# Smoking dried peppers again



## bluewhisper (Nov 22, 2017)

Yesterday I smoked dried peppers. Nothing could be easier. Drip pan? Save it. Internal temperature? Pffft. Too much smoke? Bring it. Get distracted and leave the food on the grate overnight? No problem.

This time it was guajillos. I chose them because they have a mild heat level. I have bags and jars of smoked hot peppers like habaneros and such, and I love them, but I wanted some smoked pepper flavor without the heat that turns other people away.

These are big flat pods with a leathery texture; you can fold them. Normally they are simmered to reconstitute, then made into a sauce. For smoking, they can go straight onto the grate. I ran a smoky maple fire in the offset and the cooking chamber never reached a normal smoking temp range. Ambient temperature was about 50F with a strong breeze.

The result is dried brittle pods, not scorched, which is what I wanted. Today I'll stem and seed them, then grind them in the old Oster blender to make a powder. I may or may not add salt, haven't made up my mind.

But wait, there's more! I also got a bag of puyas, a bag of anchos and a bag of de arbol. The de arbol are usually the peppers used in a "diablo" sauce in a Mexican restaurant. I'll smoke those pods today, though the de arbol are small enough that I'll need to make a foil tray for them instead of putting them straight on the grate.

As you might have guessed, I found a good Mexican grocery. I'll be back; I've only begun to hit the meat case.


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## wimpy69 (Nov 22, 2017)

Building up a nice stash there, i'm jealous.


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## bluewhisper (Nov 22, 2017)

Yes I have a stash. The main reason for that is, you can't find smoked pods in an ordinary grocery except perhaps smoked paprika. If you smoke your own, you get to choose which peppers and which smoke. So DIY is the way to go.


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## wimpy69 (Nov 22, 2017)

Couldn't agree more, just wish I could have more depth of varieties in my area availible to me like what you have . Alot of what I find are already dried which kind of defeats the purpose but it is an ongoing search. Enjoy the holidays.


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## tallbm (Nov 22, 2017)

Awesome!  I have about a cup of Chile Tepin peppers I smoked and have ground.  It makes excellent chile powder.  It is HOT but gooooood :)


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## bluewhisper (Nov 22, 2017)

When in the Course of Human Events, it becomes necessary to smoke Peppers, so They may assume among the Kitchen their rightful Flavors to which the Laws of Nature have entitled to Them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that We declare Their separate but equal Station.

We hold these Truths to be self-evident: That all Pods are created edible. That They are endowed with certain unalienable Properties, among which are Heat and Flavors. To secure these Properties, Smokers are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Smoked, laying Their Foundation on such Principles and organizing their Powers in such Form, as to Them shall seem most likely to effect Their Seasoning.

Prudence, indeed, dictates that Recipes long established should not be changed for light or transient Causes, and Experience hath shown that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right Themselves by washing their Hands before rubbing their Eyes. It is their Right, it is their Duty, to fire up the Smoker. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World:

They have made our eyes water, causing us to stumble when sober.

They have made our noses run with mucus, when we are not sick.

They have brought upon us the merciless Ring of Fire whose only known recourse is toilet paper in the freezer.

They have stained our tablecloths, wedged seeds between our teeth and made sauce dribble from our burritos.

For soaking up the Rain.

For settling in the Soil.

For basking in the Sun.

For hogging space in the Garden.

For flaunting their pendant Temptations in their Pods.

In every stage of these Opressions, we have sought redress in drinking cold Milk or sticking our Tongues onto frozen Lamp Posts.

Nor have we been wanting in our attention to side Dishes. We have appealed to the crisp Tortilla, the redolent Garlic, the smooth Avocado and the cool Lettuce. They too have failed to relieve the burn.

Now therefore we solemnly publish and declare that these Pods are of right, and ought to be, toasted to a crisp; that They should be ground and shaken, to blend with other free and independent Seasonings, with the power to raise tears, make snot, and satisfy the palate. To this we pledge our Lives, our Honor, our Taste Buds and our precious bodily Fluids.


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## tallbm (Nov 22, 2017)

That is some pepper love for sure hahaha :D


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## bluewhisper (Nov 22, 2017)

It's a spoof of the Declaration of Independence.


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## tallbm (Nov 22, 2017)

bluewhisper said:


> It's a spoof of the Declaration of Independence.


Yeah for pepper lovers :)


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## bluewhisper (Nov 22, 2017)

Whereas pods have heat
Whereas pods are edible
Whereas pods await my fork
Now therefore ... wait, where is my ass?


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## wimpy69 (Nov 22, 2017)

...my ass is an inferno, quick grab the burn gel and rub it on fast!!


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## bluewhisper (Nov 22, 2017)

I've said this in other forums: Yeah it's funny to have your rear end blown out by hot peppers. But I'd rather have that than going around with a butt full of stale crap that isn't going anywhere.


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