Replenish wood if necessary.
• Cooking time is in the order of 5 hrs for the portable fish smoker and 6-8 hours for the other two when using jalapenos. Cooking times will decrease for thinner fleshed varieties.
• You may find that the chillies will not go totally dry. If so, you can finish them off in a dehydrator, oven, or outside.

  See my dehydrating page or my air-drying page if you are not yet familiar with these techniques.

• Fully dried smoked chillies can be stored for years in air-tight containers. Triple bagged, they can also be stored in the freezer, even if not totally dried out.

Step-By-Step Cooking-With-Chilllies Secrets

To find a wealth of tasty new ways to get more chillies into your life have a look at my all-time greatest chilli-using recipes available here.

This includes my best techniques for;

• Satay Sauce - quick, simple steps for creating a satay sauce that will amaze your friends and family


• Always Melt-In-Your-Mouth BBQ Ribs - use my simple, trouble-free technique for creating tender, juicy, grilled spare-ribs, every time. The BBQ restaurants don't want you to know how simple this is !

And it's all backed by a full, no-loopholes-more-than-your-money-back guarantee !