I made my first batch of chipotles two weekends ago
and they tasted great. My Mexican-American friends at
work gave them a positive thumbs up.
How I did it:
Preparing the smoker:
I borrowed my neighbors Cajun Cooker II water smoker
(borrowing is much better than buying). His unit has
two grills, one near the top and one just above the
water pan. I put 5 lbs of self-lighting briquettes in
the bottom, and set them on fire. I put 3 qts. of
cold water in the water pan that sits above the
charchol pan. I bought a 3 lb. bag of mesquite wood
chips and soaked them in water while the briquettes
got going.
Preparing the Meat:
I bought a fresh whole pork loin, cut it in half and
rubbed it with a smoker spice recipe (will post if
anyone wants it) did the same with two fresh turkey
legs. I put the meat on the bottom shelf.
Preparing the chiles:
I picked them in my garden the morning of the smoking.
About half of the chiles were red. I washed them and
cut off the tops, at the calyx. I put about 2 lbs of
standard Jalapenos and TAM Jalapeno (50:50) about two
peppers thick on the top shelf of the smoker. I
prepared a second simmialr-sized batch of Jalapas and
Fresno chiles for the second batch.
The Smoking:
When the briquettes got going, I started to put a few
mesquite chips on the charchole. About every 15
minutes I had to add more mesquite as the smoke would
stop when the mesquite was consumed. I did the first
batch of chiles for 3 1/5 hours and removed them. I
added the second batch.
At 8 hours (4 1/2 for the second batch of chiles) I
took out the chiles and meat. The pork loin was just
about the best pork I've ever eaten and my wife said
the turkey leg was for sure the best she'd ever had.
After dinner, I put all the smoked chiles on two
foil-lined cookie tray and put them in the oven set at
the lowest setting. I left them in the oven to dry
for about 24 hours. I tested the chiles until they
were crisp and would break when I squeezed one. I let
them cool and put them into my blender and chopped
them to fine flakes/powder. Beware of the powder,
it'll make you cough big time! I them blended them
all together and was surprised how little I ended up
with, about 3/4 qt.
My powdered chipotles have a very rich smokey flavor
and are mildly hot. So far, I have used them on tacos
and I tried them sprinkled on top of cream cheese
spread on crackers. Wow, what a taste. I just hope
the bottle of powdered chipotles will last me until
next season.
