Smoking habanero's?

[Newglide]

So I was talking with a friend at work about smoking cheese since it's starting to get cold enough. He loves his peppers and asks me if I could smoke some habanero's.
I said sure no problem, only problem is I have never smoked peppers. Checked in with Google and it seems like there are multiple ways to do it.
I figured I could throw them in while I cold smoked the cheese but it looks like they nay take a lot longer to smoke, I guess cause the skin is hard to get smoke through, I don't know.
How do you smoke your peppers?

 

[normanaj]

I generally dehydrate them,make powder and smoke the powder.

 

[bill ace 350]

I have smoked them with cheese.

I cut off the stem, cut in half and leave the seeds in.

When I think they have enough smoke, dehydrate and grind.

 

[normanaj]

I have smoked them with cheese.

I cut off the stem, cut in half and leave the seeds in.

When I think they have enough smoke, dehydrate and grind.

That sounds awesome!

What kind of cheese?Does it matter?

 

[Newglide]

When I think they have enough smoke, dehydrate and grind.

Thanks, I know this is an open ended question but about how long do you smoke them? About the same as the cheese or longer?

What kind of cheese?Does it matter?

I typically do block cheese, Cheddar, gouda, I like to do pepperjack and Cabot makes a habenero cheddar that is good.

 

[LhornR]

I'm no expert on smoking peppers but when I did smoked paprika peppers I smoked them for about 6 hours. The first batch I did was at 100 to 115°F...but on my later batches 140 to 160°F seemed to work fine as well. You can see my post about it here. I have seen where people smoke them at 200°F or so..but to me that is almost roasting/cooking them.

Halving them will let them get much smokier of course...but I did throw in a couple whole one time but wasnt impressed. If whole you would have to smoke longer. It depends how they will be used afterwards also. After smoking I dehydrated at 135°F and powdered most of mine...but some of my Anaheims I just vac sealed for later use to be chopped up into something.

One thing I would watch is smoking peppers with another food. When the peppers heat up the oils will vaporize and transfer to anything else in the smoker. I had one batch of peppers that had some heat to them and just from opening the door and checking them my face would feel the burn later. Fine if you want hab cheese I guess...but might not be an issue at the low temps you do cheese.

But anyhootchie...like I said it really depends on how you want them to turn out. I like mine really smokey but at the 3 hour mark they will have good smoke flavor if halved.

 

[jcam222]

I've not done this but want to with a ton of whole jalapenos I have frozen for now. I was thinking if you do low and slow you could dehydrate right in the smoker. Have any of you tried that? I basically want to make my own Chile moritas

 

[LhornR]

I've not done this but want to with a ton of whole jalapenos I have frozen for now. I was thinking if you do low and slow you could dehydrate right in the smoker. Have any of you tried that? I basically want to make my own Chile moritas

Sure could...I havent done it though as tending the smoker that long would be a pita for my setup. If you have an electric smoker that would work great though. Some people just do it in their oven if they can keep the temps low enough. To dehydrate peppers you need to stay under 135°F and my dehydrator is perfect for that.

 

[bill ace 350]

I cold smoke white cheddar cheese, the sharper the better.

I usually smoke the peppers for the same amount of time as the cheese, then dehydrate and grind.

Once or twice I have smoked peppers at ambient temp for up to 6 hours. They lost a lot of moisture even before the dehydrator.

As far as smoking peppers with other food(cheese), in my experience it didn't affect the cheese whatsoever.

 

[civilsmoker]

I’ve smoked them (split) at 150 degrees for 18-20 hours then coffee grinder to powder (use a n95 or above and under the vent hood). Makes what I call dragon chipotle power! Good stuff

 

[jcam222]

I cold smoke white cheddar cheese, the sharper the better.

I usually smoke the peppers for the same amount of time as the cheese, then dehydrate and grind.

Once or twice I have smoked peppers at ambient temp for up to 6 hours. They lost a lot of moisture even before the dehydrator.

As far as smoking peppers with other food(cheese), in my experience it didn't affect the cheese whatsoever.

Share white cheddar,sharper the better!! Yessir that's my cup of tea too.

 

[bill ace 350]

Share white cheddar,sharper the better!! Yessir that's my cup of tea too.

I let my cat sample a new sharp white cheddar before I do! Just a small piece.

The longer it takes her to finish it is a good indication of sharpness!

 

[edmonds]

I smoke homegrown peppers most every summer/fall on my WSM.
I like to do red serranos and red jalapeños.
First I split peppers open lengthwise, removing seeds is optional.
Then smoke at about 150F for 6 to 20 hours, using a mesh grate for small peppers.
They will dry out some, but you may still need to finish on dehydrator.
I have used a couple of different methods with the WSM.
1) Put 5-6 briquettes in WSM with wood chunks, no water pan. Replenish briquettes/wood.
2) Put hot plate in bottom of WSM with pie plate, turn onto high, put wood chips on pie plate.

 

[Smoke-Chem BBQ]

What kind of cheese?Does it matter?

Nope. They're habaneros. The dominant flavor note is pain.