Smoked Chipotle Peppers

I love chipotle flavor and chipotle peppers, but I recently discovered that my chipotle seasoning cubes are not in line with our family's Get Real challenge. And yes, I suppose I could buy already-smoked whole chipotle peppers at the store, but I happened to have jalapenos in the house so I decided to try to find a way to smoke them myself. That's when I remembered Kathy Hester's Slow Cooker Smoked Tofu. I set out to smoke my peppers in a similar way, in my slow cooker. I changed the spice line-up in the smoking materials to reflect the flavor I wanted for the chipotles.

After actually trying it out, I wouldn't do this inside the house again (the smell is actually pleasant, but stings your eyes a bit). In the future, I'll wait for a nice day and set the slow cooker out on my porch or at least open the windows before I start the smoking process. But my peppers were totally smoked! It was awesome. You'll need a 4 quart or larger CrockPot, a vegetable strainer or colander that will fit in your crock without sitting down on the bottom and at least two sheets of foil.

Home Smoked Chipotle Peppers

Ingredients

2-4 jalapenos, sliced

Smoking Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons raw white rice
• 4 tablespoons sucanat (or brown sugar)
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon chili pepper
• 2 tablespoons black pepper

Method

Protect your crock insert (from the burning sugar) with at least two sheets of foil and create a vessel for your smoking ingredients. Insert and stir all of your smoking ingredients. Place sliced jalapenos in a single layer inside vegetable strainer or colander.

Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 hours, then cook on LOW for 6-10 hours, flipping jalapenos halfway through.

The Results

These chipotle peppers turned out fantastically. As I said, the smell in the house was really strong, so I'll be a little more wary of that next time I do this. But the method is awesome. The little smoked chipotle rings are perfect. I can't wait to use them in a recipe.

PS: In case you're curious, here are the ingredients from my Chipotle Seasoning Cubes--Salt, Monosodium Glutamate, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Chile Powder, Silicon Dioxide (Prevents Caking), Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Caramel Color, Citric Acid, Disodium Inosinate, Spice, Yellow 6 Lake, Disodium Guanylate, Sulfur Dioxide (Used to Protect Quality).

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