Re: [CH] Hab Surplus?
Steve (snearman@erols.com)
Tue, 5 Jan 1999 18:52:34 -0500
We smoke a lot of pepper each year and have tried several methods. Cutting
the Chiles in half does give them a little more smoke flavor and also
speeds the drying process but take a lot of time to prepare. The method we
have settled on is first wash, let dry, then we stem the Chiles we intent
to grind to powder or flake (its much easier to remove them before drying),
others we leave the stems on, slit each pod with a razor top to bottom
(razor or sharp knife is mounted on a heavy board so you can slide the
Chile over it with one hand to make the cut, this speed production), put in
freezer over night to brake cell structure for better drying, smoke at a
temperature of 100F to 150F for about 12 hours. This method saves a lot of
time (takes 2 children about 10 minuets to prep a bushel) and, if care is
taken, no "HOT HANDS" from the Chile juice.
>I have a dehydrator and a smoker. I was planning to dry some whole
>for later use in jerk paste. I've never smoked peppers before but
>all the references on the list about smoked hab powder have me
>wanting to try my hand at it. Should they be smoked whole or should
>I slice them in half (more surface exposed to the smoke?). Anyone
>have any suggestions?
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