Re: [CH] Question from a lurker...
Kris Boyle (kris.boyle@gmail.com)
Thu, 13 Jan 2005 12:27:58 -0500
Matt,
> excellent results smoking tomatoes and less luck smoking chiles. My
> smoked chiles are always good, but never great. It sounds like you're
> leaving your chiles in the smoker for the duration -- I use a
> combination of my smoker and my dehydrator.
>
> Would you mind letting me know what your method is? Type of wood?
> Number of pans of chips? Other advice? Thanks a ton.
I am not sure I aspire to "great", usually "good" is good enough for me ;-)
Anyway, here is the approach I use. Soak the smoking wood in water for
at least 6 hours - use the wood that is processed to a rough sawdust
consistency rather than actual chips. I tend to use either apple or cherry
if I have it but I have also used hickory under duress. Never, ever, ever, ever
use a tarry wood like mesquite. After wood has soaked, gently squeeze out
excess water - you should be able to pack it into a ball and it almost holds
its shape. I process my peppers whole although I have seen a lot of people
that recommend halving the bigger ones - I'm just too lazy ...
I smoke the peppers to completion in the smoker. I will sometimes finish
off the ones that are "lagging" the rest in the dehydrator just to avoid having
to go and check the smoker too many times as things finish up - plus I like
the smell of dehydrating smoked peppers in the house ;-)
I find one pan of water soaked wood will last 6-8 hours before being completely
burned. Generally it takes about 2 days to completely finish the peppers so I
guess I use 4-5 pans. I don't worry too much about opening the smoker to
check on things during the process (as long as there is not active smoke
billowing out of it) as it cools down the smoker and makes the entire process
longer in duration thereby increasing the amount of smoke absorbed and it also
avoids "cooking" the peppers. I will rotate the peppers on their
racks and up and
down in the racks depending on how fast and evenly they are dehydrating. Each
rack has a sheet of high quality metal screen on it that I place the peppers on.
This stops them from dropping through as they shrink in the drying process and
also makes the whole turning, rotating, etc process for even dehydrating a lot
less frustrating.
That's about it. It could be that the somewhat colder Canadian climate in the
fall/early winter gives me an advantage for a change. I have noticed that the
whole drying process speeds up considerably in higher ambient air temps.
Chris,
> I know it's a bit pricey, but I bought a Bradley cold amoker and it works
> wonders !! I take about half of my smoked jalapenos, and finish the
> dehydrating process in a typical food dehydrator.
Wow - I had a demo of one of these units down in the Byward market in the
summer and I have to say I was impressed. It definitely created excellent
product with minimal operator intervention required. The glass door is also
a great idea as it lets you check your progress without opening the unit. The
only thing I don't like about the unit (other than the price and the expense of
getting one shipped to Canada) is the fact you have to use those special wood
pellets which are not cheap by any means. It reminds me of Gillette and the
razor blades but in this case the razor isn't cheap either ;-)
> Sorry to butt in, but I love carrying my own "heat" with me.
No problem although I am afraid we seem to have diverged greatly from Robs
original question ;-) Sorry about that Rob ...
Cheers and never be afraid to "pack heat",
Kris